Street Art and show prep.

Hi again! It's been a while, but I have been painting and preparing and seeing art these past few weeks, so I haven't been writing as much as I would have liked. My husband and I went with friends to see the ART IN THE STREETS exhibit at the downtown Geffen Contemporary art space, and it was truly great. I almost didn't go because of a review in the Los ANgeles Times that made it seem dull and not very cutting edge. Thankfully, curiosity prevailed and I went. The show had a cool chronology factor to it tracing early days of tagging in the 1960's! I had no idea it dated that far back. The trends were cool and bombastic back then and with the photo's of early work in the big cities, you could really watch the art form evolve to the magnificence it really is today. I read that this exhibit was lacking in showing some of the current top dogs in the field, but honestly, it was a big, interesting and colorful show that attracted people from all walks of life. Many , many people with tatoos - that now truly remind me of graffiti on bodies ;) It was so stimulating to be there and experience raw vision and the incredible talent of the tagger genre. I see the influence it has had on city kids who are up and coming visual artists whose work is everywhere in the galleries. The trend these days is so much about illustration type art and that was soooo looked down upon when I was a young adult. I wonder what kind of art I would have been showing galleries today and in the past, if that had been regarded as interesting or viable art as I grew up and formed my ideas around what art in museums and galleries "should" look like! Much of what I see younger artists hang in galleries reminds me of the endless doodles and fantasy drawings that i would sketch on envelopes and sketch pads- but never to be looked at as more than that- if looked at again at all! These current art trends have a connection in a very broad way, to tagger art. It's there cause it is... and there is talent behind most of it.

Beyond that....I am gearing up for my exhibit in Chico, Ca. with my sister, Elizabeth Newman Kuiper! The show opens Sept. 1st at the 1078 Gallery in Chico and I am very excited about it! To have a show with my sister is beyond cool. I am honored and thrilled all at at the same time! The show also opens on our mother's birthday- which is quite cool too. Here are details if you are interested! http://www.1078gallery.org/exhibitions/2011/09-newmans.html

Until we meet again!

xx