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Monday, July 29, 2013

Art: An Observation by Oscar Wilde

The Decay Of Lying: An Observation by Oscar Wilde:
CYRIL. Then we must entirely cultivate it at once. But in order
to avoid making any error I want you to tell me briefly the
doctrines of the new aesthetics.

VIVIAN. Briefly, then, they are these. Art never expresses
anything but itself. It has an independent life, just as Thought
has, and develops purely on its own lines. It is not necessarily
realistic in an age of realism, nor spiritual in an age of faith.
So far from being the creation of its time, it is usually in direct
opposition to it, and the only history that it preserves for us is
the history of its own progress. Sometimes it returns upon its
footsteps, and revives some antique form, as happened in the
archaistic movement of late Greek Art, and in the pre-Raphaelite
movement of our own day. At other times it entirely anticipates
its age, and produces in one century work that it takes another
century to understand, to appreciate and to enjoy. In no case does
it reproduce its age. To pass from the art of a time to the time
itself is the great mistake that all historians commit.

The second doctrine is this. All bad art comes from returning to
Life and Nature, and elevating them into ideals. Life and Nature
may sometimes be used as part of Art's rough material, but before
they are of any real service to art they must be translated into
artistic conventions. The moment Art surrenders its imaginative
medium it surrenders everything. As a method Realism is a complete
failure, and the two things that every artist should avoid are
modernity of form and modernity of subject-matter. To us, who live
in the nineteenth century, any century is a suitable subject for
art except our own. The only beautiful things are the things that
do not concern us. It is, to have the pleasure of quoting myself,
exactly because Hecuba is nothing to us that her sorrows are so
suitable a motive for a tragedy. Besides, it is only the modern
that ever becomes old-fashioned. M. Zola sits down to give us a
picture of the Second Empire. Who cares for the Second Empire now?
It is out of date. Life goes faster than Realism, but Romanticism
is always in front of Life.

The third doctrine is that Life imitates Art far more than Art
imitates Life. This results not merely from Life's imitative
instinct, but from the fact that the self-conscious aim of Life is
to find expression, and that Art offers it certain beautiful forms
through which it may realise that energy. It is a theory that has
never been put forward before, but it is extremely fruitful, and
throws an entirely new light upon the history of Art.



Saturday, July 27, 2013

Gallery owner wants Cuba-Key West art swap

Gallery owner seeks Cuba-Key West art swap - Florida Keys - MiamiHerald.com: "Key West gallery owner Nance Frank has launched a Web-based fundraising effort to pay for an artistic exchange between the Southernmost City and its geographic and cultural neighbor of Cuba, just 90 miles away but a world apart due to federal sanctions. Her goal is to raise $60,000 by Aug. 1 using www.kickstarter.com. The money would pay for production expenses for the "One Race, Cuba and Key West" exhibition. . . . "The Cubans that came to Key West were essentially utopians and they strongly believed in gender, racial and religious equality. I've wanted to do this show for decades," she said."



Thursday, July 25, 2013

SCOPE art fair moving to Miami Beach

SCOPE art fair moving to Miami Beach - Performing Arts - MiamiHerald.com: "SCOPE, one of the largest satellite fairs held during Art Basel Miami Beach, has announced a new location for this year: the sands of Ocean Drive at 10th Street in Miami Beach. The 70,000-square-foot pavilion will feature an outdoor beach lounge with views of the ocean along with 100 international exhibitors and 15 Breeder Program galleries (program that introduces new contemporary art galleries to the market). SCOPE Miami Beach opens Dec. 3, to welcome VIPs at its First View benefit, and runs Dec. 4-8. Scope-art.com . . ."



Thursday, July 11, 2013

Exhibit brings African sculptures to Miami Beach Botanical Garden



Exhibit brings African sculptures to Miami Beach - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com: "For Brian Nyanhongo, it begins with a rock. He’ll spend entire days in a Zimbabwean quarry searching for the perfect stone, one that lets him know that inside all of that rock, there is a work of art waiting to be freed by his hammer, chisel and vision. Nyanhongo is one of the 14 artists whose work is on display at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden through Nov. 16 in Chapungu: The Great Stone Sculptors of Africa.  . . ."



Wednesday, July 3, 2013

New Material Art Fair

New Material Art Fair Joins Miami's December Roster
In the Air, Art+Auction's Gossip Column (blog)
Come December there will be a new face amid the plethora of satellite fairs taking place during Art Basel in Miami Beach. The New Material Art Fair, slated to take over the entire 30-room boutique Eva Hotel Miami Beach — right alongside the Aqua Hotel ...



NYTimes: Art & Design