John Ruddy – Oculus Deus at Paul Vincent Gallery in Hoboken

Posted on May 21, 2011 by itees

Last Sunday I attended the wonderful opening reception of local artist, John Ruddy, at the Paul Vincent Gallery in Hoboken. The gallery gives an artist the space to spread their art out into multiple rooms, and during the afternoon we all moved into one of the rooms for a special musical performance by Cris Nyne. It’s wonderful to see the artists community come out and support one another and the place was hopping! Different types of artists crowded the rooms, painters, photographers, actors, etc…

John Ruddy’s art was quite original. What I loved was that he treated the frame and the wall surrounding the picture as part of the piece. The frames were decorated, the walls were decorated… it made me think where does the art begin and where does it end? It makes me realize art is not just a picture on a wall, (not that I thought this, but it’s a nice reminder) but everything surrounding the piece and me as well.

Have a look at some of the folks who attended and John Ruddy’s work.

[Show as slideshow]

You Call THAT A Website?

Posted on December 11, 2009 by itees

Okay, I may be in a lousy mood, and this is going to sound like a rant, so get ready!

If one more person builds a website without caring that it looks like crap, I don’t know what I’m going to do!

Recently, an artist friend contacted me because he wanted to start a new business. I was hopeful, because what I’m best at is a new business start-up, logo design and giving them, their identity… that all around consistent look. I also love working with the arts community. I spoke with him and we discussed various things, but… today I got an invite, and realized he had just pushed ahead with the site, without me. Now aside from losing a potential client, I went to look at the site to see what had been developed. To say I was disappointed and horrified is an understatement.

There are (links) pages that don’t even apply to his company. So does this mean he copied or worse, another site’s pages and is planning to just update the content when he has time?

What could he be thinking?

Why do people feel so urgent? Pushing their information out there, without any control to how it looks, or if it will attract an audience. This has really sent me into a depression, and the realization that on the web, content will always win over style. I suppose only on the web this may be true. When I’m looking for something or shopping, functionality and directness will always win over pleasing design and pictures. But don’t we want to push our content out there in a pleasing way?

There has to be a balance between the content being current and wanting it to look nice. We’ve got to make any client, whether an artist, musician, author, small business owner or fortune 500 company understand that these things go hand in hand. And an artist should know better!

Jersey City Heights Artists, a very short tour

Posted on October 5, 2009 by itees

This past weekend was the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour and I previously wrote about the kick off party Friday night and the wonderful gallery hopping walkabout on Saturday (more about that).

On Sunday, I decided to look around my own neighborhood, fondly known as “The Heights” of Jersey City (www.jcheights.com). It’s a little ways from the center of action in Downtown JC, closer to Hoboken, but I was hoping to see some art here. As I walked down Central Avenue, I was admiring the street art project of utility boxes that were decorated by local artists. They range from painted animal prints we all recognize, like Giraffe and Zebra, “Patterns” by Sergio Sandino (www.sergiosandino.com), to a gigantic sunflower called, “It Ain’t Aries” by E. Jan Kounitz (www.ejankounitz.com). Others on the avenue are, “Guilded Chest” by Milosz Koziej, “Untitled” by GJ Lee, (www.neonjelly.net), “Rain, Rain Go Away” by Brendon Carroll, (www.agitatorscollective.com), and “You Say Potato, We Say Po-Tah-To” by Brendon Carroll. (Click here to see my photo gallery)

e-jan-kounitz-post

As I arrived at Lincoln Street I noticed a huge mural, Jersey City Museum Public Art Program’s “Where will your journey begin” created in 1996. Further down, as I approached Pershing Field, I noticed a few outdoor sculptures.

That was just about it.

Now, I know there are outdoor sculptures and statues in various parks around, but I’ve seen those before and there is also the “Hope Center for Visual & Performing Arts” but I’m talking about local artists opening their studio doors, like they do in Downtown JC.

This area is full of artists, so I’m wondering where are they all? Perhaps their art is in group shows further downtown? If we can put on the “Everything Jersey City Festival” and draw 15-20,000 people to the area, why can’t we participate at a higher level in the Artists Studio Tour, and make a bigger statement about our own community of artists.

Perhaps if we start now, we can be ready for next year.