I’m stuck in Texas trying to finish the business plan for art251. So, it goes without saying – but I’ll say it anyway – I’m missing the annual Armory Show in New York City. The show runs from March 27-30 at Pier94. This year’s count is around 150 galleries featuring all new works from living artists… or is it living works from new artists?

Perhaps indicative of the growing influence of contemporary art in Europe and Asia, in this year’s event non-U.S. galleries outnumber home-grown ones.

So, since I’m unable to attend the Armory – after all, I did get to visit Art Basel Miami in December 2007 – I’ve posted a short pre-opening video that makes me feel as if I am, well, almost, but not-quite really there.

It’s over. After starting our quest for a new logo design just over a month ago, we’ve finally called-off the search. We received 490 entries from all around the world. We gave feedback to each designer, on every design. We ranked each entry on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5-stars being the best. We ended up with around 30 or so in the 5-star category. We rated these on another scale – funky, artsy, urban, trendy, sophisticated and expensive – which would reflect how each might be perceived by our target customers.  It took us a while to whittle down our top 30 – the quality was exceptional, and we had become quite emotionally attached to some of the designs! We eventually got down to the top 10 and then top 5.

Before I go on, here’s a screen shot of the top 24 entries. Each of these is a potential corporate logo, which could end up on our storefront sign, letterhead, website, business cards, packaging and all manner of other items (Roger Federer’s arm band, Tiger Wood’s polo-shirt perhaps?). But more importantly, each of these, and each of the remaining 466 designs, is a work of ART.

About a month ago, we set out to re-design our look. Our logo, website, blog and paper-based marketing materials needed professional assistance from a real graphics designer. So, we went local AND global.

Locally, we contracted with Chris Lauer, a graphic artist and illustrator to re-vamp our logo. He gave us about 30 or so great new designs to consider.

Then, we went global. We posted a logo design contest on 99designs. The response was overwhelming. We received 460 designs from over 80 designers. Entries came from all around the globe, including Argentina, Nigeria, Indonesia, UK, Portugal, France, Romania, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Pakistan, Germany, India, Canada, Italy, Brazil, Taiwan, Netherlands, Serbia and of course the US. In our own very local way we’ve become a globally designed brand.

So, we and our retail designer now have 490 logo designs – or rather, art – to sift through. The creativity, quality and quantity of this work really caught us off-guard. It will take us a while to rank our favorites and even get down to a short-list of 10 or so. As we do, we hope to post some of the best designs here.

Soon to graduate with an MFA, local artist Roma Misra presented her thesis exhibit at Texas Christian University’s (TCU) Art Gallery, opening on February 22, 2008.

The show comprised 7 works under the theme “Synapse”. The works were tightly woven into an organic whole. I didn’t get much time to speak with the artist about her work, and hence learn about her influences and subject matter. However, the works really did strike me as having a distinct influence from two very different cultures: India and the United States.

One of my favorites of Roma’s work is shown here (with apologies to the artist for having to resize the image to get it to fit my blog!). This work is very evocative – having traveled in India, the painting brings back vivid memories for me: the cacophony of diverse elements, the juxtaposed colors and even the sound.

Roma Misra, …gauging…, acrylic and glitter on canvas, 2007

One of the great pleasures of this business is discovering new talent. It is so refreshing too find new and exciting art, and to explore new ideas or find new ways of looking at world.

I recently (February 2, 2008) visited the pix2 exhibit at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). Housed in the Visual Arts Building, the exhibit featured 13 local artists.

John Pomara, a faculty member and talented local artist, curated the pix2 exhibition. The premise of the exhibit was:

Art writers and critics from the Dallas-Fort Worth were invited to pick an up-and-coming young artist who shows promise and merit, but has not been prominently showcased in area galleries. This exhibition is an opportunity for the public to view artists ‘under the radar’ in the North Texas art scene.

And, some very promising art it was. I found the works by Sara Ishii, Kevin Joseph Brown and Josephine Durkin particularly compelling – very innovative, intensely thoughtful and technically impressive. A sampling of images below (with all due respect to the artists, I took these pictures with my camera-phone):

I’ve been thinking about the answers to these questions for a while. Our art space isn’t yet open, in fact, we’ve only just begun the design. So it may seem rather premature to be worrying about “curating”. Besides, what is curating anyway? Why do we need a curator?

“Curate” (the verb) comes from the original Latin word “cura” meaning to take spiritual charge or to care for an individual or a group. So, while curating once meant taking care of people, it has in recent times taken on a similar meaning but applied to the care of inanimate objects, usually art. Though interestingly nowadays as you walk around your local mall, or shop in cool stores, you are just as likely to be exposed to a curator’s machinations as you would in a museum or art gallery.

Outside of the confines of our hallowed museums and public galleries a lengthy and formal education in art history, architecture / design or visual aesthetics may not be as important a requirement for being a good curator. Rather, a good curator in the narrower context of a commercial art space such as ours is a great observer, with a curious and open mind. A good curator is invisible, yet his or her hand is unmistakable. A good curator recognizes that art takes precedence over the curator; he or she is not the artist. A good curator creates a context for further exploration of art by others. A good curator understands the audience and the community in which the art is shown. A good curator is skilled in weaving links of ideas amongst the individual works.

Some might say a curator is nothing more than an organizer; using his or her experience and personal biases to shape a collection of ideas. Well, perhaps, but wouldn’t “curator” look so much more “curated” on a business card than “organizer”. Or, others might prefer the term “guardian” or “overseer”.

In any event, I think art251 needs a curator. We’ll need the curator to jury and select the art, to organize and display works in aesthetically interesting ways, to link art works in new ways that supplement and expand an idea, to tell a compelling story to our audience. Importantly, our curator will do so in a manner that builds on the original intent of our artists and lets the art shine through, guided by an invisible hand.

Art is alive, well and thriving in Houston area high schools. This short video of the Video Arts Scholastic Event, sponsored by the Texas Art Education Association, will give you some idea of the breadth and depth of the young talent bubbling up from our larger neighbor to the south.

Could we, should we have something just as bright and bold in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area?

Yes, the ‘burbs of North Texas are bubbling with artists. Beneath the calm exterior of well-manicured lawns lies a vast unchanneled source of creative energy waiting to overflow to the surface.

Since, mid-2007 we’ve been searching for and finding many very talented local artists. Within a radius of about 25 miles we’ve found: nationally recognized abstract impressionists; acclaimed potters and ceramic artists in all shapes and colors (the work, not the artists!); regionally known wood turners and abstract wood carvers; glass blowers; concrete stain muralists; sculptors working with stainless steel, bronze, copper and slate; contemporary quilt makers; talented portrait artists from senior high schools; famed jewelry artists, and the list goes on.

Before starting this mad adventure, I would never have believed that so many talented, creative people lived here in the suburbs. We are not, and will never be, a bohemian and edgy artistic hotbed like East Village and Soho (artists) and Chelsea (galleries) in Manhattan, or Shoreditch in London. However, our quiet suburban landscape is much more seething in artistic expression and desire than we could have hoped.

In addition to Warhol’s print of Mao in my post about Art Basel | Miami Beach, I came across lots of other wonderful faces during my brief tour. I think it’s all in the eyes. A smattering below:

Picasso

Léger

Warhol

Evan Penny (luckily, and unlike the others, he’s still very much alive!)

Where else in the United States could you find original Picassos, Warhols and Basquiats alongside thousands of works by emerging artists exhibited in shipping containers? Art Basel | Miami Beach, of course.

Now in its sixth year, Art Basel | Miami Beach is a 4 day long visual adventure through a vast and unprecedented collection of contemporary and modern art. In fact, the Miami Beach Convention Center is the anchor for a huge feast of art fairs, art expos and art exhibits that envelop the entire city. The catalog of galleries in the Convention Center alone, showcasing works from over 2,000 artists, is a 750 page tome comparable to a New York telephone directory!

Like most of the other attendees this year, I was there to soak in the amazing collections of art, not to buy. Unfortunately, for me, but not the artists, the prices for most art on display were well into five and six figures.

But all is not lost. Art Basel has opened up the world of contemporary art to art lovers (and buyers) beyond the previously impenetrable, sometimes elitist gallery scenes of New York, and London. and other cosmopolitan cities. As I strolled the exhibit halls, awestruck by much of the art, I could not help but be very encouraged by the record number of people doing the same – parents ambling with their kids in strollers, professionals, retirees, power couples, teenagers, groups of women, collectors from Asia and Europe.

So while Art Basel can be overwhelming, this annual event has started to crack open the doors of the contemporary art world, and the many talented artists, to the general public. Kudos Art Basel!