5 New Posts

I want to thank eneryone who reads this blog for being patient. It has been a few weeks since my last post. I have posted 5 new posts today, and I hope to publish more regularly now that I am at home. Enjoy the latest posts.

-Mike

Recommendations

Recommendations

I wanted to give out a few numbers to other NYC artists out there who read this blog. These people are the ONLY people I use. After years in the gallery scene, I have found that these people/companies are the very best in their field. If you use any of these places, please tell them where you got the number.

Photography- Adam Reich (shoots for several major galleries, is expensive but there is none better) 212-736-5999

Vinyl Lettering or Paint Mask– Atomic Signs (Chelsea. Reasonably priced.) 212-243-0803

Framing- Raphael (all hand made custom frames, studio in Long Island City, reasonably priced and amazing quality) 718-361-0987

Shipping- Keith at Artcore (specializes in fine art delivery in the Tri-State area. Works for many of the biggest names in the gallery scene. Reasonably priced and able to do anything from crystal to 10-ton steel installation) 646-413-3197

Installation and Art Handling- Drew McGrath (works for several top galleries in NYC) 845-598-3636

Packing and Shipping Supplies- (Bubble wrap, archival wraps, cardboard, packing tape. Valentine is the best priced company in NYC, and will usually deliver the next day. Used by almost every gallery) 718-545-6300

House Husbandry

House Husbandry

It is official- I am now a stay-at-home-dad. This will allow me more time to do things like promotion on the computer/internet, and non-toxic projects like “Portrait of Noel Heberling” which can be done at home, but will greatly limit the amount of time I will have at the studio for larger projects which require construction and toxic materials. I am still fishing out a way to do both, and my other hobbies, but it will certainly take some time and adjustment to find the right schedule.

So this blog is now about managing a family and an emerging art career rather than how to survive in NYC as an artist and work in your field. As a side note, a few weeks ago I tried to see how many gallery shifts I could pick up in two weeks. It is off-season, and work is supposed to be slim, but I was able to book 15 days in a row. For anyone who reads this blog wanting to work in the galleries to support your food/art/rent habit, this blog’s archives have all the information I learned, and I am always happy to answer emails. I was quite successful as a gallery slave, and I fully recommend it to any post-college young artist, or any emerging artist moving to the city for the first time. It is a great way to see the artwork, to learn installation, to see the role of the gallery from the other side, and to meet contacts from gallery owners to fellow emerging young artists. Not to mention, pay rent. In a way, despite the fact that I will be spending more time at home with my son and with my artwork, I will miss the gallery scene.

As for House Husbandry, I am totally new. Evelyn, my wife, just started work again after maternity leave yesterday. I will be making a schedule soon, but it will be written in pencil, who knows what’s in store. I foresee many challenges, but I consider myself extremely lucky. I have more time to dedicate to my art than almost anyone I know, not to mention I get to spend time with my son and I do not have to deal with the egotistical gallery hierarchy on a daily basis. As with any major adjustment, I predict that things will be in flux for a few weeks, but once my schedule becomes regular, creation of future Crateart will thrive. Any home/family artists out there reading this (and I know a couple that do) give a response on how you’ve dealt with this adjustment, as I have all of one and a half day’s experience.

Crateartist.com Update

Crateartist.com Update

I have been taking to my website designer and Crateartist.com is due for a huge update. In the coming weeks, the website will be under construction.

Among the changes, I plan to update my biography to list recent shows such as “Teach Your Children About Johnny Cash” and “Binge and Purge”. I plan to update my web gallery to include recent works like “Froot Loop Chuck”. The archives will be updated to include more images of older works and the links will be updated to include more links to other artists.

If there are any other changes anyone would like to suggest, please email me. info@crateartist.com. I would love to hear suggestions.

Next?

Next?

Well, Chuck is done. Chuck was the longest and hardest piece I ever made and it is complete and on display. The Magnan opening is over. The show is still up, but I don’t need to do anything more until the closing. I have been so busy with my work for so long now. But now, the hard part is over, leaving a huge void. I have no main projects, just things I was working on before Chuck took over my studio. So the big question is: what’s next?

I have begun to work on older projects again. I have taken out my portrait of Noel Heberling and my portrait of Mary Boone. I would like to finish those, but it is difficult to come back to old work. So much has changed, and I can’t really go back, mentally, to where I was when I was consumed by these pieces.

I have a lot of ideas I would like to create. The difference between a piece like “portrait of Noel Heberling as Zeus” and “Froot Loop Chuck” is one of production. To explain, Froot Loop Chuck had a budget, a timeline of when it needed to be complete, and it was grand in ambition as well as in scale and resource. Portrait of Noel, which will be a wondrous piece when complete, has no budget, can take ten weeks or ten years, and while grand, is not of the same caliber that Chuck is.

There are two projects that I would like to complete that are on the scale of production that Chuck is on. They are both expensive in material and in the level of dedication they would require, but the time to begin these pieces is not now.

What’s next for Crateart is back to the old for a while, at least until the closing of “Binge and Purge”. I am in a strange transition at the moment and I need things to settle before I jump into another huge project. I recently became a “house husband” and the effects of my first Chelsea show are still lingering. Working on a Portrait of Booner or Heberling will be a constructive way to relax until the next giant step. With that said, I am hungry for another large production, and the question is “when”, not “if” the next one will happen. That kind of assignment and that kind of accomplishment is addictive, and it is difficult for me to do less than anything I have done before.

The Big Show

The Big Show

So my first big group show was at Magnan Projects on June 29^th. Magnan Projects is an emerging artist’s gallery in North Chelsea at 10^th Avenue near 27^th street. I showed “Froot Loop Chuck” there, to amazing response. I am excited to see what comes of this show, some press would be nice or some more exposure in future shows. I will not go into each encounter I had with people I met at the opening, but I will say again that the response was amazing. For those interested in seeing the show, it is up until August 5^th, visit http://www.magnanprojects.com. For more information.

My target audience with this blog is other emerging artists, or those interested in what happens behind my work, so let me relate a couple of things I learned in this opening:

-Self-promotion in a group show is frowned upon. This I learned the hard way. I was excited to display my Froot Loop Chuck and sent out a separate mailer. Hopefully it brought more people to the opening, however others involved with the show did not meet my self-promotion with a good response. There is a strange collision of motives when it comes to selling artwork. The artist, especially an emerging artist, is hungry for exposure. The curator wants things to flow smoothly, with as little conflict as possible. The gallery wants sells and wants promotion of the gallery. I see where what I did was justified under my motives, however I also see how it was viewed as bull-headed by those around me, by those who’s motives differ. If you just have to send out your own mailer for a group opening, and not heed my warning, be sure you put a return address on it. Otherwise, returned postcards will be sent to the gallery.

-Don’t drink too much at your own opening. This sounds funny but its all too common. I knew this lesson going into he opening and made it a point to not drink a drop of alcohol until the after party (where I drank way too much). It is funny how many times I have seen drunken artists at openings. It is important to be on point during an opening, because you may end up talking to potential clients, so the rule I follow (told to me by Brian Rutenberg) is no more than one drink an hour until after the opening. My new lesson is not to drink too much during the after party either. I’m learning as I go, but I think in future openings I will leave the after party early and, with a selected group of friends, begin drinking. Being so full of nervous energy for so long does not mix with alcohol well, and it is best to embarrass yourself in front of your friends than in front of your business partners.

I am not sure when the next show will be, but I plan a lot of promotion in the coming weeks and I hope that this current show will generate some attention. I will be sure to post my new promotion plans soon.