By every standard, 2020 has been one of the most challenging years in our recent history. As we start to process and search for a personal and cultural meaning of this experience, I am reminded of Joseph Campbell’s words, “The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed.” 

As this ill-period passes by, we turn to the artist and the art that has nourished, comforted, and challenged us this year. Art has always been a source of transformation. From iconic artists like Michelangelo and his Sistine Chapel to living artists like Todd Williamson and Khara Oxier-Mori, artists and their artworks allow us to transcend those phases of upheaval in our personal and collective lives that seem the most challenging. Art is a source of joy, but more importantly, it can serve to challenge the preconceived notions we have about our own individual selves and each other. Art can be a vehicle of both individual and social “death” and “rebirth.”

I see art as aspirational. Surround yourself with the art that reflects who you are but also who you aspire to be. It is interesting to really capture the art created in 2020 – to not just see it but to fully experience it. I believe that through art one could find hope amidst so much tragedy. Hope for humanity. Hope for a better future for each and every one of us who have experienced loss.  As we begin to look ahead to 2021, may I suggest we look towards the art that we each surround ourselves with and re-evaluate whether it still reflects who we are as individuals and as a people after this truly transformative time and experience? 

The art that we live with has a powerful effect on our daily life.  When utilized wisely, art can serve to take us to new heights – It can help us grow and evoke the inner-person within each of us that too often remains at an unconscious level but that also for many of us, could be the best rendition of ourselves – glimpses of which we experience when tragedy hits or periods of great joy happen but then retreats when and as we go on with our daily lives. The art we live with can help to fully manifest what’s best in each of us. 
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After a tumultuous 2020 and as we enter 2021, think about the importance of the art that surrounds you with the knowledge of its transformative power.  Art reflects not just who you are but who you aspire and will aspire to be in 2021 and beyond. 

SPOTLIGHT
TODD WILLIAMSON
Todd Williamson is an American contemporary painter based in Los Angeles. His work is strongly influenced by the abstract expressionist movement 1950s in New York. Williamson’s paintings are characterized by their grid-like parallel lines that reflect a formal consideration of light, color, and shape. Using a refined process of building and removing multiple layers of oil on canvas, his works engage both complementary hues and opposing values, focusing on the subtle layers of color and movement.
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Williamson is the current winner of the Pollock Prize for Creativity, only the third artist in history to win this coveted prize. His project Processional  was one of twenty official exhibitions at the past 58th Venice Biennale and saw over 100,000 visitors, and was listed by Forbes, Domus, Widewalls, and the Venice Insider as one of the Top 10 exhibitions at the international event.

I get a lot of email #art #scams and with the worldwide crisis, I get more than ever! 
They are tricky to see as a scam but most of them have similarities that make them easy to spot.  
Here are a few things to look for:
Usually they are very polite but with bad grammar. 
They are buying for a spouse for a birthday or anniversary. 
They  are always in a hurry and they want to pay by check!  DONT DO IT!  
They best thing is to trust your instincts.  They are usually right.  
If I ever think they could be real, I forward them on to my reps and let them take it from there.  
Recently one of my galleries thought it was a real thing and went along.  The check bounced! 
Then the "buyer" had the balls to send a 2nd check!!  Crazy! 
The police are little help with check fraud in case your wondering.  So in this case you only lose the bounced check fees.  
Dont think they can pay by Cashiers Check either.  It is usually a fake one!
In some cases, they pay by credit card but they always overpay then want you to send them money!  Again, DONT!  If you cash they check, you are complicit in the eyes of the law.  
They will tell you they have their own shipper and want you to pay the shipper, DONT!
Do business the way you always do and trust those nagging feelings you know you get.  

Here is an example of the latest one.  This one even came with the guys photo.  
Name
Tom Glen
Email
glentom101@gmail.com
Phone Number
Comment
Greetings...  I am Tom Glen from Sydney Texas. I have been on the lookout for some artworks lately in regards to I and my wife's anniversary which is just around the corner. I stormed on to some of your works which I found quite impressive and intriguing. I must admit you're doing quite an impressive job. You are undoubtedly good at what you do.

With that being said, I would like to purchase some of your works as a surprise gift to my wife in honor of our upcoming wedding anniversary. It would be of help if you could send some pictures of your piece of works, with their respective prices and sizes, which are ready for immediate (or close to immediate) sales. My budget for this is within the price range of $1500 to $5000.

I look forward to reading from you in a view to knowing more about your pieces of inventory. As a matter of importance, I would also like to know if you accept a check as a means of payment.

Tom Glen.

Lately, I have had lots of talks with other artists about the changes that are inevitable now that covid has overtaken the world.  Our lifetime is now part of history and we have to adapt and find ways to be creative and relative in this brave new world.  
One thing I hear over and over is the percentage of current galleries that will not be around this time next year.  Some huge galleries have already closed.  Everyone is scrambling to find a way to showcase their art and make a living at the same time.  
I keep asking myself how much of the old way of doing business is still relevant?  There have always been many things that were taboo for artist.  Do those old taboo's apply?  I don't think so.  I think it is a new world and its time for us to create a good business model where we work together.  Exhibitions were already moving towards arts collectives and art groups rather than galleries but now this seems even more important
Being in control of your art and how its shown and sold are more important than ever. 
What do you think is important?
How do we implement these into our presentations?  
How do we show the work and continue to grow our businesses without alienating potential in the future?  
Art reps and consultants seem like the way of the future in my eyes.  What do you think?   

In this series, Victoria Chapman, director VC Projects, discusses artists' practice, life during isolation, past and upcoming exhibitions, and issues that most artists face.

Today, I had a great discussion with Victoria via an Instagram Live. Victoria and I have known and worked together for many years. We talked about isolation and how it comes out in artists' work, as well as how artists deal with the challenges it presents.

We'd love to hear from you! What are your challenges? Has isolation hindered or helped your creativity? Going forward how will your practice evolve? Leave a comment to help support the artist community in navigating these challenging times. 

Join us In the Studio Tuesday, June 9th, 10am pacific for a "studio visit" and chat with VC Projects director Victoria Chapman! 
Victoria has been exploring the idea of isolation with artists and curators over the past few months and how the isolation has reared its ugly head in their art, lives, and creative practice. 
​Instagram live 
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBMByS_h_SF/?igshid=1uq8mybw2saa8
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www.ToddWilliamson.com
#contemporarypainting #artstudio #artstudio #studiovisit #museum #contemporaryartist #contemporaryart #fineart #artcollectors #artcollecting #venicebiennale2019

"Contemporary art is a new voice in an ongoing dialogue of artistic ideas. Every artist working today contends with, looks at, draws inspiration from, and rejects all the art that has come before. It is the topmost layer of a sedimentation of proposals, styles, ideas, images, forms, and vocabularies that have accrued over time. Contemporary art is a way of looking at the world and making sense of the questions, problems, joy, and chaos that exist all around us and trying to find an expression that gives form to, or makes sense of it all. It can sometimes take on urgent, global problems, but it can also be extremely intimate or deal with the language of art itself: abstraction, color, or shapes. It can be about the process and the inventiveness of coming up with new technologies and new materials. Contemporary art can often feel like an obscure, elusive, or almost hostile thing that people either shy away from or that lends itself to ridicule and derision."  by Christian Rattemeyuer, director Sculpture Center MOMAI thought this was very appropriate and truly describes contemporary art.  Even artists dont always understand contemporary art.  I have to work to understand a lot of video art and installations.  I am too impatient to sit for 10 minutes to watch a jumbled mass of images that do not make sense to me without a description from the artist but I am willing to be educated and I do try to understand that all art recreates the world of the artist as they see it. 

Telephone Game, Chinese Whispers, Russian Scandal and Grapevine, each variations of a game played in childhood, speak to that elemental need to communicate, despite our instinctive knowledge that the message is subject to language, interpretation, and intent, all along the road to enlightenment or— truthiness. The search can be noble or naughty, but endlessly fascinating, and it's as old as a pack of dogs.
The Circle of Truth is an ambitious art collaboration among 49 contemporary artists, working separately, but sequentially, under the guidance of co-curators Laura Hipke and Shane Guffogg, who created the first painting and delivered it, along with a blank canvas and request to create a visual response to the next artist in the Circle.
Previous paintings in the series went into storage as the process continued with the 49 artists over a period of nine years. Although each piece is accompanied by an essay from the participant, the optic impact of 20 by 20 square paintings hung straight in chronological order presents a visual trifecta. An individual work, by Robert Williams or Ed Ruscha, for example, tells one story; pieces in proximity reflect one another; and the whole visual experience is a multi-image panorama unified by the age-old question, "Just what is the story?"
After a debut at the New Museum Los Gatos, Circle of Truth opens at the Lancaster Museum of Art on August 10 and then at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art on April 3rd, 2021.
Originally published in the Summer 2019 Issue of Juxtapoz Magazine.