For Art's Sake

I think Robrt hit it right on the nail.Coming from a small town in Mississippi, and being a self -taught artist, I have seen some great art from a truly diverse mixture of artists.But the one underlying theme that seems to remain the same is that the core of the inspiration, the true passion of the art and artist is overshadowed with the superficial addition of advertising geared to attract rather than inspire.I love first fridays, I really do. It is a great way to expose the public to what art really is. But at the same time the exposure must have substance, a definiton of what is to create and be creative.Not just music and pictures to entertain. It is more than that.The artists are telling their story through the medium.A true artist does work from emotion,inspiration, life, passion.If this message is lost between "seeing" and not "feeling" the art then maybe the approach should be re-evaluated.The times we live in now are so saturated with shallow images and text is hard to distinguish between real depth and true emotion.So I say enjoy the open galleries and imaginative nightlife of first fridays but know that some of the art you are viewing is yelling something real , something you can connect with.Some of the sounds you hear go deeper than just your ear drums.

There was a panel in the early days of Artlink,held at Herberger Theater where AZ Republic art critic Richard Nilsen said he just wasn't given the space to cover most of the art events and shows. That was probably 20 years or so ago. It certainly hasn't gotten better.The Phoenix Gazette art writer never wrote anything but a repeat of the artist statement, and she would tell anyone that asked that she wasn't an art critic. I've generally been impressed with the work by Kathleen Vanesian, but miss the solid criticism of Ed Lebow. If Robrt Pela could write art crticism with the same education and savvy withwhich he writes theater, reviews, we'd have a better art city.

Leaving Phoenix was the best decision I ever made in my art career.......

This is part of the dilemma: We want to be able to have a lively atmosphere where we can also make some serious art deals. Other cities wish they had that problem...maybe not the ones that count, but hey.

Some great names of some great artists already here, some with whom I went to school. We have seriously great artists in Phoenix-Metro with some great ideas, all listed...do we really have a problem?

The road closures may have led up to this feeling, but it's been there since I've been going ('00)...are you a partier or a serious artist? Can we coexist?

Third Friday openings are generally about art openings, and First Fridays have been about the crowds and all that entails. That's fine, right? But if I miss a Third Friday, I may just skip out on the subsequent First Friday.

Also, I'm not a buyer, even though I seriously love art.

I truly appreciate this article. Robrt you never cease to hit the nail on the head in your articles. I encourage people to continue supporting the true arts organizations in this city, and prove that we can build and show great art. Please add Robrt's gallery, and look out for the Icehouse in the new year. I just began working with them, and we have lots of big plans for the year. Let's make this better! Here's the new Icehouse Facebook page, where you will be able to find all the up-to-date info on events, office space, and event space: http://www.facebook.com/home.p...

I'm tired of people bashing 1st Friday as a big party. Guess what, that is what’s needed for all of these galleries and businesses to survive. How many times are these places getting visitors the rest of the month? Your pretentious article proves your inability to look past your own nose. There are plenty of established artists showing at most of the galleries. Just because they're not your friends is your main concern? Get over the BS, First Friday is about Art! That’s why we have 15k walking through the galleries. Just because they are not necessarily "Art Buyers" whom line your pockets, doesn't mean they are not enjoyers of the Phoenix Art Scene. Get over it and take your art and bad attitude towards a great event elsewhere. As for me I've been an artist and musician in Phoenix for 23 years and have owned a gallery for 5. Love it or leave it.

While I cannot disagree with Pela's basic premise -that partying has surpassed artistic dialogue and support within the downtown arts as the norm - I don't believe his editorial tells the whole story.

The arts has always had a "marriage of convenience" with the media. However, in Phoenix, the Az Republic has left it widowed and New Times has filed for divorce.

I remember when the Az Republic included a local appearance by performance artist Frank Moore (internationally-known for his night-long pieces that include participatory audience nudity) in its Fall Arts Guide, when the Phoenix Gazette gave sustained ink to local arts, and New Times pushed the envelope past both daily papers by providing keen in-depth coverage of the more cutting-edge cultural happenings.

That was a long time ago.

Now the Rep has trouble getting the facts straight, the Gazette is long gone, and New Times regularly substitutes the depth of facts with surface flash in its online blogs.

When it comes to Jackalope Ranch, research and details are too often sacrificed for what amounts to Doodle Journalism.

The best talented and undiscovered artists can hope for is coverage of what they're wearing or how many tattoos they may have, possibly with a hyperlink to their art website included. Instead of writing about what these artists do, and why - even if in the context of a more superfluous topic - the new standard is that hyperlinks are used to fill the void left by a lack of more relevant story content in such articles.

My criticism is less about what's NOT written about but more of what isn't included when it is written.

That's not to say there aren't a few culture writers at New Times who regularly place substance over style, by doing more research and avoiding cookie-cutter questions, producing lengthier blogs that are far more satisfying. But it's seemingly not the norm, which may have more to do with editorial direction rather than what all the writers are capable of producing.

Even opportunities to combine hard facts with some flash are regularly missed. As recently as this Tuesday, in its coverage of that night's First Friday street closure meeting, the blog ended with "don't fret if you can't watch the sparks fly tonight -- we'll have a recap tomorrow right here" - then Wednesday came and went, with no recap being published.

I only wish the culture blog (and its sister blog, Up on the Sun, which reads like Pitchfork-Lite, at the expense of other music genres) would reach for the high-content bar set by NT's political/social blog entries. I don't believe I'm alone in that sentiment.

Bottom line, vacuous coverage will only encourage vacuous culture.

I commend Pela for speaking out, and becoming part of the solution to return a more art-centric role to the arts scene, but my question is this: Will the rest of Jackalope Ranch follow suit, by more regularly digging past the surface to provide more insightful detail in its coverage?

Heck, it may even inspire other galleries in downtown to follow Pela's curatorial lead. That's kind of how marriages work, even ones of convenience.

There are a number of really great artists who were shoowing their work prior to the downtown art scene and who have been sort of 'silent' over the past ten years or so. I would love to see a new show of the work Suzanne Klotz is doing these days. Her work always inspired. Yeah, I'm old, but her art was always wonderful and deeply layered and complex and worth a trip to wherever she was showing it.

TL;DR

"I don't like the art being presented at certain galleries. I also don't like the artists being presented at those galleries. I'm inserting a promotion for the gallery shows I am putting together. Here are a list of artists I like."

The above is all this article boils down to. His taste conflicts with theirs, wah wah. Judging by the artists he fawns over in the first half of the article his taste is pedestrian at best, uninformed at worst.