NEWSgrist - where spin is art

Found Art (Soho): Unmonumental 242

Found Art (Soho): Unmonumental 242, originally uploaded by Joy Garnett (archive).

Found Art (Soho): Unmonumental 241

Found Art (Soho): Unmonumental 241, originally uploaded by Joy Garnett (archive).

Pure Beauty: John Baldessari

A 1972 photograph of a CalArts field trip for project called "Rolling: Tire." From left to right: Dede Bazyk, John Baldessari, Suzanne Kuffler, Matt Mullican and David Trout.
Photograph by James Welling, courtesy Baldessari Studio.

via LATimes Culture Monster:

On eve of LACMA survey, John Baldessari talks about his history teaching--and past students flash back too 

-- Jori Finkel

June 19, 2010

When "Pure Beauty," John Baldessari's retrospective, opens at the L.A. County Museum of Art on June 27, expect to see several generations of artists on hand for the opening-week events.

For as long as he has been making art in Los Angeles, Baldessari has also been, in a less tangible way, making artists: offering suggestions, encouragement and above all conversation to students eager to follow in his footsteps by living a life of art.

Follow they have, with their own gallery shows, museum shows, teaching gigs and some commercial successes that have at times even surpassed their teacher's.

Jack Goldstein, James Welling, Barbara Bloom, David Salle, Matt Mullican, Mike Kelley, Tony Oursler, Liz Larner and Meg Cranston are just a few who studied with him at CalArts in the 1970s and '80s. Liz Craft, Mungo Thomson, Karl Haendel, Nathan Mabry, Skylar Haskard, Analia Saban and Elliott Hundley studied with him at UCLA, where he was on faculty until 2007. 

But Baldessari, a conceptual artist with a droll sense of humility, is the last to take credit for any of their accomplishments. “You never really know where students get their nourishment,” he says.

Nor does he glamorize his decision to teach. “I taught because I needed the money — it wasn't a vocational choice,” he says. “I was just trying to make it enjoyable for myself, trying to make it as much like art as possible. Maybe that's why it worked.”

Click here for my Arts & Books story about the artist-teacher. And here for accounts by James Welling, Tony Oursler, Meg Cranston, Elliott Hundley and Analia Saban of the teacher they shared.

You can also read online an "assignment" sheet Baldessari prepared in 1970 for his now-famous post-studio course at CalArts, "just in case anyone needed the structure."

CALL FOR ARTISTS: Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery at the University of Nevada, Reno

Gustave Courbet (French, 1819–1877). The Desperate Man, 1844–45.
Oil on canvas; 17 3/4 x 21 5/8 in. (45 x 55 cm). Private Collection.

CALL FOR ARTISTS
Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery at the University of Nevada, Reno 

MYSELF 

A call for submissions for a group exhibition with catalogue entitled MYSELF. Deadline for received submissions in office is Monday August 9, 2010. 

THEME and EXHIBITION DETAILS: This exhibition will explore the widest possible definition of the term “self-portrait” as it applies to all forms of contemporary art and experimental media. The exhibition will be curated and organized by Gallery Director Marjorie Vecchio, while catalogue co-essayists in conversation include Joy Garnett and Mira Schor. Chelsea Otakan will design the catalogue. 

EXHIBITION DATES: January 18 – February 18, 2011, opening lecture and reception January 20, 2011 (dates subject to change). All exhibiting artists are invited to the opening lecture and reception, however, depending on funding, only a few artists will be chosen to receive transportation and hotel stipends. 

GALLERY INFORMATION: Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery of the University of Nevada, Reno is a 2,000 sq foot contemporary art gallery dedicated to supporting regional, national and international emerging and mid-career artists. Located in Northern Nevada’s high desert within an hour of both Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake, the Reno area has a rich culture and vibrant art community. The University of Nevada, Reno Art Department includes over 900 thoughtful and inspiring art students per semester at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including BA, BFA and MFA programs. Collaborations with our music, theater, dance or other departments are welcome from applicants as well. Please email any questions to [email protected].
 
ELIGIBILITY: This call is open to all visual/multi-media artists, preferably without gallery representation (though those with representation will be considered) working in any 2D, 3D and 4D media including painting, mixed-media, drawing, printmaking, fiber, textiles, photography, sculpture, text, video, ceramics, film, graphics, sound, music, installation, performance, etc. All works submitted must be available for the duration of the show. Some projectors, monitors, and other technical equipment are available, please include in your submission which equipment you can provide or which you require. Artists must be a minimum of 18 years of age.
 
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: All completed submissions must be received in the gallery office by Monday August 9, 2010.
 
FEE: There is no submission fee.

SUBMISSION FORM [PDF]: Download CALL FOR ARTISTS Portrait

Lewis Hyde's 'Top Ten'

Donald Judd, 100 untitled works in mill aluminum (detail), 1982–86, aluminum. Installation view, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX, 2009. Photo: Douglas Tuck.

Check out Lewis Hyde's 'Top Ten' in this summer's edition of ArtForum - note #2 and 6 in particular! (links courtesy of newsgrist). Of course, #1 is hard to beat.

1

DONALD JUDD, 100 UNTITLED WORKS IN MILL ALUMINUM, 1982–86 (CHINATI FOUNDATION, MARFA, TX)

This installation is the American Taj Mahal. Spend an afternoon in the old army artillery sheds—now walled in glass––and watch the sunlight endlessly transform Judd’s simple-complex boxes. In the distance, thirty miles across the Chihuahuan Desert, Goat Mountain marks the horizon. [LINKS: YouTube; Chinati]

2

THOMAS JEFFERSON, LETTER TO ISAAC McPHERSON, AUG. 13, 1813

The seminal American defense of the common ownership of art and ideas. Economists now like to speak of the fruits of human wit and imagination as being “nonrival.” How much more eloquent was Jefferson: “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.” Read the whole letter and count up how many books Jefferson just happened to have at hand to make his argument. [LINK]

6

DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS’ STATEMENT OF BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE (CENTER FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, WASHINGTON, DC; NOV. 18, 2005)

If my film history of the 1950s uses TV clips, do I need to clear permissions? If one scene has a radio playing in the background, do I need to pay for music rights? This handy pamphlet does more than help filmmakers answer such questions; it helps them claim the “fair use” rights that copyright law actually bestows on all creative artists. Now all we need is a national movement to do the same for each and every creative community. Artists arise! You have nothing to lose but those endless permissions hassles! [LINK]