A&O Blog

Since Apple launched its App Store in 2008, a billion apps have been downloaded from the platform. Originating as a technophile phenomenon of handheld gaming and gimmicky e-gadgets, the App Store has matured into a bonafide marketplace with everyone from retailers to educators clamoring for its audience. Recently, artists themselves staked a claim to this audience with a campaign, +ArtApp, launched this month to petition Apple to add a dedicated Art category to the App Store. The category is meant to concentrate all art-centered apps–from artist produced works, to museum and gallery guides–now spread across ill-fitting categories of Education, Lifestyle and Resources.

Initially, it seemed that arts oriented applications were merely developed to translate traditional skills like drawing and painting to the digital realm. Apps like ArtRage, Brushes, and Sketchbook have made creating art far more accessible and convenient than ever before. When David Hockney debuted his iPad paintings in 2009 the new medium got real worldwide attention and was immediately enveloped into the art canon. In his work, Hockney brings a very traditional style to large-scale paintings created on on his iPad.

Sonya Clark, Unraveling, 2015 (Courtesy of Mixed Greens).

2015 is shaping up to be one for the history books, with America’s long history of racial privilege and prejudice once again at the forefront of public discourse and many hopeful that recent tragedies will finally enact lasting social change. These tragedies have provoked an inspiring response from American artists, whose thoughtful and provocative works have elevated the discourse and engaged the art world.

Sonya Clark’s Unraveling is a powerful work that simultaneously reminds us of America’s violent history while suggesting that together we can face it and secure a brighter future. Clark, who was a Grand Prize winner at ArtPrize 2014, is showing the performance and textile piece as part of Mixed Greens gallery’s “New Dominion” group exhibition (closing July 17th), which consists of a Confederate flag that Clark partially unravelled during the show’s opening night with participation from the audience. What hangs in the gallery today as the finished work represents the progress made together. In this piece, Clark handles the flag firmly yet with a gentle quality; making sure to pull each strang on its own without ripping or pulling the entire flag apart. Her method of deconstruction takes time and resilience. See a video of the performance here: http://bit.ly/1IPuOXx.

Artist Sonya Clark unravels flag with audience participant (courtesy of Mixed Greens).

This slow and careful destruction of the confederate flag is related to another artist, Bree Newsome’s act of civil disobedience against the state of South Carolina June 26. As a reaction to the shooting in Charleston, Newsome scaled the flagpole outside of the South Carolina Statehouse and removed the confederate flag. When she returned to the ground in climbing gear and flag in hand, she peacefully turned herself in to the authorities who were waiting to arrest her at the base of the pole. Newsome’s brave action has been applauded by many as art and the iconic image of her perched atop the flagpole waving the unfastened confederate flag in her hand has become artistic inspiration for many. Just as the image of Newsome on the flagpole holding the confederate flag will be iconic in the years to come, the partially unwoven flag of Clark’s Unravelling serves as an image of where we are now and where we need to go.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It’s the last day of 2014 and, like many of you, we’re reflecting on the past year and busy making preparations for the next. This was a big one, personally and professionally, with new clients in new markets and both Lainya Magaña’s (now Renault) and Kathryn McKinney’s weddings occurring in October and November. Lainya has also solidified a move to true bi-coastal status and Kathryn is preparing for a move to New York in early 2015.

We’re grateful for all the successes 2014 brought us and are looking forward to all that’s to come with our new and retained clients. It’s been a pleasure to know and work with you all this year and wishing you and yours all the best in 2015!

Cheers, Lainya Renault & Kathryn McKinney

A&O Clients for 2015

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We're thrilled to be working with ArtPrize, the radically open, and world’s largest, art competition held annually in Grand Rapids, MI. Before it's all over on October 12th, we're heading to Grand Rapids for a media tour and the awards ceremony. In anticipation of our upcoming trip, here is a list of 10 artist entries we are most excited to see this year. 

1. Loris Cecchini, Wallwave vibration (anatomy of a diagram), 2012, polyester resin and paint, 87” diameter. On view at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, 1000 East Beltline Ave NE.

On the 3-D Juror’s Shortlist

We have a feeling Wallwave vibration is one of those pieces that photography cannot capture, which is why we're so excited to see it in person.

Cecchini on his piece: "In my most recent sculptures, the “Wallwave Vibrations” series, one loses the element of the object proper. The concern for alteration is concerned more particularly with the physical manifestation of the vibrations, expressed each time with different frequencies and intensities, wherein the visual pattern becomes “echo” of a phenomenon like a succession of waves on a liquid surface. In this direction it is as if the architecture, or a portion of it, is modified by the relationship between the sculpture and the wall." Read more about Cecchini's entry at ArtPrize's website. 

2. Sonya Clark, The Hair Craft Project, 2014, photographs and sewn canvas, variable dimensions. On view at Kendall College of Art and Design, 17 Pearl St. NW.

On the 2-D Juror's Shortlist

We love when an artist's work gives us a new perspective on things we see everyday. We're very excited to check out Clark's pieces and see the interplay between the glossy photographs and textured, sewn canvases. Read Clark's thoughts on her piece on ArtPrize's website: The Hair Craft Project.

3. Steve Lambert, Capitalism Works for Me, 2011, wood, lights, digital components, 9' h x 20' w x 7' d. On view at Kendall College of Art and Design, 17 Pearl St. NW.

On the Time-Based Juror's Shortlist

We think one of the most interesting aspects of this piece will be observing the public interacting with the sculpture: visitors to the piece will be able to weigh in on the statement "Capitalism works for me!" with a "True" or "False" vote, and voters will be invited to have their picture taken and speak briefly about why they voted a particular way. We're curious to see if the piece sparks conversation in the way that Lambert intended! Read more about Lambert's thoughts behind his piece here.

4. Anila Quayyum Agha, Intersections, 2013, laser-cut wood, 6.5' h x 6.5' w x 6.5' d. On view at Grand Rapids Art Museum, 101 Monroe Center

On the Installation Juror's Shortlist

Who wouldn't want to be bathed in the amazing geometric light and shadow combinations created by Quayyum Agha's Intersections? 

We're hoping a visit to the piece will tide us over until we can make that trip to the Alhambra a reality! Read about Intersections here on ArtPrize's website.

5. Suzanne Opton, Soldier, 2005, archival pigment prints, 41" x 52". On view at Grand Rapids Art Museum, 101 Monroe Center.

On the 2-D Juror's Shortlist

Intimate, arresting, beautiful, vulnerable - Opton's portraits of soldiers returning from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan have all the makings of a must-see work. The current geopolitical climate adds a new layer of complexity to the images, especially as our country weighs involvement in future conflicts in the Middle East. Read more about "Soldier" here.

6. Julie Schenkelberg, Symptomatic Constant, 2014, mixed media, variable dimensions. On view at SiTE:LAB @ The Morton, 72 Monroe Center NW. 

On the Installation Juror's Shortlist

From the pictures, Symptomatic Constant looks like a visual feast, simultaneously dark and playfully inventive. Schenkelberg calls it "a shipwreck in the Midwest", and we're excited to see her manipulations of the materials, which were all locally sourced from second-hand shops and recycling centers in Grand Rapids. See more images of Symptomatic Contstant here. 

7. Solo + Kojima, A Series of Handmade Japanese Paper Cut Sculptures, 2013, paper cut sculpture, 3m h x 3m w x 3m d. On view at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, 303 Pearl St. NW. 

We are prepared to be completely amazed by these delicate, intricate animals cut from paper, which took over 2 years to create and 8 days to install at ArtPrize. Read more about London-based duo Solo + Kojima here. 

8. Alex Podesta, Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers), 2014, mixed media, 3' h x 4.5' w x 3.5' d. On view in the Grand River, near the Pearl Street Bridge. 

On the Installation Juror's Shortlist

Like something from a dream, albeit a pretty strange one, Podesta's Bathers float peacefully in the middle of the Grand River. The picture above is surreal enough; we can't wait to experience the piece in person. Watch a short film on Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers) here.

9. Stephen Duewecke, playCAGE / The Fischer Configuration, 2014, mixed media, 8' h x 10" d, width variable. On view at Fish Ladder Park, 634 Front Ave NW. 

Duewecke's playCAGE stretches the 6 strings of a guitar over 128 feet of two-by-fours, and encourages visitors to touch and make music with the piece. Let's face it, when it comes to interactive artwork, the kid in us comes out to play. Bring on the dissonance! See a preview of playCAGE in action here.

10. Alisha Wessler, From Afar It Is an Island, 2013, mixed media, variable dimensions. On view at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, 1000 East Beltline Ave NE.

Spare yet lovingly curated, we wish we had hours to spend examining and inventing narratives for the objects in Wessler's From Afar It Is an Island. Presented as artifacts, the components of Wessler's piece form a whole that raises questions about the stories we create about our personal histories. Read about From Afar It Is an Island here.

We do the PR for a lot of art fairs, but it's not everyday you get to launch one entirely. On April 10th, 2014, Silicon Valley Contemporary opened its inaugural year in San Jose with a VIP Preview Party to benefit the San Jose Museum of Art. Over 2,000 of the Valley's art, culture and tech elite showed up to toast the occasion, and get a first look.

Lainya Magaña and Kathryn McKinney, A&O PR

Dillon Gallery, New York

The McLoughlin Gallery, San Francisco

Executive Director, Rick Friedman, in the opening night crowd

Jungsan Senim is a South Korean artist, monk, and chef. His razor blade sculpture Gustave Mahlor Symphony No. 2 was shown by Sandra Lee Gallery, San Francisco.

Dana Louise Kirkpatrick at KM Fine Arts Gallery, Chicago & Los Angeles, sold a painting for Bitcoin, the first known sale in the currency at a fair.

Mark Borghi Fine Art, New York, brought a de Kooning

The Hole, New York, did a solo presentation of KATSU's new Drone produced paintings.

A fun evening celebrating artist Zefrey Throwell's "Dream Battles" show at one of our favorite clients, Garis & Hahn.

Dinner at L'apicio

Mary Garis, Zefrey Throwell, Sarah Chipps, and Sophie Hahn.

Wendy Beckett, Zefrey Throwell, and Edward Howard.

Jon Rider, Carlo McCormick, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Mary Lapides, Elizabeth Fiore, Lauren Radin, Monica LoCascio, and Laura Gonzalez.

Ann Binlot, Rachel Small, and Lainya Magaña.

Private walk through of "Dream Battles" at Garis & Hahn.

Sophie Hahn, Zefrey Throwell and Mary Garis.

We are so pleased to announce some new clients in 2014!

Silicon Valley Contemporary, the region's first art fair. With just a month until its April 10th opening, we are up to our eyeballs in all things art & tech, and loving it! Expect a section devoted to moving image art, curated by Paul Young, and the US début of "Mutual Wave Machine" presented by MAI (Marina Abramovic Institute), in addition to the 40 international exhibitors presenting at the fair.

ArtPrize, the people's art competition! Taking over Grand Rapids, Michigan in September and October, ArtPrize contestants show their work in venues all over the city, drawing 400,000 visitors last year! After the dust settles, two grand prize winners will be awarded a combined $400,000--one winner chosen by the public, and the other by jury.

        With so many end-of-year "Best of" listicles and superlative posts to peruse, we thought we'd share our top 5 picks for "Best of the Best" (in no particular order):

1. I know we said these were in no particular order but #1 goes to Scott Indrisek's "Almost Everything You Need to Know About the 2013 Art World in One Single Image" which is srsly all you need to know.

2. This sincere and thoughtfully compiled year-end list by Thomas Micchelli for Hyperallergic does not disappoint, especially when contemplated fireside with mug of mulled wine in hand.

3. Instead of looking back, Ben Davis opts for looking forward, giving us his Top Four Art World Predictions for 2014, all of which we find to be spot-on.

4. Not quite an art world listicle but no less a work of art (and what you will make of this post in 2014) is Animal New York's "Top 10 Things I Forgot in 2013"

5. Artspace's "Favorite Artworks, Shows, and Events of 2013" is your one-stop recap of all things art in 2013. 

Old school male pattern baldness Baby Jesus and The (original) Madonna for: your religious aunt who thinks the new Pope is too liberal. (Duccio, Madonna in trono con Bambino, 1283-1284, oil on panel, 89 × 60 cm)

Christmas illustrations by Andy Warhol for Tiffany & Co. for: your artist friend worried about selling out.

Pascale Marthine Tayou’s enormous Plastic Bags beehive installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome for: your consumerist cousin who treats Christmas shopping as a last rite.

Louboutin’s Christmas tree for: your girlfriend/wife/mistress. Bonus points for the wearable Louboutin's under the tree, too.

Jane Schouten’s Christmas Tree Alternative for: your Pinterest obsessed co-worker currently typing on a typewriter at her DIY, wood-pallet-and-Mason-jar desk.

Gareth Pugh designed Christmas tree for Topshop for: your aspiring art collector client who can’t afford a Flavin.

Christmas Fetish by Christina Therese for: well, everyone.

From all of us at A&O:

An artist, obviously swayed by one of the dominant influences of our current cultural climate, has produced the first (to my knowledge, feel free to leave lists of other artists doing the same in the comments) fine art in the Cheezburger School.  The combination of two contemporary aesthetics—the distressed vintage, and the cat—married (not surprisingly given the photographic obsession of the country) by Argentinian artist Eva Gabrielli, who’s showing in next week’s PINTA NY art fair. The artist’s series of cat face mashups with assumedly found photographs (as well as one Velázquez) are presented by Blanca Berlín gallery.

This visionary work was found while pursuing Artsy.com’s preview of the Latin American art fair’s exhibitor line-up, specifically looking at “Art under $5,000.” And, to prove the peak-ness of this digital age cat-adore, today I also came across the first (again, to my knowledge) Grumpy Cat as Disney Princesses. Like Picasso, imbedding in the features of his women the African masks collected and adored by bohemians and bourgeois alike in their day, Gabrielli alters her female subject’s features in fashionable homage to the current culture’s fetishization of the cat face.

It’s inevitable that, when the market bears selling GIFs as art, as in the recent Paddles ON! auction at Phillips, artists will start working with them as a medium. The co-opting of the low brow and the avant-garde by the mainstream is the ouroboros of capitalistic culture. Like graffiti, GIFs offer cheap and public forum to subvert, insinuate, and most importantly, make people look, in what has become the very heavily trafficked avenues of the internet. It’s not surprising they’d be brought indoors to galleries’ walls and art fair booths and canonized by the roaming whims of the contemporary art market.

Other Cat Art stories:

Hyperallergic "Cats Take Over the Art World"

A&O’s digital interests are growing and we're pleased to announce our fabulous new clients, Tappan Collective.  Launched in 2012 by co-founders Jordan Klein and Chelsea Neman, the site is an online platform for discovering and collecting original work and limited edition prints by emerging artists. Its foundation is a simple e-commerce website, enhanced by content that builds context, support, and participation with its curated collection. They represent less than 40 artists, all of whom make work that could be described as coastal, bright, or minimalist. Between Tappan’s scale and wealth of content, the site resembles a gallery more than an online shop, albeit in the Platonic Form of a gallery: art is available to those who love it; it’s a platform for discourse; and it feels like a community of like-minded people. They are a bright spot in the online art sales market that is flirting with what it will look like when it grows up.

The attitudes and practices of brick and mortar galleries ensure a lot of potential buyers never open the door or ask for a price sheet. However, in an effort to capture the under-35 demographic, everyone from auction houses to Restoration Hardware is trying to sell art online. For true art lovers and emerging artists, it’s a theoretically delightful subversion of the art world’s tired codes; in the internet’s egalitarian system, the only way to get ahead is with intelligence or tenacity. In reality, most online art sales are not structured so that the most beautiful works will rise to the top. Lower-end platforms are selling dispassionate stock photography, the big dealers are moving their pile of insignificant works by notable artists, and a few exceptional pieces bolster the perceived worth of both.

Art Practical Op-Ed written by A&O's own Kathryn McKinney. Some stories you just have to write yourself.

Whether you're a social media pro or a member of the art world looking to see if social media can help you expand your presence, Benjamin Sutton has a must-read post on Artinfo.com today. It features insider tips from some of the art world's top social media pros including our good friends Man Bartlett, Jia Jia Fei, and Jonathan Munar (humble shout out)!

As a member of the art world and an early adopter of social media, I'm thrilled that this post was written as it's an epic record of how far things have come in the digital space. Back when I first conceived of the art marketing and PR agency that A&O is today, Blogger and Myspace were still actively used, Facebook brand pages didn't exist, Twitter had as many posts per quarter as they now receive per hour(ish), Flickr was how we shared images, and the BlackBerry was still an acceptable smart phone choice. 

Many of A&Os first clients in 2009 barely had a web presence, let alone a content strategy or an engaged audience surrounding their socially defined brand voice. In the history of our agency, we have worked on the launch or redesign of client websites, optimized their web presence, directed content strategies, launched social campaigns, composed blog copy, integrated and automated clients' social tools, and helped them measure and gauge their ROI.

Today, all of our clients have a presence on at least three social media channels and are actively implementing a content strategy as a way to further their brand relevance and reach new buyers. Sutton's interviews with these social media insiders demonstrate the strides the art world has made in democratizing art world content so that it can spread and deliver on the social and digital demands of a new type of art patron.