Open Studios is an endurance test for the student/artist, and possibly for the attendees as well. After all, 60 studios, each one deserving of critical attention, full of artists who grow more weary as the three-day marathon continues.
Will I be discovered? Will anyone? Will anyone come? Will they like my work? Or take my business card? Or just poke their head in my door, roll their eyes and back out quickly.
My art isn’t for everyone. No one’s is. I mean, there are even critics who dismiss the whole Renaissance. (It’s not my favorite period either, to be honest.)
These days the art world is supposed to be open to all comers. It’s okay to paint and draw, to sculpt, to make videos or performance pieces, to include the audience in the action or just make them watch.
This morning I was back in my studio, working on my mural (so close to the end, now), when I decided that it was a good time to take photos of some of the work still displayed in the Open Studios aftermath. The most colorful work photographs best, and I am still a crow, drawn to the bright and shiny. I couldn’t include everybody here, but these are a few of my favorite Second-Year artists.
My classmates are amazing. I wish I could show work from all of them. But you know how you can see it? Come to the second year shows at the SVA Gallery in January and in March. And don’t miss our thesis show in April. You’ll be amazed.