Art Space Talk: Todd Kelly

Todd Kelly has stated that painting is largely about imagination, momentary inspiration, present consciousness and serendipity. He firmly believes that painting can make the world a better place. Todd lived in London for a few years. While there he was involved with several exhibits in London, including exhibits at the National Portrait Gallery and Seven Seven Contemporary. He has recently moved back to New York. Todd studied at Anderson University and the School of Visual Arts.

Sous-bois #2, 2007, oil, acrylic, spray paint & collage, 24' x 18'

Brian Sherwin: Todd, I read that you studied at Anderson University and the School of Visual Arts in NYC. What can you tell us about your academic background? Did you have any influential instructors? Do you have any advice for students who are considering these choices?

Todd Kelly: Anderson University is a church related school I chose because of my upbringing in an extremely fundamental Christian church. The school, considered rather liberal by the church I left behind, was perfect for me as a way to begin stepping out of a boxed-in existence and eventually make my way to New York. Anderson U. had a surprisingly good art program at the time and there were two key instructors, Jason Knapp and Kathleen Dugan, who were instrumental in my development. Knapp was like a demanding, belligerent art dad always demanding more and never doubting that it was possible and Dugan played the art mom spending loads of time helping me develop personally and artistically and nagging me to apply for everything everywhere until I got accepted.

For my graduate work I went to the School of Visual Arts specifically because I was madly in love with the work of Jessica Stockholder at the time and she was teaching there. On the first day of class I excitedly told her why I was there. She laughed and told me a story about meeting an artist whose work she loved but he proved to be rather uninspiring so she told me was better to just focus on the work. I think she was right.

The most valuable aspect of getting a grad degree is meeting other artists and beginning to build a network. No one ever told me this. I worked two jobs through grad school and spent the rest of the time in the studio. I’ve had to play catch-up with my social art skills ever since. If I had it to do all over again I would definitely choose a more affordable school and spend more time just hanging out with fellow artists.

Sous-bois #4, 2007, oil, acrylic, spray paint & collage, 24' x 18'

BS: Todd, you have had several exhibits in London, including exhibits at the National Portrait Gallery. What do you enjoy most about exhibiting? Has exhibiting helped your work to mature-- as in the feedback you take in from observers?

TK: Well, I love the attention, to be honest and, of course, it’s great to get feedback from viewers. Such things help me justify all the time and money I spend making paintings, but I’m still not certain how it helps the actual process of making a painting. When I make work it’s just me inside my head letting it come out. I think any maturity in my work has come from changes that have happened to me personally. I recently left London and moved back to New York and since the move have shown my work very little. Often I invite a group of friends over to the studio for drinks and that has seemed like enough of a ‘show’ for me right now.

BS: You have created several series of paintings. I must say that I enjoy the landscape series and Rocky Valley series the most. Why do you enjoy working in series?

TK: I don’t really start on a work with the thought that it will make a good ‘series’. Painting is largely about imagination, momentary inspiration, present consciousness and serendipity. I start a painting always believing it will end up at a certain place but it never does. So I start it again. Before I know it I have a series on my hands, each piece coming closer to the original idea and simultaneously suggesting a new approach.

Last September I made myself stop working on the Cezanne inspired Sous-bois paintings because I was afraid of being trapped in the same painting forever. I spent about six months working on paintings with my name in them and then almost without realizing it started painting the Sous-bois thing again. Evidently, there is still loads to work on in that Sous-bois series.

Sous-bois #6, 2007, oil, acrylic, spray paint & collage, 24' x 18'

BS: What can you tell us about your art in general? Gives us some insight into the thoughts behind the work...

TK: The magic of painting, whatever else might be going on with the image, is primarily the creation of space on a flat surface. I’ve been fascinated for a while now with the work of Cezanne, particularly a painting titled ‘Sous-bois’ which translates into something like ‘underbrush’. It is composed of a loose arrangement of marks that appear to depict the dense interior of a forest. I’ve been making my own series of paintings titled ‘Sous-bois’ in which I layer marks to create a sense of space.

Since moving back to NY I’ve become interested in the way a graffiti artist creates space by tagging a location; the creation of space by claiming it. I’ve been working on a series of paintings that use my name and initials in the composition. Spatially, the paintings are flat but wherever they hang they create a space that is particularly mine. I think, in all honesty, that is what every artist seeks. Not just the depiction of space on a flat surface but the creation of a space that can be named as one’s own.

Abstracts #1, 2008, oil, acrylic, spray paint & collage, 24' x 18'

BS: What about influences? Are you influenced by any specific artists or art movements?

TK: My influences change over time. Early in my high school days I came across a section of books in the local library about Warhol, Johns and Rauschenberg. I loved looking at those books; I loved looking at what these guys were doing compared with the high-minded essays being written about them. It seemed like they were getting away with something!

A couple artists I love looking at right now are Laura Owens and Katherine Bernhardt. When looking at their work I have a sense that they have really been there and this thing really happened as a product of the moment.

Abstracts #2, 2008, oil, acrylic, spray paint & collage, 24' x 18'

BS: What are you working on at this time? Can you give our readers some insight into your current work?

TK: I’ve just stretched three more canvases with the intention of carrying on the Sous-bois series. Now that there has been a six-month break since the last Sous-bois painting I’m calling them ‘abstracts’. Also, I’m continuing to work out some paintings that use my name or initials as a takeoff on the graffiti idea. That’s pretty much what is happening in the studio right now.

Abstracts #3, 2008, oil, acrylic, spray paint & collage, 24' x 18'

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

TK: Maybe I’m just holding on to youthful naivety, but I still think that painting can make the world a better place.

You can learn more about Todd Kelly by visiting his website-- www.toddkellyart.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Christian Schumann

The majority of Christian Schumann's paintings are like a visual car-crash of images within images-- laced with a dash of social commentary and childhood wonder. Christian allows his intuition to guide his paintings. He has stated that vagueness and random selection is actually obvious intent. Over the years his intent has shifted from the abject/grotesque to the desire to include everything in giant amalgams of impossible visual sculptures to self-parody to the natural world to the internal world. In a sense, his works are just as complex as the reality we face in our daily lives-- lives that can be deceptively simple on the surface.

Christian has been involved in dozens of group exhibitions throughout the world-- including exhibitions at The Chelsea Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, MoCa, Mary Boone Gallery, and Dunn and Brown Contemporary. He has also had solo exhibitions at the Gagosian Gallery and White Cube. His work has been featured in several publications-- including, Art in America, Juxtapoz, White Cube (first edition), Time Out London, Frieze, and ARTnews. Christian studied at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Plastic Youth, 2007, Acrylic on canvas, 52" x 74"

Brian Sherwin: Christian, you studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. What can you tell us about your academic background? Did you have any influential instructors? Do you have any advice for students who are considering SFAI?

Christian Schumann: I graduated from SFAI in 1992 with a BFA. The program at that time (and most likely to this day) stressed a diversification of fields of study, which resulted in my actually spending a lot of time in the PV (performance/video) department - which they now call New Genres. I took several classes with Tony Labat and Doug Hall there and was exposed to tons of material that I would not have otherwise.

Most of my painting classes revolved mostly around studio time, with no single teacher really acting as mentor. Perhaps I was too stubborn for that sort of thing as I had my own ideas about how to do things then. Drew Beattie taught a collaborative painting class which I'd say is one of the better painting experiences I had at SFAI.

The other students attending there at the time were a highlight. I guess if I had advice for any potential students of any art school that would be to make a lot of friends - interact and try to spend time with the most creative, constructive people you can find as these friendships could really matter later on. Once you're out of school the ability to experiment with your work will probably be usurped by the necessity to earn rent, so use your time wisely and the school's resources as much as possible. Also: have fun, be weird and avoid junkies.

Inside, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 86"x90"

BS: You have been involved in exhibits in Spain, Germany, Italy, England, and the United States-- including group exhibits at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Chelsea Art Museum, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary art, MoCA... the list goes on. How have these exhibiting experiences influenced you?

CS: Not sure that exhibiting in any specific place has been an influence that had any affect on my work although having had several shows I have also had the resulting opportunity to be reviewed in print a number of times. I'd say reviews have influenced me more than the actual exhibits as they have finally inured me to criticism from the outside world. It took years to not care what others think about what I make and that change in outlook has probably influenced me to date more than any particular show.

BS: One could say that you have been successful in bridging the gap between the mainstream and underground scene. Your paintings have been embraced by both. For example, your work has been featured in Juxtapoz, the popular magazine that features underground art, but you have also been featured in Art in America-- which commonly supports work that is considered mainstream. What are your thoughts concerning this opinion?

CS: Well, I only got to be in Juxtapoz because I was lucky enough to make some collaborative drawings with Gary Panter that they reproduced; I probably wouldn't have been included were it not for Gary. That being said, I think I tend to fall into a gray area between the two worlds, especially with my earlier paintings which have a more direct visual relationship with what I guess people call lowbrow nowadays.

I don't know, categorization is difficult as I tend to be open-minded regarding style and change my own methods of painting often. I've absolutely always been drawn to comics and that is an influence, as a result there is a part of the world that will always look down upon my work as "cartoony doodling" and therefore incapable of being serious work. Not much I can do about that.

Homestead, 2005, acrylic on panel, 40"x50"

BS: Christian, your paintings have been described as, "gaudily-colored, cartoon-expressionist images with an undercurrent of social commentary and personal suffering". Others have described your work as "fantastically painted nonsense". Give us some insight into your paintings... can you tell our readers about the thoughts behind your paintings and the intentions you have in creating them?

CS: Gee, it really depends on the painting. Despite most of the work's general similarities they are improvisational and since I don't plan anything the starting point of each painting creates a situation where I somehow have to re-learn how to solve a painting every time I begin. Adding to this, up until recently I would try not to repeat myself or make a series of work that had similar attributes - this was a habit of constant change which really in the long run makes things difficult because I would purposefully exclude successful ideas to the point where I would abandon things I should have kept experimenting with. Fortunately there's always the future and I have time to re-examine some old tricks.

To focus on my intentions - just as the compositions are made so is the meaning. I trust in the weight of subconscious thought which is all-pervasive. Vagueness and random selection is actually obvious intent. Over the years that intent has shifted from the abject/grotesque to the desire to include everything in giant amalgams of impossible visual sculptures to self-parody to the natural world to the internal world. So far I only wish I'd painted it all better.

Empty Bottles and Full Ashtrays, 2002, gouache on paper, 26"x40"

BS: Can you tell us more about your process? For example, do you work intuitively or do you create sketches and preliminary drawings before working on a painting? Do you need a certain environment in order to work-- specific music playing for example? Or do you just have at it, so to speak?

CS: I never make sketches. Everything is developed in an intuitive manner. The approach I developed growing up is derived from a mush of ideas from expressionism and the Beats. In painting, one act creates the idea of the next - it is a conversation of sorts which slowly turns into a frustrating puzzle with my own limited nature. Increasingly, the only requirement I need for working is just to have time to do it in the first place as the whole process requires so much of it.

BS: What about influences? Are you influenced by any specific artists or art movements? Have any specific world events inspired you?

CS: Absolutely everything has been an influence - hesitant to name specifics as I'll leave people out unless I write a half-page of names - I'm sure just looking at my work reveals it all. The trick for me is to move past direct influences and into my own world where I don't know what I'm doing or going after, where the influence is unknown.

No specific world event has inspired me but as I am fairly cynical in regards to humanity there is a veiled political aspect to what I do. Maybe my outlook is internalized in the paintings somehow - a vague reflection of my reaction to world events. Hope that doesn't sound too silly. I did once write that art can change a viewer's outlook and behavior which a critic noted was a childish notion but for me I still believe art can subtlety transmit new avenues of thought and change individual beliefs.

BS: What are you working on at this time? Can you give our readers some insight into your current work?

CS: Right now, a series of drawings, watercolor on paper. Improvised landscapes that could be described as a sort of speculative fiction. Over time these fictional internal worlds I have been painting have become denser and denser so now they are quite detailed and have recently reminded me of my childhood when I would pull apart kneaded erasers until they formed strange ripped-apart yet fluffy sculptural shapes. I would play with this stuff until there were all kinds of tiny surface events going on and then I would just look at it like a contemplation stone. I think that sensation is what I'm going to try to get at with this work.

Astral, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 40"x50"

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

CS: A few years ago I became totally uninterested in images. Maybe it was seeing one too many paintings like my own with stuff like cartoon eyes and text and the rest. It all became too knowable and in a way, senseless. At that point I began to make paintings using no images but with the same amount of brush strokes. They are paintings of painting, mark by mark.

Slowly, after realizing this shift from an ugly external culture to an abstract, natural form I have gained a new appreciation for human imagination and the idiosyncratic individual, it's relationship to nature and the possibility that our imagination is all we have to fix the horrors that remain ahead of us.

For me, I guess I shall remain childish and see painting and art as the symbol of what we are capable of - and the more unknowably weird our art is then so much the better and whether it's cartoony or abstract or figurative or minimal, it remains human.

You can learn more about Christian Schumann by visiting his website-- www.christianschumann.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Zach Stein

Zach Stein's installations, monotypes, and paintings tend to be experimental in nature. This is achieved by the fact that Zach utilizes a variety of mediums in an intuitive manner-- everything from hot glue to rum. He is an artist who is not afraid to test the limits of his materials. Zach is currently a student at the University of Kentucky.

Untitled, Dimensions: 18x24, Medium: monotype.

Brian Sherwin: Zach, you are currently an undergrad at the University of Kentucky. Can you tell us about your experience in the program? Do you have any influential instructors? Also, what are your plans after graduation?

Zach Stein: Finally getting the chance to attend college and pursue a career that I enjoy is great. Out of high school I was not "college material" so I didn’t go. I worked shitty factory jobs but I always managed to keep a journal and sketchbooks to keep my sanity. After marrying my wife we decided that it was possible for me to go to school. I was unsure that I could survive academia until a friend of mine took me to visit George Szekely’s art ed class. His philosophy of artistic freedom inspired me a lot.

The program at UK is trying hard to work with what little we have. There are actually a lot of changes going on right now. New faculty members like Logan Grider and Ebony Patterson have helped to re-energize the department and have taken the critiques to another level. I am seeing better work from many of my classmates and there is a greater sense of community.

As for my future plans, I am trying extremely hard not to think about that right now. I want to go to a good grad school. I also love Kentucky. Since I am already entering the race late I have been very anxious about catching up. Many people say you have to go to New York or L.A. to be successful, but with the Internet and through places like Myartspace, people throughout the world can see my work. So, for the moment I am easing my anxiety by planning on teaching here for a couple of years and then finding a low residency program for my MFA. Ultimately, I want to teach at a college level, I am inspired by the creative energy that circulates there.

There is no Spoon, Dimensions: variable (pvc=8x8x8), Medium: wire, pvc, hot glue.

BS: I really enjoy your installation titled 'There is No Spoon'. In this piece you utilized wire in a manner that reminds one of lines drawn upon paper. It is as if the piece is an 'atmospheric drawing'-- lead has been replaced by wire.Was this your intention? Tell us more about There is No Spoon...

ZS: Every spring there is a student drawing competition that traditionally consists of still life and figure drawings. In 2007 I entered a deconstructed sketchbook of doodles and surprised myself by winning. This gave me a much needed ego boost (some may say too much) and I was determined to come back next year and challenge concepts of drawing and challenge my classmates to push themselves to think beyond tradition.

The title is pulled from a line in The Matrix, which basically states that the only way to bend a spoon is to realize it does not exist. I often pull my titles from pop culture references that may not be directly related to the piece but may help to add another layer depth or spin the concept in another direction for those who get the connection.So, its intention was to be a drawing that challenged drawing.

There is no Spoon (detail)

BS: Can you tell us more about your installations and the choice of materials that you use?

ZS: I have been trying to take a minimalist approach to my work lately. I used to throw everything I had into a piece. I still do on occasion, but I have found more inspiration in the simplicity of an image and slowly building upon that. I use wire because it relates most directly to line drawings. Initially, hot glue was just used as a connector, but as I began to appreciate the webs and drips it created I wanted it to play a more active roll in the work.Recently, I have taken a greater interest in plastic and I have been experimenting in what I can do with them. I enjoy finding new materials and playing with them to find inspiration.

BS: Zach, I also enjoy your monotypes. Tell us about your thoughts behind them...

ZS: My monotypes are actually where a lot of my current work originated. They actually began as a protest toward the new faculty. Any such transition is tough, they had to flex their muscles to let the snot-nosed students know who’s boss and my snotty little ego wasn’t getting stroked enough.

My only safe haven that semester was monotype class. My protest began by making a bunch of quick trace monotypes of "Fuck You" drawings. My intent was to present these crude sketches at the students Open Studio event as "what the new faculty taught me." Being one who never likes to waste process I printed the plate after about 50 small sketches and instantly fell in love.

The process is fueled by my interest in quantum physics, the infinite, and other such things that prove how little I know when I try to talk about them.

untitled, Dimensions: 18x24, Medium: monotype

BS: These works appear to be very complex-- how do you go about creating them? Do you work intuitively or is there a great deal of planning involved?

ZS: My work is very intuitive. I find the process very meditative. My goal is not to place content in my work, but to allow the viewer (myself included) to find their own meaning. I do have interest and influences that may affect my work but I want each viewer to come to their own conclusion. I find myself least satisfied with the work I try to force.

BS: You have also created a number of paintings. Perhaps you could tell us about your paintings?

ZS: My abstract paintings are very experimental. They usually involve a variety of mediums and a lot of mess. I enjoy the crayon paintings because they involve using a blowtorch and rum, but I usually drink as much as I burn and end the night chasing a run away flame around the floor. I don’t make those too often.

My goal when painting is to try and be as hands off as possible. I want to allow the nature of the materials used to play off each other. I also like to use layers of gel medium and resin to help give the painting a physical depth. My use of color is fairly random and probably makes hard-core color theorists cringe.

The Garden of Eden, Dimensions: 24x24, Medium: crayon, oil pastel, acrylic, rum, flame .

BS: What about specific influences? Are you influenced by any specific artists or art movements?

ZS: Early influences come more from music and film. I am a victim of MTV. I am very fond of industrial and punk music, but anything experimental is always good. I have always called Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Ministry my holy trinity.

I actually suffer from looking at too many artists. Influences include: Joan Miro, Paul Klee, Cy Twombly, Mark Rothko, Yves Klein, Sarah Lucas, Banks Violette, Sarah Sze, Carroll Dunham, Sol Lewitt, Diana Cooper, Jake and Dinos Chapman and anything else that passes by.

BS: Which do you enjoy creating the most? The installations, the monotypes, or the paintings? Do you think at some point you will focus on one over the others-- or do you plan to continue branching out with your artistic direction?

ZS: I have to work on multiple things at once. It depends on my mood and what kind of space I am in. I just enjoy creating something. My declared major is Painting, fortunately I believe in loose definitions.

Untitled, Dimensions: 18x24, Medium: monotype.

BS: What are you working on at this time?

ZS: Monotypes, for some reason I can’t stop. Painting in oil, for the part of me that feels I need to do something traditional. Fusing plastic, to do something with the endless supply of grocery bags, it makes me feel as though I can save the planet on my own…not sure where it’s going.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

ZS: I’m just glad that I am able to make work that people enjoy. It’s great that there are places like Myartspace where I can post my work and get feedback. It inspires me to want to work more just to know someone is looking. Thank You Very Much.

Zach Stein is a member of the www.myartspace.com community. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Law: Imagine Fair Use

Gary Schuster, an attorney with Jacobowitz & Gubits, LLP (Walden , New York), has once again offered his time and knowledge-- this time concerning fair use.

Imagine Fair Use
By Gary M. Schuster

A lawsuit involving the rich and famous has just resulted in a court decision that illustrates the copyright concept of fair use and may forever change music licensing for certain films.

The lawsuit involves the song "Imagine" by John Lennon, one of the world’s most well-known and frequently performed songs. The song’s copyright is owned by Lenono Music, the music publishing company formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Lenono Music has the exclusive right to reproduce, sell and distribute the song, and to authorize others to do so. That includes the right to have the music "synchronized in timed-relation" with audiovisual images. In other words, the copyright owner can issue a "synch license" for the music to be used in films, TV programs, advertisements or videos.

A filmmaker recently produced a documentary entitled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. The film examines intelligent design, a variation of the theory of creationism. In the film, a scientist argues that greater knowledge of science among the general public would "lead to the erosion of religion." The film’s narrator, Ben Stein, a well-known author and former speech writer for President Nixon, then states that this scientist’s ideas are not original. Instead, he is "merely lifting a page out of John Lennon's song book." The film then plays about 15 seconds of "Imagine" including the words "Nothing to kill or die for/and no religion too." The footage behind the music is a military parade, giving way to a close-up of Joseph Stalin.

The film's producers did not obtain a synch license from Lenono Music, and Lenono sued for copyright infringement. On June 2, 2008, Judge Sidney H. Stein handed a victory to the film producers, agreeing with them that use of the song was permitted as "fair use" and a license was not needed.

Fair use is a very old exception to copyright. Initially it was judge-made, but it is now found in §107 of the Copyright Act. Fair use permits the copying and distribution of copyrighted material, without the owner’s consent, for purposes of criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research. Fair use is where copyright law gives way to the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and expression. Naturally there are qualifications and conditions. For example, the fact that teaching and scholarship can be grounds for fair use does not mean that a school to make multiple photocopies of an entire textbook for distribution to its students. The school must purchase the textbooks from the publisher. The producers of Expelled, however, convinced the court that their use of "Imagine" was fair use. At the time of writing this article, Judge Stein's decision had not been published, so we cannot be certain of his reasoning. However, based on what we know of the law and the facts we can make some good guesses.

Broadly speaking there are four tests for fair use, of which three are relevant.

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is commercial or non-profit/educational. Expelled is a documentary. Of course, it is also a commercial venture. But as films go, it is not like Harry Potter or Indiana Jones. Its primary purpose is to educate, not entertain, even if it does also seek to make a profit. Apart from the nature of the film is the nature of the use of the song. The song was not used as background music to a love scene or action scene. The song was actually part of the argument of the film, and its use was for the purposes of education, commentary or criticism. The court apparently concluded the purpose and character of the film, and of the use of the song, were non-profit/educational rather than commercial.

2. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. As mentioned, the film used approximately 15 seconds of the song. The full song is approximately 3:14, so approximately 8% of the whole was used. Even so, that 8% was a very famous and recognizable portion of the whole. In many cases this could be enough for infringement, but apparently not here, probably because of the overriding First Amendment considerations.

4. The effect of the use on the potential market or value of the original work. In other words, does the allegedly infringing work seek to supplant and divert sales away from the original work; does it suppress the market or value of the original work. It appears the court concluded that 15 seconds of use in this documentary would not harm record sales, or the likelihood of other film producers seeking synch licenses, or reduce the fees paid for such licenses. However, once again, if not for the overriding First Amendment considerations, the court might well have gone the other way.

The fact that a documentary film producer can now use a song, without a license, if the song is part of the argument of the film, is a bit revolutionary. This case may have long-lasting repercussions, even if limited to documentaries. However, it is entirely possible that Lenono Music will appeal this decision. As wealthy and influential as the Lennon family is, the film’s producers had some heavyweight help of their own, namely, Stanford Law School 's Fair Use Project. Their goal is to "provide legal support to a range of projects designed to clarify, and extend, the boundaries of "fair use" in order to enhance creative freedom." In this lawsuit, so far, they have prevailed. Copyright has given way to the First Amendment.

There is another interesting and similar lawsuit underway right now. The author of the Harry Potter books, JK Rowling, has sued the author of a book called the Harry Potter Lexicon. That book is an unofficial reference guide to the wildly successful book series. The Fair Use Project argues that lexicons have been used for centuries to help readers better understand and appreciate other texts, and that writing a lexicon is impossible without substantial copying from the original text. So once again, it is Copyright vs. The First Amendment. The Rowling trial was held in April and we are now waiting for a decision.

The information in this article is for general information purposes only. It is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice for any particular person or circumstance, or for Internal Revenue Code purposes as described in IRS Circular 230. This article is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney based on your particular circumstances.

Links of Interest:
www.jacobowitz.com
www.jacobowitz.com/schuster.htm

Art Space Talk: Anat Litwin-- HomeBase Project

Anat Litwin at HomeBase III

Anat Litwin is the founder and Artistic Director of the HomeBase Project. The HomeBase Project is an annual site-responsive, community based project exploring the notion of Home. The goal of the project is to cultivate site-specific art projects in non-commercial urban spaces while nurturing artistic communities based on cultural dialog, collaboration and study. The project is designed to take place in gentrified areas, and thus, to engage with the urban environment and wide public. Anat offered her time to answer some of my questions about the HomeBase Project.

Anat is an Israeli artist and curator based in Brooklyn. She received her BFA from the Bezalel Academy, Department of Fine Arts in Jerusalem, Israel in 2001, and her MFA from Hunter College in NY, Department of Combined Media, in 2005. She is the recipient of the American-Israeli Sharet foundation award for outstanding artists 2001, and the receiver of the Mandel award for young artists. She has served as Director of the Makor Gallery and Artists-in-Residence program of the 92nd St. Y 2005-2007, and has curated numerous exhibitions in public and private venues.

(photographs provided by Oded Hirsch and Adi Shniderman)

Brian Sherwin: Anat, as you know I recently asked Adi Ezroni and Andrea Loefke about HomeBase III. Adi mentioned that you, as founder and director of the HomeBase Project, would be the best source to find out more about HomeBase III and the long term goals of the HomeBase Project. Can you discuss the history of the HomeBase Project?

Anat Litwin: The HomeBase project began in 2006. At the time I was working full-time as the Director of the Makor Gallery and Makor Artists-in-Residence program of the 92nd Street Y. Through my work on these programs I realized the immense creative potential of an artistic community based on study, creativity, and dialog. Parallel to that I continued my own art practice and received a huge studio space - an entire floor in a brownstone building in Greenpoint, Brooklyn - for a period of two months.

I decided to use this large space to initiate an experimental site-specific art project about Home, and invited a group of diverse artists to participate, each artist receiving a room in the space as a studio for a month, creating a new work about Home. HomeBase was created as a creative platform to explore the meaning of Home while suggesting a new artistic model which combines art, community, real estate and architecture.

The idea for the project was triggered by the question of Home as a question of identity, especially on the background of the rapidly changing NYC real estate world, where just paying basic rent becomes an impossible task - especially for artists - and where most of the residents are migrant.

BS: Anat, you studied at the Bezalel Academy and Hunter College... did some of your ideas about the HomeBase Project stem from those experiences? Has the project gained support from the academic community?

AL: While I studied at Hunter College, I took a few courses about Public Art at the Graduate Center in New York City with Prof. Hariett Senie. These courses had tremendous influence on me and marked the significance, as well as the potential, of art in the public sphere. I became passionate about challenging the boundaries of art in the urban and natural landscape, and wrote a paper titled "Journey as a form of Public art" which traced a group of contemporary artists who used the journey as a medium in there work (Richard Long, Anna Mandietta, Marina Abramovitch, Raffael Lomas, Min Tanaka, Francis Alys and others). This research touched deeply upon the notion of the nomad artist, and in an indirect way raised the question of Home.

Two years later I founded HomeBase, a "wandering" site specific public art project that is all about human and cultural encounters, taking place within the changing urban landscape. The Project is fairly new and has received attention by many art lovers and writers. Jerry Saltz chose the project for critics pick in NYMAG, however it is yet to be reviewed in depth by the academic community.

BS: You served as the Director of the Makor Gallery and have curated numerous exhibitions in public and private venues. How did those experiences help you in the creation of the HomeBase Project? How is the HomeBase Project unique compared to some of the other venues you have worked on?

AL: I served as the Director of the Makor Gallery and Makor Artist-in-Residence program 2005 – 2007. I was nominated to this position about a week after I graduated from Hunter College, with an MFA in fine arts. As a result I guess, I directed a lot of my creative energy towards building these programs and curating different exhibitions at the Makor Gallery.

While grappling with questions of contemporary art display, I began expanding the ways I incorporated artwork into the Makor building. I began utilizing alternative spaces like the hallways, courtyard and the basement as a venue for art. The art and architecture became integrated in an inspiring way, creating a rich experience for the viewer. HomeBase was the first project I did independently in NY, aside of my official role as a Director of the Makor Gallery, and was a big leap into new territories.

HomeBase is all about leaving the institutional gallery space, and the commercial setting, in favor of finding a raw urban site/building in a gentrified neighborhood that would become a base for creative exploration, while taking into consideration the architectural, historical, human and urban environment. It is a not an exhibit but rather a collaborative art project that questions existing codes and roles of consuming and displaying art, and aims to challenge them; The artists are chosen to this project, not the art work, and the curatorial text is replaced with a text that the artist writes directly called "a letter home".

Rather then a manifestation of a theoretical curatorial idea, HomeBase is a live experimental community based project , integrated in the changing urban setting.

BS: I understand that you plan to expand the direction of the HomeBase Project. For example, I read that there are plans to exhibit the next HomeBase somewhere in Germany. Can you give our readers some insight into your future plans for the HomeBase Project?

AL: I would like to step back a moment and speak briefly about the structure of the project: The HomeBase Project is an annual wandering site-specific project, which takes place each Spring in a different raw urban space. The Project is divided into 3 basic phases, each phase three weeks long: Phase I: Cultural Laboratory - includes creating a temporary artistic community of 12-18 artists from diverse cultural and artistic backgrounds, inhabiting a raw urban space and allocating a room for each artist, creating the site specific art projects and sharing 6 group sessions, which include study, lectures and cross cultural dialog. Phase II: Engagement with the Public – Opening our doors to the public and creating a series of events, tours, performances, games, salons, performances, dancing and talks, engaging the public in an interactive way. The project also includes community space that functions as an open stage for the public. Phase III – Documentation of the project: Documenting the entire process as webisodes, on-line postings, film and through a printed catalog.

I find the HomeBase project to be highly meaningful and important as it becomes an alternative model to the existing art market venues as it promotes cross-cultural dialog and community exchange in a direct and effective way. HomeBase is more like a happening, it becomes fully alive only for a short period of time, and then disappears again.

We are planning on this project to take place in different communities internationally, aiming to start in Berlin next year where there is a rich culture of alternative living models. In order to do so we are currently seeking to expand the financial and logistical foundation of HomeBase, in order to enable the expansion of the project.

BS: Are there any plans to turn the project into a traveling exhibit-- as in, moving the project from one location to the next during the span of time that the project is open? Or will the focus remain on one location at a time?

AL: HomeBase is a wandering project opposed to a traveling one, as it is basically site-specific, and includes each year a new group of artists in a new venue. It is open to the public only for the duration of three weeks. This temporary and transitory aspect is key for cultivating a fresh exploration of Home.

Despite the fact that the structure and theme of exploration remains consistent, each project is a completely different experience due to the unique human and urban setting it ocupies. Our aim is to share the project with the public through the documentation materials, including catalog, film, and a series of lectures and salons.

If you are interested in showcasing the documentation of the HomeBase Project at a venue near you, please contact us at info@homebaseproject.com

BS: How can people get involved with the project? Are donations accepted to help fund the project?

AL: HomeBase is a non-or profit artistic and educational project, fiscally sponsored by a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization FJC. We are in need of financial support to continue the project and donations are much appreciated. Contributions can be made on-line. We accept credit card donations through the auspices of JustGive.org. Donors may access FJC's "Make a Donation" page in JustGive using the following link: www.justgive.org/nonprofits/donate.jsp?ein=13-3848582. Your donation is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. To find out more information about becoming a HomeBase supporter or sponsor please visit our website: www.homebaseproject.com.

Currently there is no open application process for artists to participate in HomeBase, but we plan on opening that in the future. We welcome participation through contributing a "letter home' . Please visit the website for more information. We welcome your engagement in the project and appreciate your support.

BS: Was HomeBase III a success?

AL: HomeBase III was a huge success, and attracted about 2,500 visitors, as well as recurring visitors, both neighbors, artists and random passersby, who came back to our Home 3-4-5 times and engaged in the many public events. In addition many viewers experienced the project through the webisodes and on-line communication.

It was a big three week long happening which I am now overcoming…. The enthusiastic responses, and general engagement of the public proved the deep need for such a project to exist. On a deeper level HomeBase has been a very special and transformative experience that included human and cultural transactions on both a broad and intimate level, and suggested a different set of rules between artist, viewer and community.

HomeBase III: till death do us Anat Litwin

BS: Would you like to tell our readers about the space you created at HomeBase III?

The Room I created for HomeBase III was an installation in the living room on the third floor, inspired by the exploration of home as a ceremonial space. I was seeking to utilize the architecture of the space to create a twilight zone of the uncanny and the mystical, relating to home as a hybrid of sanctuary and an investigation room in which covenants are honored and questioned. The work was titled "till death do us", and it dealt with the union of a couple as the center drama in a living room.

The space was shut from the exterior world by white shades and included in its center as a stage, a red carpet (red aisle) in a form of a red cross, a fan turning slowly, and a recorded humming of the tune "a hole in the bucket". Around this stage I placed different objects brought from my own home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and situated them in a way that animated them as silent witnesses in a ceremony.

HomeBase III: till death do us Anat Litwin

On the wall I placed a legend made out of paper cut-outs and text, that attributed elevated meanings to the objects, connecting the mundane with the sublime, daily cleaning chores, and domestic pets, with Masai Epiphanies. For example simple bright yellow dish washing gloves gained a role of shamanic gloves and where marked as "healer", the old black phone situated on the desk was marked as "redeemer", and the red cross rug was referred to as "salvation". When entering the space the viewer became the performer, attempting to figure out this loaded riddle.

Rather then providing answers I am interested in my work to provoke questions, and extract humorous and poetic meanings out of dysfunctional situations.

HomeBase III: till death do us Anat Litwin

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about the HomeBase Project or HomeBase III?

AL: HomeBase has been a tremendous collaborative effort, it would not have take place without the passion and commitment and generosity of all parts involved. I am thankful to all the partners and team players and artists and visitors and supporters who gave the project life. I do feel lucky to be able to realize a project with such cultural and social meaning. I invite the readers to follow the project to its next station via the internet. Thank you Brian for this interview.

You can learn more about Anat Litwin and the HomeBase Project by visiting the following website-- www.homebaseproject.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Tema Stauffer

Tema Stauffer was born in 1973 and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1995 and received a Master's Degree in Photography from The University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998. She received CAAP grants in 1999 and 2000 for a project photographing dog shows throughout the Midwest. She also contributed a series of photographs shot on ride-alongs with police officers to the CITY2000, an archive of photographs examining the city of Chicago in the year 2000.

A large body of her work was shown at The Minnesota Center for Photography at The Katherine E. Nash Gallery at The University of Minnesota, and in a solo exhibition at The Rochester Art Center in 2004. She has participated in seven group shows at Jen Bekman Gallery and her solo show, "American Stills," opened in October 2004. Fifteen images from this body of work were selected by The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia in Chicago for their Midwest Photographer's Project.

Her work has also been exhibited at The Chicago Cultural Center, The Terra Museum of American Art, The Musee Departmental d' Art Contemporain de Rouchechourt, The Hyde Park Art Center, The Detroit Contemporary, The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, The 3rd Ward Brooklyn, Tyler School of Art, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Adrian College Gallery, Central Lakes College Gallery, The Joymore Gallery, The Butcher Shop Gallery, The Gallery 400, The Icebox Gallery, Heaven Gallery, David Allen Gallery, Jon Oulman Gallery, The Lyceum Theatre Gallery and Moti Hasson Gallery. She was a finalist for the McKnight Photography Fellowship in 2005 and was nominated for the KLM Paul Huf Award in 2008.

American Stills: Winter Gas Station / 2003

Brian Sherwin: Tema, you graduated from Oberlin College in 1995 and received a Master’s Degree in Photography from The University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998. Can you tell us about your academic experiences? Did you have any influential instructors?

Tema Stauffer: My group of friends in the art department at Oberlin was close and incestuous. Some of these friends continue to be an important part of my life in New York and to shape my relationship with photography. I’m glad that I chose to go a small liberal arts college and I am certain that studying literature and history while also studying art inspired my work as a photographer. I also loved living in a small town in Ohio. I liked to drive around in borrowed cars and to explore flea-markets, cemeteries, cornfields and nearby industrial towns like Elyria.

I saw this small town itself, outside the realm of college life, as akin to the setting of a Carson McCuller’s story, except in the Midwest instead of the South. The soulful town drunk, Jerry Goodson, was my main subject throughout three of my four years at Oberlin. I took hundreds of photographs of him dressed and undressed on cheap 35mm film and shot some video as well in the virtually empty rooms of his family’s old house on Lorain Street, and when he left Oberlin to find sobriety, I made trips to visit him at his new home in Cleveland.

While most of these negatives and prints remain in boxes in my parents’ basement, this relationship with Jerry fueled my early interest in photography. I have never since, as a photographer, felt as strong of an attraction for a single subject or reached the same level of sustained intimacy as what I shared with him.

My experience as a graduate student in Chicago felt more independent than my experience at Oberlin, and my focus was entirely on making photographs. Most of the books I read during this period were true crime stories and biographies that I found at The Myopic bookstore in Wicker Park. I lived near Humboldt Park and commuted to a big and ugly urban university. I studied with some great professors, like Esther Parada and Doug Ischar. Doug took me under his wing a little, probably because I was gay, not to mention a little shy and awkward.

The most important experience I had in graduate school was the relationship I formed with a visiting artist and professor from Montreal, Genevieve Cadieux. Her friendship, encouragement and insight were invaluable, and her recommendation to the former director of The Musee Departmental d’ Art Contemporain de Rouchechourt led to my second exhibition after graduate school at this contemporary art museum in a castle in France.

American Stills: Front Yard / 2003

BS: Tema, you currently teach at The School of the International Center of Photography in New York City. How do you find balance between teaching and working on your personal art?

TS: Since the winter of 2006, I have taught two classes per year at the ICP. I teach a class called "Photographing at Night" in the winter and I teach a class called "Photographing the Everyday" in the fall. During these ten-week sessions, I focus on my students’ work and on studying photography through reading, writing and seeing exhibitions. I also work on my images, but most of the trips I make occur when I am not teaching.

I like teaching and being involved in a photography community and sharing a dialogue about photography with students, but I also value having some time away from it to really return to my own work.

Dog Show : Mexican Hairless / Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds / Kalamazoo, MI / May 1998

BS: Tema, one could say that you got your first break with your Dog Show project. You received CAAP grants in 1999 and 2000 for the project, which involved photographing dog shows throughout the Midwest. Can you recall that experience? How did it help you to grow as a photographer?

TS: It might be an overstatement to describe those CAAP grants as a "break," but they did provide some support to develop the Dog Show project. Mostly, I used my own resources to finance the material expenses and the trips that I made to shoot photographs at state and county fairgrounds, hotels, lodges and convention centers in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.

I began working on this project shortly after I finished graduate school, and those next two years were a difficult period in my personal life (which is an understatement).

I left Chicago abruptly to start a new life in Minneapolis and I never felt that the Dog Show project was fully realized. But at that point, I began taking an entirely different approach to making work.For one thing, I questioned my feelings about satirizing these kinds of people and environments, though I had always meant it with some genuine affection and appreciation for their eccentricity.

Chicago police ride-alongs: Officer views body of dog in parking lot of Antioch Haven Homes / Chicago 2000

BS: Since that time your work has involved space and locations that many of us would view without a second thought in our day-to-day lives. However, you photograph them in a way that reveals the surreal quality of life in general. Tell us about the thoughts behind your work …

TS: While I was living in Minneapolis, I started making photographs that examined how ordinary spaces and architecture become surreal and mysterious at exceptional moments that are influenced by light and time of day, which resulted in a series called American Stills. I was constantly looking at places like parking lots and streets and yards and searching for a quiet beauty and otherworldliness, which really is quite an elusive phenomenon to capture, at least for me.

I rarely had access to a car, so sometimes I wandered my neighborhood, and when I did get to make some road trips, I mostly photographed things along the highways. I was less interested in the idea of a subject and more interested in a mood and a quality of light and color.

American Stills : Newark / 2006

BS: Tema, your photographs are often like open visual stories in that viewers can construct their individual interpretation of your work upon observing. Upon viewing your photographs the viewer’s imagination is free to build upon your original intentions. The viewer may create scenes in his or her mind based off of these locations – did a crime occur here? Did young lovers have their first kiss sitting upon those steps? – in that sense there is a level of interaction between you, the viewer, and the photographs. What excites you about that process?

TS: I like mystery and ambiguity. And I am often drawn to people and places that are sad and eerie. I am drawn to mystery in other artists’ work, and I like to leave room for people to wonder and to feel something emotional and even uncomfortable in my own work.

BS: With this in mind … give us an example of places that you explore. Do you create scenarios involving these places in your own mind before photographing them?

TS: As I mentioned above, some of my earlier work was made by simply wandering on foot or in a car and looking for environments that resonated with me based on some combination of light and character. On my most recent trip to Arizona and Utah in April of this year, I was interested in exploring places where violent episodes had occurred in American history, including Colorado City, Mountain Meadows and The City Center Motel in Provo, where Gary Gilmore murdered Ben Bushnell in the summer of 1976.

I also took photographs of anything that struck me in the landscape on the drives to these destinations. I imagined what these places might be like, but I did not plan any scenarios. My work is about searching for beauty and strangeness and sadness in existing settings, and perhaps suggesting a narrative by how I photograph these settings, rather than constructing scenarios.

American Stills : Highway / 2004

BS: Tema, what are you working on at this time? Also, will you be involved with any upcoming exhibitions?

TS: Since I moved to New York City, I have been making trips to other parts of the country to shoot new work. My first trip was to Louisiana, where I shot the image, Back Door, and my second trip was to Florida, where I shot the image, White Horse. I have since been making trips to the West, including California, Texas, Arizona and Utah. I am interested in using the landscape and mythology of the American West to explore themes of masculinity, alienation and violence.

None of these newer images appear yet on my website (www.temastauffer.com) but they can be found on my blog (www.palmaire.blogspot.com). I will be showing both older and more recent images in an exhibition called "8" consisting of work by eight photographers at Randall Scott Gallery which opens on July 11th.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art and the goals that you have?

TS: My goal is to continue to make trips out west to further develop my current project. And ultimately, I would love to see this work arrive at an exhibition and a book.

You can learn more about Tema Stauffer by visiting her website-- www.temastauffer.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Sarah McKenzie

Sarah McKenzie painted aerial views of suburban sprawl for a number of years. In her recent work, she has "zoomed in," to focus on individual tract homes and commercial structures captured in a state of partial construction. These new paintings explore the building process. Upon observation one can discover a metaphor for the activity of painting. Sarah studied at Yale University and the University of Michigan.

Build Up, oil on canvas, 72" x 72"

Brian Sherwin: Sarah, can you recall your academic years? I understand that you studied at Yale University. Did you have any influential instructors? What advice do you have for students considering Yale?

Sarah McKenzie: I loved my undergraduate experience at Yale. Even though I took a lot of art classes (essentially minoring in art), I can't overstate how much I value the top-notch liberal arts education that I received at Yale. I can clearly picture myself, at age 19, "discovering" all these connections between what I was learning in my sociology classes, and my film studies classes, and my art history classes, and my French lit classes... For four years, I felt like light bulbs were coming on in my head daily.

With respect to the undergraduate art program at Yale, when I was there (1989-1993) the approach to teaching art was very traditional- lots of emphasis on drawing from observation and Albers-inspired color and design courses. I got a really good grounding in technical skills and materials, but perhaps not enough exposure to contemporary art. I know the graduate program is very different in that respect, and perhaps the undergraduate program is now, too.

Probably my most influential professor was Robert Reed- I had him for Painting 1, which was a year-long course, and for that year, his class was my first priority. I essentially lived in the painting studio. Reed demanded that level of commitment of time and focus from his students. I learned a lot about discipline and ambition that year. It was Reed who told me, "You have to be a painter," and gave me the boost I needed to decide to pursue this thing professionally.

Construction 5, oil on panel, 20 x 20 inches

BS: Speaking of education... you have taught at several schools since 1998. How do you find balance between that profession and your personal art?

SM: Well, before I started a family, it wasn't too difficult to find a balance. I generally taught three or four days a week and painted the rest of the time, in the evenings and on weekends. I've always learned a lot about my own work through teaching, and it's very motivating to be part of a rigorous academic environment, in any capacity. But I left teaching in the spring of 2006, and I am now pursuing my studio practice full-time.

I had my second child in 2005, and I found it difficult to be a good teacher, a good artist, and a good parent to two young children all at once. Now I paint from 9-5, and evenings and weekends are family time.

BS: Sarah, for a number of years you painted aerial views of suburban sprawl... since 2005 you started to focus on specific structures instead of sprawl. Can you discuss this shift? Also, what do you find interesting about suburban sprawl and those specific structures in regards to your painting practice?

SM: I painted aerial views of sprawl from 1999 to 2005. In particular, I documented areas which formerly had been undeveloped or had been used for agriculture, and were now undergoing a transformation into suburban tract housing. I am fascinated by the mutability of our landscape, how easily it can be reshaped and reconfigured as our socio-cultural needs shift over time. I am dismayed by the cookie-cutter nature of a lot of suburban development, but my aerial paintings didn't take a strong anti-suburbia stance. Instead, they were more focused on the notion of the landscape as a man-made construction, which is so very clear when you look at it from above.

The shift to painting individual buildings under construction actually happened shortly after I switched from a film camera to a digital camera, in 2004. Throughout the years that I was painting aerials, I was always interested in construction sites and the skeletal structures of the incomplete houses, but I never got close enough to the ground to take very satisfying film photos of those structures. When I switched to a very high resolution digital camera, I was suddenly able to zoom in on my photographs in Photoshop, and that opened up a lot of possibilities.

Once the new work took off, in 2005, I realized that I no longer needed to document the houses exclusively from an aerial perspective. The aerial view had been important to the earlier suburban paintings because of the way it flattened out the picture plane and abstracted the landscape. But partially constructed buildings are already inherently abstract.

I love that I find all these Modernist systems and structures--grids, stripes, etc.-- in the rather generic architecture of suburbia. In fact, my newest works are increasingly abstract and formal, with each new building/composition presenting a different set of possibilities and ways to play with paint (color, surface, mark, etc.)

Roof Line, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

BS: You have stated that your work can be interpreted as revealing cracks in the suburban American dream. What are the social implications of your paintings?

SM: This varies from painting to painting, and, in general, I would not assert that my recent work has strong social implications. I am much more concerned with exploring the nature of paintings as objects, and with drawing a connection between the construction of a three-dimensional building and the construction of a picture on a two-dimensional surface.

Many of my recent works include moments of visual rupture, where the picture becomes fragmented. I am applying paint to the surface in incongruent ways, juxtaposing various painting "styles," leaving sections of the painting support unpainted, and otherwise undermining the potential for a unified image. This disruption of the viewer's experience enables him or her to see the picture as a construction, rather than as a cohesive, fixed whole. What I have said is that if any commentary on suburbia remains in the new work, it is in these moments of visual rupture, which can be interpreted as revealing cracks in the suburban American dream. But I think that's fairly subtle.

Occasionally, social commentary does find its way back into the work more overtly. My painting Site, for example, which is currently on view at the Walker Art Center in a show titled "Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes," can be seen, on the one hand, as addressing the relationship between abstraction and representation, but it also comments on the reproducibility of tract housing. The viewer looks through the skeleton of a house under construction in the foreground, to a completed house on a hillside in the distance. There is something dark about the composition; the dominant one-point perspective in the image focuses the viewer's gaze on the house in the background to such an extent that the house seems to be almost threatened, vulnerable.

BS: Sarah, would you like to discuss some of your other influences? For example, do you admire any specific artists?

SM: There's so much great painting coming out of Germany right now, that it's hard not to be influenced by it. Two painters that I think about a lot are Mattias Weischer and Christian Hellmich. Both deal with architectural spaces and play with paint handling and surface. I also really admire the recent paintings of Jules de Balincourt- His show at Zach Feuer last year blew me away, and motivated me to start working with acrylics (along with oils) again. It's exciting to see so many artists of my generation making such good work.

Construction 4 (STEPS), oil on panel, 20 x 20 inches

BS: What are you working on at this time? Can you give our readers some insight into your current work?

SM: At the moment, I am pursuing two new directions in my work. The first is a series of "interiors," based on photographs of a large commercial building under construction. These compositions more minimalist than previous works. I am mainly interested in the transitory nature of these interior spaces: they have dry wall, but no paint yet; they have wiring, but no electrical fixtures. The spaces are eerie, quiet. They are empty, but in a not-yet-inhabited (rather than abandoned) sense. They are full of potential.

In a very different vein, I am planning some works based on photos that I shot of the reconstruction efforts in New Orleans back in March. This work will obviously bring up a lot of social issues- I haven't yet figured out where that will lead.

BS: Where can our readers observe your art in person? Will you be involved with any upcoming exhibits?

SM: As I mentioned above, one of my paintings, Site, is currently on view at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN, in a group exhibition titled "Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes." This is a really interesting show, curated by Andrew Blauvelt and Tracey Myers, which looks at both artists' and architects' responses to suburbia. "Worlds Away" is up at the Walker until mid-August. It will travel to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh in October.

I am also currently showing at the General Electric World Headquarters in Fairfield, CT, in a group show titled "This Modern World," a survey exhibition of contemporary representations of architecture in art. I am represented in Denver by Robischon Gallery.

You can learn more about Sarah McKenzie by visiting her website-- www.sarahmckenzie.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Philip Lee

Philip Lee has been exhibiting and performing throughout the UK since November 2000. His installations and performances integrate live body mark-making and sculptural display. Lee uses earth materials in transformations that may be durational or theatrical and usually involve endurance. Installations reflect the performances showing traces of the live event, with video projections or photographs documenting the actions. Philip studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. He currently lives in Buckinghamshire and works in and around London.

White I 2007 – Seven day live performance with white body paint and MDF. White 2007 was a two-part installation including video and live performance.

Brian Sherwin: Philip, you finished your studies at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in 2007. As you may know, our blog is read by art students throughout the world.... would you mind telling us about that program? Did you have any influential instructors? Do you have any advice for students who are considering the school?

Philip Lee: My time at Central Saint Martins was a critical time for me. It was a time to reflect on all aspects of my practice and to challenge what, how and why I work as I do. My teachers inspired and nurtured me in ways to numerous to list, and all with rigor and astute sensitivity: Joanna Greenhill lead in the first year and Susan Trangmar the second, along with in depth analysis from Alex Landrum, Sonia Boyce, Tina Kean, Shahin Afrassiabi, Ziegam Azizov, Shaheen Merali and Robin Klassnik, to name but a few.

The MA at Central Saint Martins is a well-established, exacting course with an annual cohort of 70 plus students. I followed the two-year part time scheme, however there is also a one-year course, both of which I recommend. The benefits were manifold and the best of these was the opportunity to develop new work informed and enriched by the more disciplined nature of my research. It confirmed my commitment to live art and facilitated my increased understanding of motives and materials.

Soon the college will be in a new building in Kings Cross in Central London, which will be a wonderful place to study art. At present it has buildings in central London, on Charing Cross Road and in Holborn. All are close to many excellent art galleries and museums. There is a palpable sense of excitement throughout the college, which is part of the University of the Arts, London, a university that caters for all areas of the arts.

For prospective students I would advise a determined approach to a course delivered at the heart of one of the most exciting centres for art in the world. Accepting that you will not be able to see and do everything on offer, you should jolly well try to do and experience as much as you can. There will be no let up in a course that is both rigorous and invigorating. It offers access to particularly successful artists and important international ‘movers and shakers’ in every media. You should seek them out at every stage of the course. Tutors are all active artists and generous in offering advice in ways you cannot anticipate.

Network as much as you can because contacts made in this context will help you for years to come. Similarly your fellow students are an enormous source of encouragement, and indeed collaboration, during your whole career. While on the course get involved in as many aspects of art college life as possible, particularly the process of preparing for the degree show, which I found to be one of the most rewarding times while at Central Saint Martins.

Slip VI 2005 – Live performance with clay, wood, canvas and wax.The performance during the opening of the exhibition, Pieces By Eight at London Gallery West, became a video projection in the performance space. The video, projected behind the remains of the performance, showed the artist walking into the space, submerging himself in the trough of liquid clay and then emerging from the clay to walk back out through the gallery. During the month of the exhibition the clay, which escaped from the trough during the performance, dried out and distorted the canvas covering the installation floor area.

BS: Philip, male bodes are the theme of your work. You often use your own body as an example. By doing so, your work is very autobiographical. Can you go into further detail about your body of work (no pun intended). What are the thoughts behind your art... what are your intentions?

PL: As you say, I use my own body and it is very much my first choice of medium – my prima materia. In my work I explore ways of representing my body. My intentions are usually simple; the actions are pared down to a minimum. There is always a transformation through which I hide signs of my individuality in order to address the universal; to focus on the nature of the human condition. I turn my self into the sculpture in an attempt to comment on the absurdity of the ‘ideal’ body.

My live performances started as a means to challenge my attitudes to body; to get to know my limits. I was made more determined by comments, which advised caution or implied it was not possible to do live work in the way I wished. At the same time, while studying ceramics, I became frustrated with the distance between ceramic object and myself. The processes involved in making ceramic sculpture: drying, glazing, firing and so on, all dissociate object and maker. From using bodies to mark clay, I eventually moved to using my own body as the art object.

In the early performances I was exploring the nature of my own body – I was ambiguous as to its true nature. These were actions, rituals indeed, which moved me from one state of being to another; liminal in their nature, they changed me in some way. At this time I was changing from being a schoolteacher to an artist and the actions were a means of helping that process. Also, I was coming to terms with my body as a middle-aged man; I needed to look. As one commentator has suggested, I was ‘expressing masculine subjectivity while paradoxically inviting the viewer to objectify the male body’.

Segments 2008 - Collaborative project with Romain Forquy, including studio performance, in which body was printed on glass using clay and pigment.

BS: Do you think that it is foolish that we, as a collective society, have been conditioned to be wary of the male nude form? Do you hope to change how people view said nudity? Do you think those views can be changed? In that sense, do you view your work as a point of discussion... of reaction... regarding these views?

PL: ‘Unfortunate’ at times, rather than ‘foolish’, I would say. While we live in a society in which women are adversely affected by men’s behavior it is understandable that both men and women are wary of male nudity. Sadly, this negative attitude means opportunities are missed. It is my intention to reveal the varied nature of masculinity and to redefine the parameters within which men live. My naked performances can promote heated discussion and invariably the reactions to the live events has something to do with nudity.

It is the male genitals and particularly the penis that cause most concern in the public arena. I would suggest that the penis is not intrinsically threatening but it is the previous experiences of the viewer that are the problem. In the UK there are few people who are neutral when presented with the male body in this way. Nudity creates a charged atmosphere, which focuses attention and draws people into the work. In the work I do I hope to change attitudes. From the emails I have received and the comments written in gallery guest books I know that this has happened for some.

I seek not only to change the way people view nudity but also how they think about the male body in general and their own body especially. I seek to bring the viewer face to face with their corporeal existence; to draw attention to the terrifying fact that we only exist in our bodies.

Sand 1999 - Video of performance, during which Lee emerged from beneath sand.

BS: You work in a variety of mediums. You combine drawing, painting, photography, printing, video, and live performances. Which form of expression do you prefer most? Are you ever concerned that you will spread yourself in too many directions? Or would you say that your work in photography helps your work in painting... you work in performance improves your work in printing... and so on?

PL: Yes, you are right. Although the live performance is crucial, the other methods of representing it are very important too, for not only do they reach a wider audience they support me in the development of work. My own critical analysis of the live performance would not be possible without access to various methods of documentation. I would suggest that there is no better way of experiencing performances, other than live. Clearly, I cannot observe my own actions other than through the eye of one camera or another and so documentation is essential.

Simply, for me all the media: drawing, painting, photography, printing and video, are intended to help my live performances. Indeed, I may be too wedded to the live performance and might explore presenting more work in other media!

Stable I 2000 - Performance-installation printing body onto walls using Burnt Sienna pigment in cooking oil.

BS: Tell us about your influences. Are you influenced by any specific artists or art movements?

PL: My family and friends are my most important influences and they continuously feed my need for answers and ideas. My life as a schoolteacher informs my work with other artists and those with whom I come into contact as I plan, execute and follow up performances.

At the moment I am preparing to perform throughout the coming weekend at the Courtauld Institute in Somerset House on the Strand in London, as part of an exhibition entitled ‘The East Wing Collection VIII – On Time’. As with other performances I have developed the performance for the space drawing on the experience and knowledge of a range of close colleagues and professionals along with the people at the Institute. All my work has been evolved within the three pillars of my interests and preoccupation, the limitations of the space and the inspiration of those around me.

I began my artistic life late in the 1990s when Franko B and Anne Bean were a huge influence and very encouraging in their advice. More recently David Medalla, and the London Biennale artists he leads, are an inspiration. For my MA thesis I drew on the work of a number of artists, most notable was Matthew Barney whose use of his own body in actions has had an influence on my practice.

BS: Do you have any other plans for 2008? What else are you working on at this time?

PL: I have been collaborating with the photographer, Romain Forquy since 2006 on a project in which I perform solely for his camera. We have developed the action together. At the moment we are preparing a series of photographs for inclusion in a Latvian photographic journal. For these images I printed my body using pigmented clay-slip onto glass. The images include close-ups of the body in action, details of the prints and photographs of full prints including my body beyond the glass. They are intriguing and very much reference my theme of masculine subjectivity-objectivity.

Water I 2007 – Live performance with water, clay and pigments. Event goers were invited to apply three different coloured liquid clays to the artist’s body in any way they chose. Washing off the marks was part of the performance.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

PL: My work has made me much more aware of bodies and particularly my own. I have had to come to terms with its imperfections, its limitations; and understand how it works. By including it in the work I have to take care of it better, appreciate it for what it really is and not what I think it is. Although it is an ordinary body, it is also an extraordinary body; in my view, no different to anyone else. We all have an ordinary and an extraordinary body.

I am interested in how we all think about bodies and I want to challenge the notion that the naked body is intrinsically shameful or dirty. I know what I do is provocative but I do not intend to shock or offend. I don’t want to up-set people, although I know I have from time to time. When people see my work I want them to be changed by it, I want it to make them think about their own body. I want it to be a good experience, spiritual even.

When artists exhibit their artwork they put a bit of themselves out in the world for people to respond to. For me I put all of myself into the world. When I am performing, what you see is what it is – there is no pretending. It is very direct. My work is autobiographical and each piece becomes part of my story and me. Each performance is very different for me, although from the outside some seem similar. After each one I am changed in some way. Each performance is a rite of passage.

For my MA thesis I considered the relationship between masculinity and my work. Through this it became clear to me that masculinity is different for every man and that the man’s body is separate from his masculinity.It seems to me that a proscription of masculinity is not helpful. Masculinity is too complex and fluid to define. There should be no definitive way. Our society would be enriched if we accepted the benefits of diversity within masculinity and gender, and the reality of many ways of being men. I would suggest that art has an important role to play in bringing this about.

Art can bring together masculinity and issues concerning the body in a direct and exciting way. In my performances I feel connected to my body, my sexuality and my version of masculinity. If that makes people uncomfortable, and, for some, it seems to, then that’s fine. By exposing maleness, male-hood and, even the male member I am challenging male power and patriarchal assumptions. By showing men can be vulnerable and heroic, tough while compassionate, caring and strong; sensual and emotional, without feeling weakened, I hope to change some minds.

The way men’s bodies are presented is crucial to the way masculinity is performed in our society. The split between ‘soma’ and the ‘psyche’ – and the relationship between these, is central to the way men think about themselves and visualize their being. Furthermore, it may also ultimately relate to how they live out their daily personal and professional lives.

In my MA thesis, I began by explaining how my father, with his own limitations of emotional expression, had constrained the relationship he and I could have had during my growing up years and early adulthood. When I became a father myself, I realized that I wanted a different relationship with my son. In order for that to happen I needed to give myself permission to be more liberal in both my affection and expression of emotions, so that I could connect with my son. Perhaps this was also a necessity to avoid being repressed and repressing.

You can learn more about Philip Lee by visiting his website-- www.philiplee.co.uk. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Joseph Szkodzinski

Joseph Szkodzinski is a runner-up in the The Next Perspective photography competition. The Next Perspective competition was sponsored by myartspace and HotShoe International. Joseph's photographs were selected by the contest jury which included Henry Horenstein from the Rhode Island School of Design, Dr. Juliet Hacking from Sotheby's Institute of Art in London and Clare Freestone from the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Joseph studied photography and art at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, and graduated in 1981 with a BFA in photography. Since then he has worked as a staff photographer for The Image Bank, Getty Images and the NYPD. He has also did freelance work for newspapers and magazines. Joseph has always found time to shoot his personal work-- many of these images reveal his photographic journey through America from the 70's to the present day.

No Pets, Phoenix AZ

Brian Sherwin: Joseph, at age 22 you borrowed a camera from a friend and felt an immediate connection. You have described the experience as a "sense of immortality and power". Can you discuss those early years and why you felt a connection with photography that you had not felt with other means of creation?

Joseph Szkodzinski: I guess I was always taking pictures in my head. I remember as a kid trying to freeze moments in my head-like mental photographs and I still remember them. I really regret not having a camera back then.

When I was growing up, my best friend, Richard Verdi, was a aspiring photographer and I was always telling him what and how to shoot . I tagged along on his photo treks into Manhattan from Queens to shoot protests, concerts at the Filmore East, CBGBs, the street, it was a great time. I think I was always mentally photographing moments during that time.

The funny thing is that even when I am without my camera now I am still taking those inner photos. I even make a silent shutter sound when the moment is right. Years later, Richard finally got fed up with all my directions and lent me his camera and told me to go shoot my own photos and that was the best moment of my life at the age of 22.

Homeless with Pigeons, NYC

BS: You went on to study photography and art at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Can you recall your academic years? Did you have any influential instructors?

JS: It was a great time at the School of Visual Arts. So different from the schools I had attended before. The ultra liberal arts atmosphere allowed me to be myself and made me want to excel and since it was something I loved I didn't mind working hard for it. Being around other artists was also a big plus. It's where I met Keith Haring and John Sex and it led me to the idea to shoot my thesis on NYC Nite Life at the clubs downtown in NYC. This was from 1979 to about 1985.

There was this small club in a church basement on St Marks Place called Club 57 where a group of artists hung out at night and performed. The group included Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, John Sex, Ann Magnuson, Klaus Nomi and many other talented artists. It was such a treat to photograph the beginnings of their great and sometime short careers.

My thesis teacher, Julio Mitchell was my most influential instructor and a great photographer in his own right. He was a tough teacher but his honesty, though hurtful at times, was as he would say 'the real world talking'.

PM Commuter, NYC

BS: Since that time you have worked as a staff photographer for The Image Bank, Getty Images and the NYPD as well as freelancing for newspapers and magazines. Throughout your career as a photographer you have always found time to shoot your personal work. How were you able to find balance between employment and your personal work? Has it ever been difficult?

JS: No, it hasn't been difficult. I think I put the same energy into my personal work as well as my professional work. It's just that the personal work is more satisfying. The only difficulty I have had is not having more time for my personal work.

BS: Joseph, do you have an emotional connection to your work? Or are you more connected to the process? Is the finished photograph nothing more than a reflection of the process that interested you... or is it the unification of that process and the emotion, methods, and techniques that you utilized?

JS: Yes, I believe my emotional connection is what keeps me shooting. I really don't care about all the technical stuff although I utilize them when I am shooting but I stay in the zone and only care about the moment. I am out looking to find the image. Thus, the name www.thefoundimage.com.

Phone Booth, Douglaston, NY

BS: When you are behind the camera do you view yourself as if you are on the outside looking in or in the inside looking out? I suppose this is a philosophical question... do you have a personal philosophy behind your work?

JS: I think it depends on what I am shooting. Professional work- sometimes outside looking in. With my own work, I am shooting what is inside of me and looking out trying to find that connection somewhere in my visual field. Sometimes I feel I'm on the inside looking in when I am working on images that I create in Photoshop for my Inner Visions series. It allows me to create images truly in my head and to further my creative process.

BS: Joseph, I've noticed on your site that some of your images are available for stock use with a fee. As a photographer, what concerns do you have concerning the theft or 'ripping' of images online? Are you overly concerned with that issue or would you say that gaining exposure online out-weighs those concerns? Experience tells me that photographers are threatened by this aspect of the net more than others. Thus, your perspective on the issue would be greatly appreciated. Is there a concern? Have you ever had to combat these issues?

JS: You know life is short and if I concerned myself with that, it would spoil my creativity and focus. I put my copyright on my work and if they are 'stolen' I hope someone is enjoying them and not profiting from them. Hopefully these people will enjoy them enough to eventually buy a signed original someday, but if not-- what can I do. It is a tough choice when you want to gain exposure.

The Handicapped, NYC

BS: What else you can you tell our readers about your photographs?

JS: Nothing else, they're on their own now and have to speak for themselves.

BS: What about influences? For example, are you influenced by any specific artists or art movements? Music perhaps?

JS: Photographers: Cartier Bresson, Robert Frank, Dianne Arbus, Eugene Richards, Bill Brandt, Jerry Uelsmann, Gregory Crewdson, Ernesto Bazan and many others...

Artists: Rauschenberg, Edward Hooper, Van Gogh, Francis Bacon, Pollack, Keith Haring and many others...

Music: Springsteen, Dylan, The Band, U2, Counting Crows and everything else too. Music is very important to me. It's a powerful art.

NYC Street Sleeper

BS: What are you working on at this time?

JS: Since I moved from NYC to Phoenix, Arizona, 5 years ago, I have continued work on my various projects such as Lost in America, Signs, and a new series called Shots from a Car soon to be discontinued if gas prices continue to go up..... But I have my camera with me all the time continuously looking for something to find.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the goals that you have?

JS: When I am out shooting-- and getting my shots --there is nothing more satisfying for me. I feel at one with everything.

You can learn more about Joseph Szkodzinski by visiting his website-- www.thefoundimage.com. Joseph is a member of the www.myartspace.com community-- www.myartspace.com/thefoundimage. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin