In perusing my usual photo-dump sites I came across Epoch Organic, a series by Chad Wys on Behance.
I thought this body of work was interesting not because of applied technical skill by any means, but as someone who is constantly scrolling through web imagery, it takes a certain something to make me pause/ears perk. Wys’ pieces caused me to take notice first in an alarming way, like a panicky I-want-to-run-and-get-windex-and-buff-that-victorian bust kind of thing and then..
..an appreciation that his work could make me feel that way. I find it interesting when something other than Saw(I-VII), the word ‘pus’, and sitting through extended sex scenes couch-bound with your parents can make you feel a bit..uncomfortable.
Um Dad, can you pass the Jujubes™?
I can’t help but think of Banksy’s Crude Oils exhibit. As well-worn as his name might be on the art scene, he exhibited a series of “modified” artworks -taking his own spin on some of the classics.
Vettriano
Monet
Hopper
While his message seems a bit more subliminal/political than Wys’ , I think both are able to poke a bit of fun at the notion of “art”, and also the perceived worth of artwork.
On that note, art appraisal is definitely an arena I need to learn more about. I will always have my own thoughts on value and what I deem “reasonable”, but appraising work is such a dynamic-artform in itself.
- How do you appraise a new artist on the scene? At what point does their reputation warrant a higher asking price?
- How do time/labor/materials factor into the $ equation?
- How to avoid over inflation(see also: HYPE) so you don’t put off potential buyers?
- Valuing a print/multiple series(applies to silkscreens, vintage posters, etc)? Is having a lower production number(1 of 5 as opposed to 1 of 500) a device used to establish or direct perceived worth?
- Is it better for an emerging artist to have more accessible art to get their name out and pieces on walls? Or just go for the jugular with an extravagant entrance onto the scene at the risk of not selling a damn thing?
- I’m sure there could be a modern day Yves Klein waiting in the wings, would a painting like International Klein Blue(IKB) fly now? I imagine it might, but I would like to pick the brain of the person who would purchase a recent field painting.
- Does painting a raccoon in a pile of garbage as a nature study fetch a different price than the same painting representing the plight of the middle class worker/corporate greed/the ‘masks’ people wear/ oppression/The assassination of JFK/ELEKTRA COMPLEX/etc etc?
- What about the more abstract/conceptual facets of modern art? Glass. On a shelf. Half full(I’m feeling optimistic today) of water. Deep. Thousands of dollars. Why? How to appraise? Would there have to be a famous name attached like when people on ebay bid-up a tissue Justin Timberlake discarded?
I’ve never put these inquiries down, how cathartic.
Alors, I must get back to figuring out how to tastefully work the monster from Skifree into my most recent thriftstore purchase, a pastoral painting in a gaudy cherub ridden frame.
Penthouse in Beacon Hill here I come.
Stay sweet.
