More work coming soon

So after a little bit of tough criticism I took some time off after the completion of Search For Sancho. Long story short, I heard some things I really didn't want to hear, but I now think were vital to my growth as an artist.

I don't want my work to come off as one liners- I really just thought I was being funny and clever. I'm not saying I wasn't, but maybe i made that too much of my focus at a certain point down the line, and I lost touch a little bit. In my state of vulnerability, after receiving a little verbal spank in the ass, I began to really search within myself and I think I've started to get to the root of the things that I really care about, and how to discuss it on a visual platform (having started to touch on that with Search for Sancho). The next bunch of pieces are aimed, this time, not just at what I believe the truth is but issues in which I find it difficult to find any sort of truth at all. They are about the huge blanket of gray in a world where so many people seem to see so much black and white.

I look forward to showing you all what I have in store.

Until next time...

New Painting

This latest painting is titled "Search For Sancho". This image of an old man, playing on a toy horse with a broom lance and paper hat on terrain made of crumpled and ruffled paper scraps, is a commentary on the handling of age and its implications. It is about the societal need to remain young for as long as possible, in this case at the cost of the acceptance of reality (as age denial often seems to be). While I am in no way opposed to keeping the child within us all alive, I would like to point out that much like substance use, its simply no good without use of moderation.

This painting, for those who don't already know, is inspired by Cervantes' Don Quixote. I felt it was perfect to tap into, given that Don Quixote, both as a book and a character, is one of the quintessential examples of a character who gets so caught up in revolving his life around the ideal that he becomes completely divorced from reality. So much so that he doesn't even physically see things for what they are anymore, even as they sit right in front of him. The title, also being an allusion to Don Quixote, is an implication of the desire for acceptance. It is the need to seek out someone who will be a supportive and unquestioning party who can stand by and watch as the individual continues to live in fantasy.

Facebook

Upon demand, I've made a facebook fan page. Become a fan by going to this link:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Aaron-Schraeter/239075270354?ref=mf

Thanks everyone for the support!

Update

So as of recently not too much to report:

Have been working on my studio space for painting, and in the mean time have been doing a lot of drawing (I've updated the drawing section of my website, so feel free to check that out). A lot of the work has been strict focus on values, as well as face work- next up will be more hand studies, but those will most likely end up here rather than on my actual website).
Additionally I have the following book recommendations for my fellow emerging artists out there-

Art/Work- a book that tells you everything college wouldn't about developing a career in art. it has great examples of things that many of us don't think about when we are on our road to becoming "legitimate professional" artists including invoice sheets, tax forms, gallery courting 'rules', work hanging methods, shipping agreements, artist and gallerist interviews and comments on all the issues covered in the book and all kinds of other incredibly valuable information. If you are an artist and want to sell work or are trying to achieve gallery representation, I have to say you should probably have this book.

Art & Fear- I'm almost done with this one. It's a great book, even if you don't agree with all the philosophies involved and it really allowed me to think about the creation, production, and business of art in more of a 3 dimensional way. They try to tackle a lot of hypotheticals- some for me were relevant and some not so much- but the most important thing about it is that most of it is actually just really advice coming from people who have "been there". This is an excellent book, and philosophically is a great tool.
And finally-
I'd Rather Be in the Studio- This book is very very similar to Art/Work, but is mostly with a "No Bullshit" approach or attitude toward the subject. It instills the age old idea of "If you want to do something, do it. If you're going to pussyfoot around, stop complaining, and just do something else. I recommend this book for those of us that need a little more of a kick in the ass, and even in conjunction with Art/Work though one might find the content to be a little repetitive. Additionally, though, you can also get a whole slew of downloadable goodies with tons more information than just the book has to offer, so the purchase does go a long way.

In other news, I will be visiting the city of brotherly love today and intend to check out what the Philadelphia art scene is up to lately. On a related note, I want to use this moment to say if you are in Philadelphia this Friday, go check out the Knapp gallery, where my friend and colleague Petros Pappalas will be participating in a group show- based on Petros' recent work and the Knapp's recent shows it should make for an excellent viewing.

Until next time.

NY Art Galleries

So, I've officially moved back to NYC this week. That said, first on my agenda (other than moving all of my crap) was to reintroduce myself to the NY gallery scene. My first stop was Chelsea... it was also my 2nd, and 3rd stop since there are upwards of 350 spaces there. I checked out probably about 10 places, including the Agora Gallery, and the Stricoff Gallery. At Stricoff I found some stuff I was really into- my personal favorites there were Paul Beliveau, Katelyn Alain, and Rimi Yang.
From there the next stop was Soho, where I saw some names I'm more used to seeing in Juxtapoz Magazine rather than a gallery space when I stopped at the Opera Gallery. I got to see some work by Banksy, Keith Haring, Basquiat, Shepard Fairey, and Damian Hirst to name a few. Just after I finished looking at a Ron English work (Abraham Obama), I look over and realize that Ron English himself is sitting at the front desk. I wanted to talk to him but 1) he was doing business, and 2) the part of my brain that is a coward was at the wheel. Even so, its an unbeleivably humbling experience to see such a big name. I think I sometimes forget that, even though a great work takes on a life of its own, someone made it and is that respectable. It made me reflect on my own budding life as an artist- almost to a scary degree. The only thing I can do is just persue as hard as I can and hope to make a dent in the art world before I'm dead. As unobtainable as success seems to be, now is the time to do anything I can to make it happen.

This week was the senior seminar show, and frankly I'm proud of it. I was very happy with the quality of most of the work and the placement of everything. Unfortunately, we break the show down on Monday, so if you haven;t seen it and you want to, hurry up. For those who won't have the chance to see me work, the following is what I put into the show (click to enlarge):

So today I got an update- I won honorable mention in the ArtistGrants.org Spring 2009 competition. What that basically entails is that I have a shot to show in one of their sponsored shows (in either Cincinnati or Columbumus). Recently I also entered competition with Artists Wanted as I mentioned in my last post- just wanted to remind all of you tuning in at home to visit http://artistwanted.org/aaronschraeter to rate my work (:-])

Ciao.