A top art blog for artists and art lovers: news about major art competitions and exhibitions, interviews with artists, techniques and tips for art and business
This video by Carl Randall documents how he created a very LARGE painting of Piccadilly Circus.
Crop of part of Carl Randall's painting of Piccadilly Circus
The video is very short (1min 42 secs) and is speeded up so you can see his painting process and how he progresses the painting in terms of
the backdrop of the architectural features of Piccadilly Circus
the foreground of people - which includes 70 portraits of people painted from life
First he mapped in the background
Next he started painting the individual heads - from life
About Carl Randall
Carl is a figurative artist. The thing that makes his portrait paintings work very distinctive is that he locates people in a cultural context and specific location.
He also likes to paint in monochrome as well as colour.
Since then he has moved from Japan back to London and I've seen his very distinctive portraits from time to time e.g. his London Portraits by Carl Randall were exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery - and two of them are currently in the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
Nick Park and Raymond Briggs - painted by Carl Randall included in the 2018 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
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This is your opportunity to comment on what you think of GDPR and its impact on artists and small art groups/organisations.
I was asked yesterday to provide a comment to a German news organisation and this morning sent them a written response to the questions they asked - see below.
But as an artist or illustrator or arts organisation WHAT DO YOU THINK?
are you aware of GDPR?
do you know what you have to do to comply with the new regulation as from Friday 25th May 2018
have you done anything to date?
are you planning to do anything
how do you feel about it?
Please comment below - and you never know your comment might also be incorporated!
Reference to previous posts below (re. GDPR background/actions) and a small treat at the end of this post for those who get that far!
I think maybe the ICO website is having a few problems with demand for information with only two days left before the Regulation becomes operational
___________________________________
questions
How might the GDPR negatively effect artists and artist organizations? Does simple human oversight and a failure to 'opt-in' before May 25 mean that artistic communities could lose contact with many of the people they rely on to survive?
Why has the 'one size fits all' roll-out of the GDPR been problematic for artists and art societies?
Anything else you'd like to add?
my response
The
EU comprehensively failed to assess the impact of this change in
regulation on the sole trader - and artists are no different from any
other sole trader in this respect.
The definition I've seen
of a micro business is one with less than 250 employees. We all know
full well there are very many active sole traders and and thriving small
businesses and trading operations which have anywhere between 1 and 10
employees. Two years ago when this new regulation was approved, both the
EU and the national agencies responsible for the implementation of this
new regulation totally failed to communicate effectively with sole
traders and the real micro businesses (i.e. those with less than 10
employees). As a result, they have only succeeded in frightening them
and sending them into a spin with very little time left to implement
change. I'd liken it to the complete insensitivity of the disastrous
change in VAT levied on digital products in 2015 (such as eBook and
video tutorials) which was made without any thought whatsoever for the
implications for the sole trader.
The EU needs to stop ignoring the fact there are HUGE numbers of sole traders - including artists - operating within the EU.
Sole
traders are periodically strangled by EU red tape designed to catch the
very large organisations who sidestep and/or ignore regulations and
tax.
Of course, the EU should tackle the lack of proper
security of personal data (and evasion of tax etc.) by corporate
entities - but they need to make robust and realistic assessments of the
impact of their "one size fits all" regulations on sole traders and
extremely small businesses in the process!
The level of
change is seismic in its impact for a sole/small trader such as an
artist compared to companies which can afford to employ individuals to
tackle this topic. It's very likely to succeed in causing much anxiety
and choking off economic activity at the grass roots.
However
due to the very poor communication, I suspect most artists are still
not aware that ANY change is happening on 25th May. Very many will not
be aware of the complete range of changes they are expected to make.
They will undoubtedly carry on as before. Whether this becomes a problem
for them in the future is hard to say. I certainly don't think the
regulators should be spending their time chasing after artists who
probably don't understand much of the language and terms that the
regulations and guidance is written in.
Lawmakers
and regulators should very definitely get their priorities in order and
focus all their efforts on holding the corporate giants to account!
and finally......
I've been collecting GDPR Privacy Policies - and if you are at the screaming ab-dabs stage with yours you might enjoy reading this one - The Writers HQ - Privacy Policy
I asked a question in the Art Fair Buddies Facebook Group on Sunday and had some amazing feedback - which I'd like to share.
Old Town Art Fair, Chicago rated as one of the top art fairs in the USA
The question was
I'm doing a lecture tomorrow and was wondering if people would care to share YOUR ONE IMPORTANT TIP for those who have never ever done an art fair before. Sorry for the late notice - I want one slide of "voices of those who have been there/done that" - you say it so much better!
My lecture yesterday at the Heatherley School of Art was on How to make money from your artand it focused on the various ways you can make money from art - via either third parties or by being independent and doing things for yourself and trading independently eg online, in a pop-up exhibition you've organised - or at an art fair.
I wanted to create a two sides of A4 handout for those who had never ever done an art fair before.
Just before the start of my lecture last night at The Heatherley School of Art
The wonderful Art Fair Buddies came up with LOTS of tips which I then recorded in a two sides of A4 Word document and grouped according to the different themes which emerged which are:
Logistics Preparation and Set-up - covering: design of your stand, making/painting on your stand; location issues; keeping track of everything and comfort factors
The Do's and Don'ts of how to present yourself and behave
Your Art Business - covering Learn how to sell; Pricing and Contacts
That Word document has now been converted to a PDF file which has now been uploaded to:
the files section of the Art Fair Buddies Facebook Group; and
If you as an artist are sweating over GDPR - otherwise known by its longer name of General Data Protection Regulation - just imagine what it's doing for art gallery owners, directors and managers - and any and all art dealers.
The Financial Times has a particularly good article on this topic A secretive art world grapples with data protection which highlights some of the issues for art galleries and dealers and the scope to tear down the walls they keep around their major asset - information about individual collectors
galleries record extensive personal information about collectors and clients — from their tastes and their buying histories to their private addresses and even their dietary preferences.
As from next Friday 25th May 2018 (i.e. 5 DAYS LEFT)if a collector enquires, an art gallery has to produce all the data they hold about an individual.
Then there's the issues of
provenance which is important in relation to how long personal data is kept. Keeping a track record of purchases and sales of art is crucial to the maintenance of credibility and value.
the black lists - who is not allowed to buy art from a gallery
which appears to be leading to some interesting explorations of which records are and are not subject to GDPR (and hence whether or not they must be revealed).
Cork Street - as was - before the developers got going, pulling down buildings.....
Data Protection for Art and Artists | Art Business Info for Artists - a resource for artists, art societies, art galleries and other organisations who need to make sure they comply.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an expert on this topic - even if I know more than you! Nothing stated on this page is legal advice. Like you I'm just trying to work my way through the maze of online information about GDPR. Hence this resource should NOT be construed or relied upon as legal advice. You are not my client and I do not know your individual circumstances - meaning I have no liability to you in any circumstances should you choose to rely on any of the materials on this page - although whatever is published by the ICO should be more authoritative than most.
You have until 12 noon on Friday 6 July 2018 to get your digital entry ready and upload it and complete your submission online.
This post highlights the new advisory guidelines on the sort of work the SWLA wants to see submitted.
The Selection Committee of the SWLA seeks to encourage all forms of three and two dimensional artwork (see 'Acceptable media' below) that is based on representing the world’s wildlife. The Committee is particularly keen to encourage all artists with fresh visions to submit work to the Annual Exhibition that shows imagination, artistic ability, originality and genuine creativity.
SWLA Exhibition - Main Gallery last year
Call for Entries: 55th annual exhibition of SWLA
The SWLA call for entries is administered by the Federation of British Artists at the Mall Galleries and you can find more information below and on their website For full terms and conditions, click here.
Prizes & Awards (subject to final confirmation)
There are many prizes and awards available to win, including:
NEW The Terravesta Prize: £2,000 for the best work exhibited
Birdwatch Artist of the Year Award (£1,000 plus Swarovski equipment)
The Roger Clarke Award: £500
The Langford Press Printmaking Award: £200 cash and the winner's choice of ten titles from Langford Press publications
The Langford Press 3D Award: £200 cash and the winner's choice of ten titles from Langford Press publications
RSPB Award
Dry Red Press Award
PJC Drawing Award
Birdscapes Gallery 'Conservation through Art' Award
In summary, the SWLA Selection Committee is looking for:
two and three dimensional artwork inspired by the natural world
work that displays a deep knowledge and understanding of the subject matter, based on ‘in the field’ observation
work that reflects a personal, original, and creative response
work that displays a high level of technical skill
work that showcases interesting approaches and emerging new talent
Wildlife includes any non-domestic animal such as birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, crustaceans and insects.Works depicting domestic animals or purely botanical subjects are not permissible. Works depicting wildlife divorced from its environment or without place, setting or context are rejected in many cases.
Biological or scientific illustrations are in most cases not permissible.
This one is just about the exhibition. (Don't forget! If you mention "Making A Mark" at the admission desk you can get Free Entry for Two - normal admission is £4, Concessions £3)
But first some portraits by somebody who has been featured rather a lot on this blog of late
Portraits by Daphne Todd (centre plus two on the left) and Antony Williams (two on the right)
Top left is Daphne Todd's portrait of Des Volaris,
the omnipresent representative of BP on the BP Portrait Award selection panel
The painting in the centre has also had quite a few airings on BBC1 of late.
Exhibition Metrics and the Open Entry
The Selection Committee this year only had two people who were selectors in 2017: Simon Davis and Antony Williams. The rest were new and were Richard Foster (the new President), Andrew James, Anastasia Pollard and Mark Roscoe.
These are the numbers (the "exhibition metrics")
There are 220 works hung in this exhibition of which 111 works (50%) were by members
NON- MEMBERS EXHIBITED:
OPEN ENTRY: over 2,000 entries were submitted by non-members
The ratio of members' work to non-members is 51:49 - it varies from year to year but overall it appears that the ratio averages out at around 50:50
109 artworks are being exhibited by 92 non-member portrait painters
the big change in 2018 is fewer artists are being selected and more are being invited - which I guess is another form of selection
the good news: around half the artwork in the show is NOT by a member
the bad news: less than 5% of the entry gets selected
the good news: which is better than the percentage selected for the BP Portrait Award
the bad news: however this open entry ismore competitive than the RA's Summer Exhibition!
Open Entry
90 works were selected from the open entry and exhibited by 69 artists
The average number of selected paintings per selected artists is 1.3 - most just have one although a few have two or three - typically those who are moving up the ladder towards being invited to be a member
Open entries selected for exhibition: percentage selected is less than 4.4% (based on an entry of at least 2,000). This is a reduction on last year due to the increase in artists invited to show a work.
Invited Artists
18 artists were invited to exhibit a portrait- up from just five last year. Typically those invited are artists who have been selected previously and presumably there needs to be a good reason why they are invited (see my example below). Also some (such as Gareth Reid) also had a work selected via the Open Entry
plus two of the exhibiting artists via the open entry (Miriam Escoffet and Ania Hobsonare shortlisted for the 2018 BP Portrait Award Prizes - but are also not members!
Hero Johnson with her portrait of Sir Alan Parker - and her subject.
Hero won the Changing Faces Prize at this exhibition in 2016
and was shortlisted for the the RSPP Self Prize in 2013 and was invited by Mark Roscoe RP to exhibit at the exhibition.
She was also selected to exhibit at the BP Portrait Award 2017
What's also very interesting - although I have no statistics to validate this - is that there seem to be a lot more international artists entering the competition - and the Chinese appear very taken with the RSPP!
On that basis I'd expect the international entry to keep on growing....
This week saw two television programmes exploring the back stories behind exhibitions and other activities and recent developments at the Royal Academy of Arts
See behind the scenes of the New RA in our very own documentary.
This didn't really do much to avoid the notion that the RA is some sort of exclusive club which has only started to get to grips within thinking about adding in more women as members since 2000.
It's been made partly because of the RA's 250th anniversary. Part of me is convinced it has been made for an American audience and future benefactors in terms of what it focused on e.g. history, the royal connection, lavish dinners etc and the rituals associated with being a member.
It did show you around the RA - although I've seen much of what it revealed on a trip I did in connection with the building project. It showed you how the RA Summer Exhibition worked - from an Academicians perspective and we had an endless number of views of the signatories over the years when people became members and Grayson Perry floating around in another costume that the students at the London College of Fashion have made for him.
It was interesting to hear that the Friends Membership Scheme generates something like £10 million per annum - and is their bed rock of funding in the absence of any government grant.
However I'm a Friend and have been thinking of giving up my membership ever since they took away the Chesterfields in the Friends Room. It was particularly interesting to hear what the membership was supposed to deliver in the early days (i.e. what I want) compared to what it now delivers now i.e. bigger spaces for doing more things which are no interest to me.
Great Art: David Hockney at the Royal Academy of Arts (ITV)
The Bigger Picture at Burlington House in 2012
David Hockney at the Royal Academy of Arts is the first episode of the second series of Great Art - featuring Tim Marlow (the Artistic Director at the RA). The programme is based on
the 2012 RA exhibition, in the very large main galleries: A Bigger Picture - of outdoor plein-air landscapes, (See my blog post Review: David Hockney RA - A Bigger Picture January 17, 2012) and
the 2016 RA exhibition, in the smaller Sackler Gallery: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life show,
and on extended interviews with Hockney himself.
In the context of the 250th anniversary of the RA it's unsurprising that Tim Marlow wanted to feature the biggest exhibition they've ever had at the RA i.e. the 600,000 people who visited The Bigger Picture in 2012. There are times when I think Hockney is keeping the RA afloat all on his own.
It's not very penetrating interviewing and I spent most of the time predicting what was coming next - but that might be something to do with how many times I saw A Bigger Picture!
However it was wonderful to see the rooms and the paintings in the exhibitions again. In some ways it was better because of course the rooms are empty and hence you get a much better sense of some of the works.
It tended to focus on the paintings and didn't really do justice to either his drawings or the ipad digital work. It also skipped lightly and quickly over the reasons for moving back and to between California and East Yorkshire.
It's more interesting about the processes of paintings (e.g. each portraits was the product of three concentrated days of painting - and none of them are commissions) and provides less insight as to why. Other than Hockney likes a big project and a challenge!
What was interesting was hearing extended interviews with two of his portrait sitters RA contemporary curator Edith Devaney and Hockney author Martin Gayford - although we need to remember both probably have a financial interest in making Hockney look and sound good! See also:
Curator Edith Devaney introduces David Hockney’s portrait exhibition, giving an insight into this remarkable series of work and Hockney’s relationship with portraiture, as well as her own experiences of sitting for the artist.
Videos on the RA website - In the studio with David Hockney RA (4 minutes)
David Hockney RA talks to curator Edith Devaney in his Los Angeles studio, ahead of his Royal Academy exhibition '82 Portraits and 1 Still-life'.
The series is adapted from full-length feature films originally released in cinemas under EXHIBITION ON SCREEN.
Bottom line this is a programme which is compiling and using bits of various footage which has been released over the years and re-issuing it in such a way that it feels quite fresh - even when you know you've watched bits of it before!
