Heartbeat, 100x120 cm/39x47 inch, follow your heart, not your head.
On Artblahblah, the blog of the gallery who represents my work in New York: Monkdogz Urban Art, the Gallery Diva wrote a, in my opinion, very interesting article. Essence of the article (and quote): "People are buying art for the monetary value, more now than ever. They’re buying a known commodity, limited availability and safe. It has nothing to do with understanding the language of art."
For more: http://artblahblah.com/?p=586
I agree with her view on this phenomena.
In the USA sales are under pressure even more than in Europe, but galleries and artists overhere who live from the sales of their art all are having a hard time now. A lot of my colleague-artists who were in a rising (or sometimes established) position up til the beginning of 2009, are confronted with a lot less sales or no sales at all!
I've been lucky I think, because up til now it has not been that bad for me, but I know that I'm not going to dance away from this crisis.
Most of the people who are buying art now, do this not because they love the artpiece, but for the monetary value of it... So they invest in 'established' art. Most of the time these artpieces are at least 40 years old, and older.
Even though they've got enough money, they don't dare to follow their heart and buy art they really love. They rather buy art that has been valued by others. Apparently in times of crisis people react primitive. This is pure biology, the animal in us shows herd behavior more than ever. In times of abundance it's more easy to distance yourself from the rest of the crowd. There's not much to lose (in terms of money) when things go wrong. It also is a sort of luxury to (try to) be unique, different than the rest of the world. But when times are rough, we act primitive and there is not much we can do about it. This shows that we're so small, so humble, only a tiny part of the enormous universe we live in and we are dragged into the maelstrom. For the people who don't have much to lose during this crisis, speaking of money, I urge you to make the difference. Be unique, choose the art you really like and which hits you, not the amount of money that it represents. I like the way the Gallery Diva puts it: 'What about being part of history?'... Wouldn't it be great if a contemporary artist becomes more known, and later on maybe even famous, and you were the one who discovered and believed in this artist back in 2009? Or would you rather be part of the crowd, just like sheep or ants and play it safe? Think about it. You might be making a better investment than you could have ever dreamed of, besides the fact that a good piece of art, which you fell in love with, can bring so many moments of happiness in your life!
Close up of 'the beauty of ignorance' from the pop-up series Today my handsome webdesigner has put the images of the new paintings from the Pop-up series on my website. More new Pop-up-paintings are on their way! Some of them still only popped-up in my head, some of them are under construction yet.
One of 'The nothing between the something' illustrations from, and courtesy of, Ivo Daniëls.Yesterday Ivo, a young old friend of mine, came to visit my studio. He lives in Amsterdam but was in the neighborhood and we had an inspiring talk. Ivo recently graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven and is working on a few projects right now. He's one of the most distinctive persons I know, always following his own feelings. The consequence is that his path is not the most easy one, but the results are the ones you would not have thought of. He's always looking for challenges and is very inventive. If you want to visit his website and discover more about him: www.ivodaniels.nl
courtesy Georgios KefalasDear Mr. Pitt,Congratulations with the pieces of art you bought on Art Basel 2009 (June 10-14, 2009, Basel, Switzerland).I like 'Etappe' a lot (and also the other work of Neo Rauch) and I adore the fantastic art and architecture of Atelier van Lieshout from Rotterdam. You've got an eye for it!My art is represented by 8 (soon to be 9) renowned galleries in the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA, and my paintings are sold on a regular basis. They are still very affordable because I've been hiding them for the top-galleries who are able to present themselves at 'top of the bill' art fairs like Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair, or Art Basel Miami.
Of course, once you've bought a piece, the value of my art will rise, just because YOU bought one.
Maybe that could make it possible eventually to realize my altruistic ideals.
I can assure you that you won't have any regrets! Also everyone who has already bought my work will be thrilled!!! Can you imagine how many people you would be making happy?
So if you do like my work and you've got some money and empty walls in one of your houses left, please do not hesitate to contact one of my galleries (1 is located in New York City, I think you're in the neighborhood sometimes) or me in person. Of course I'd be more than pleased to deliver my work at your house personally (without ulterior motives!)
Sincerely yours,
Esther BarendP.s.: If so, can I bring my youngest son? He's 12 and adores Angelina! --
http://www.estherbarend.eu
http://estherbarend.blogspot.com
New York City - June 2009
Image search.Part of my art on the 1 page advertisement of Monkdogz Urban Art Gallery in the summer edition of Gallery & Studio Magazine. Proud to be one of their artists.For more Monkdogz:
www.monkdogz.com and www.artblahblah.com
Love poem in black & white, 39x23 inch/100x60 cmI've been busy the last few weeks with my new series 'Pop-up'.
While experimenting, and not being entirely satisfied about the result, the idea came up to continue with an experiment I started 3 years ago. Of course I had to adjust it to the developments I've made ever since. And so the first painting in the Pop-up series arose. The painting appeared first, and then the name of the Pop-up series popped up.
There are 11 paintings now in this series, smaller and large ones. My head is filled with variations on them and I cannot wait to implement them. It's a pity that I cannot project them directly from my head, through my eyes to canvas... that would be really nice!!
Sometimes I'm too impatient and it takes a lot of energy to keep focussed on the canvas if it does not grow as quickly as I would like it to do.
On the other hand... I love to watch what comes out of my hands.
It's amazing to experience that sometimes it's like the painting paints itself and I've got nothing to do with it, only my hands working.
I'm feeling very happy in my studio with all these new paintings surrounding me. Often I find it difficult to give up my paintings when they are sold or going to one of the galleries representing my work. The knowledge that I might never see it again.... So I'm very happy that I still do have the pictures!
