Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.
Oscar Wilde
It is a gorgeous fall day. The first gorgeous
fall day we've had here in MI all year. On the equinox, and the day before, and the day after, it was rainy, and chilly. Today started out with a crisp 38 degrees, but now it is a sunny, breezy 60-ish.
Perfect for fall, and perfect for fall art competitions.
This past weekend was opening weekend for GR's
ArtPrize. In its fourth year, ArtPrize is a favorite fall event in West Michigan.
ArtPrize is an international art competition, open to any artist and decided by public vote. It combine $360,000 awarded by Public Vote and a total of $200,000 in Juried Awards. An open art competition, giving away the world's largest art prize.
162 venues-1517 artist entries.
Part arts festival, part social experiment. Anyone can enter. An entry can win. And, the top prize often goes to something the art community doesn't consider "art".
The excitement is tangible. The feeling of community is unmistakeable. People are out and about, having a good time. And being polite and friendly.
I love going downtown during ArtPrize. I go down again, and again, and again. I get in a year's worth of downtown visits in 2-1/2 weeks.
Friday was rather cold and rainy, so we spent a lot of time at the indoor venues. Yesterday was dry, though cool, and we explored more of the popular outside venues.
At over 1500 entries, there are definitely ones I like, and ones that I don't. There are entries that I consider art, and there are others that look like junk. (recycled junk or not)
My tastes are rather plebeian. My likes and dislikes are based on 2 factors-
whether I'd display it in my house or yard (or in another public place I frequent)
or, the skill involved in the creation of the piece. There are some pieces I just don't like, but I can appreciate the effort that went in to them.
This year my eyes have been drawn to several paintings and photographs. There has been a sculpture or 2 that make me say, "wow!" But, for the most part, I've loved the 2 dimensional pieces.
Without further ado...an ArtPrize photo dump...
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| A Bronze Einstein |
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| The offspring with an ugly dragon. But great because they could touch it. |
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| Pencil drawing-30' by 12'. Absolutely amazing! |
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| A colorful oil painting that I loved. |
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| another oil painting, 11x14. Isn't she the cutest? |
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| Oil painting, done is a mosaic style. 12' tall, 8' wide. |
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| A carved ballerina. |
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| Penguins in the Gerald R. Ford fountain. Kind of cute. |
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There was another boat that I didn't get a pic of. In the Ford fountain.
I don't like the faces up close, but I like the idea of the sculpture. |
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A series of nine hammered steel birds. Striking.
Nice GR in the back ground. |
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| Up close of a bird. |
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This is probably one of my favorites. I love fountains-always.
And I like the buffed design. |
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Yes, his mouth is on that. Because his dad told him to smoke the peace pipe.
Who knows how many other people have put their mouths on there. Ewww.... |
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| Life like elephants. |
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Dolphins. LC is big into dolphins.
Plus the artist urged them to "touch" it. |
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| The Davidson family, made out of Harley parts. |
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| A wind sculpture. The artist is in the back ground. |
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| Dragons made out of duck tape. |
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| Blown glass "eye contact" and paper cuttings in the windows. |
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| chain saw cutting |
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| turtles |
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| and a beaver |
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| Scrappy the fish |
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| I thought this was kind of whimsical |
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| President Ford. Butt ugly. |
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| This is interesting...a jelly belly mosaic. No joke. |
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| The companion mosaic |
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| Nate, you could so enter something like this. And probably sell your piece. |
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| This was called the 5 elements. Something about it...I really like it. |
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| Bad picture...awesome entry. Mechanical birds with a light and music show. UICA |
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| Metal wall art. Made me smile. |
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| Reminded me of my kids...bored. |
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| My friend, Anna's, 30' 3D mural. I think it is her best entry yet!!! |
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| A fish mobil |
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| Stick horses in the River |
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| A view of the herd |
See the variety! And I didn't even take pics of the real weird stuff.=)
Round two, the place voting for the Top 10, doesn't start until next Sunday. I will be interested to see which, if any, of my favorites, make it.
Have you been down to Art Prize? Which is your favorite piece so far?
If you can't make it to ArtPrize,
how do you try to incorporate art and art appreciation into your life?
What is your favorite art piece of all time? Why? Leave me a comment. I'd love to hear where you have been and what art you have seen.
No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. -Oscar Wilde
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