Drawing Now 2019 highlights

Drawing Now is the name of a historical exhibition that was held in the MoMA at 1976. Check out the MoMA page, its a real treasure, it allows you to dive into every bit of this exhibition. dont miss the catalog, the press release (typing machine is so nostalgic ) the artist list, the works with the curator hand writing comments and more…

Fast forward to the present the latest Drawing Now art fair in Paris, has changed artistic directors.

It is interesting to see how much influence a detail like that has on the overall vibe. French cultural icons can be rather ‘old white man club’, It is nice to replace them with a fresh international Fem touch. get a glimpse of what the fair looks like here:

My first impression was the Pierrette Bloch’s stand, warm grey walls brings out the white paper so elegantly, the press release of the gallery here .

Just around the corner at Gallery Eric Dupont you can see a beautiful expo by Paul Pagk

Hanns Schimansky: L’Espace de la ligne at the Jeanne Bucher Jaeger Gallery

Congratulation to my friend Katrin Bremermann for her duo with German Stegmaier at Goethe institute in Paris and great job to martin for putting that together

I always thought Paul and German represents two sides of the same coin in the way they exploit their frame.

It was a nice surprise to see Marine Pagès papers at Gallery Bernard Jordan. hopefully we will see more of them in Paréidolie Marseilles in the summer …

Fix & Flow

One of my tools to decode a situation is to name the FIX & FLOW

Going to the studio is a FIX, the work I do is the FLOW

Going to surf is a FIX, which wave you get is the FLOW

A camera is a FIX the pictures we take are the FLOW

This blog is the FIX, the posts in it are the FLOW

I find its better to deal only with the FIX to enable the FLOW, rather than trying to micro manage the flow.

For ex: taking the kids to book store once a week is a FIX which book they take is their FLOW.

Control system deal with both FIX & FLOW

Support system deal only with the FIX to Enable the FLOW

New print

Body painting …. boom!

Table painting

The hardware store is my constant source of inspiration. This wooden table comes with a metric ruler on it, folded legs, and a suitcase handle. I could not resist it’s charm…

PewDiePie & Socrates

If you are raising a teen you must have heard of this guy PewDiePie, He has more than 90 millions followers on YouTube and considered by his fans as a culture hero/ gamer / meme reviewer / an original creator and a celeb / artist.

anyhow

I am not sure what made this oxymoron happened but here PDP charming his way through the republic by Socrates, written by Plato.

And why should you listen?

One of the ideas discussed in this book is that philosophers are happier because they are all about the truth.

What is the truth? I know I am extremely interested in how things are. how systems work. what works what doesn’t work. expression and impact. Is that the truth?

Looking at the art world we are such a living example of how each has his own truth and each argues that is the official truth.

So can one be interested in “D” truth or its forever a personal context truth?

Hope for the Niche Artist

The world is changing, and with it the industries. The value exchange in the world, used to be structured into hierarchical industries with gatekeepers etc, now undergoing transformation.

Just like sandman turned to sand in the marvel spider-man movie the art industry is going through a similar process

And just like sandman it will be rebuilt again, only different.

The major difference is that niche artists are becoming the masters of their universe.

With networking thinking, and the shift in the means of production. any original artist with a mailing list will be able to find ways to make a living that are not entirely dependent on the system.

Artist will learn to see themselves as small business owners and their bread and butter will come from their mailing list.

sales too

The work with traditional relationships with dealers, galleries, curators and museum directors is not going to disappear, we artists need and love our dealers and curators, but we are becoming partners in crime rather than dom subs.

Ward Schumaker and the Painter's Radio

When I do my walks, I sometimes TedTalk to myself, explaining universal truths etc. One of my favorites subjects is that we painters are tuned to a transparent radio and we do our best to broadcast it to the public who cant hear it otherwise, the talk goes on and on about the structure of the old art world and how it shifts now, but to stay on point, some of us are tuned to the exact same radio station, hence explaining why the natives in the Australian desert and the 60’s in New York have so much in common.

Today I have this great example to share, with you.

When I shared my latest series Yellow pages, my dear San-Fransisco friend Ward replayed he was working on a book with the same title and similar colors, here, have a look :

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Isn’t that great ?

you can learn more of Ward’s work here

fine art portfolio: https://ward-schumaker.squarespace.com
tumblr images: http://wardschumaker.tumblr.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schumakerward/

WeDraw

Imagine someone telling you, Listen, I found this crazy app, It connects you to yourself, the universe and other people, all at the same time, and it costs nothing !

Hmmmmm what ??

But I’snt drawing just that?

Hasn’t it been doing just that since the dawn of humanity? After eating, taking a s**t, and having sex, humans practiced leaving a mark pretty early on. Think prehistoric cave walls and all.

Drawing is a free intimate tool, that requires no WiFi, no battery and no 1000€ devices.

Who ever you are, where ever you are, you can log in, explore and connect.

kids knows it, if you ever raised one, you know it takes forever to make a kid stop drawing on everything all the time.

Henry David Thoreau said 'All good things are wild and free.'

Thought of the day

This trio is my personal conclusion after three days of listening to Seth Godin.

he gives permission to respect the work, to be generous, and to redefine your audience.

Liberating and motivating.

The war of art

The War of Art is a 2002 non-fiction book written by the American author Steven Pressfield.

The book highlights the forms of resistance faced by artists, entrepreneurs, athletes, and others who are trying to break through creative barriers.

This is how you overcome it

Listen here:

https://stevenpressfield.com/