Field Trip to the Austin Art Fair

This weekend the Art Alliance of Austin,Texas held the Art City Austin festival (http://www.artallianceaustin.org/). The event is a fairly typical art fair production where artists and crafts people line a city street and present their work for sale in a series of collapsible tents. I took a tour with an eye toward seeing how these artists, who make (at least part of their) living incorporate conventions of marketing and business into their work. Below are some terrific examples.

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David Petr (www.artiphact.com) is both a photographer and an archeologist of sorts. His Artiphact collection is made up of photographs that highlight and pay homage to individual discarded or slightly decaying products and advertising. The large scale and simple framing give new importance and sense of nostalgia to what would otherwise be overlooked. Included in his subjects are details of packaging; bottle caps, soap bars; signage; a will return clock, gas price sign; as well as tickets to amusement park games and a retail display for, of all things, lucky rabbits' feet.


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Rick Abram's (http://www.rickabrams.com/) business cards have a twinkling photo of (his?) eye with the Barbara Kruger like imperative to “Buy My Art.”
His work takes pop art to an extreme by creating multilevel images on glass. He presents brightly colored and crisp images of popular culture icons including cartoon characters, comic book covers, and representations of product packaging.
For example, one of his pieces uses the pixilated graphic art style of Lichtenstein but juxtaposes a purple pixilated image of the Mona Lisa with a close up of a woman’s smile with the word “Fresh” as one would see in a toothpaste or mouthwash advertisement. Others display images of brand names, motel signs, and close ups of packages of Life Savers and Wonder Bread. I stood at Abrams’ display for a while to listen to people’s comments. Faces lit up with recognition of the brands and products and people openly conversed about their recollections of using these products. You can see videos of his work at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWsU45dLfEQ&feature=relmfu) Below is a screenshot from Abram's website(http://www.rickabrams.com/)



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Carl and Betsy Crum (www.texasmontage.com)make customized photomontages to represent various cities around Texas, largely by incorporating the signs of local businesses. It makes an interesting statement on how we perceive the uniqueness, charm, and character of cities in part by the companies that do business there and the variety of locally made products that are sold. Even if we don’t frequent these businesses, their signs are a part of our landscape and become familiar to us in a personal way. So the collection of signs simultaneously cues memories and emotions tied to the location.




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Sheryl McDonald (http://www.jimmydmcdonald.com/about%20Sheryl.htm) uses retired mannequins as her canvas. She uses photographs and images of paintings to create a themed collage that becomes the mannequins’ skin. The colorful effect and the human form is very inviting. Yet, to fully appreciate the images one must come close to the form that is both naked and vulnerable, and the stillness of the human form, still set in the often relaxed poses of store mannequins can be discomforting. Overall, there is a moment of recognition that these are indeed the mannequins that are intended to be moderately attractive forms, meant to accent and display clothing. In service, they are servants, forced to become businesslike, outdoorsy, sexy, sophisticated, or simple, to serve the retailer. What McDonald has done is taken these tools of merchandising into the foreground, and given them personalities of their own.




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Finally Roderick Stevens (www.restevensart.com) works in a number of media, but of interest, is his oversized reproduction of an Etch-a-Sketch that he calls the Da Vine A Sketch. Stevens said he has made three of these, the first from wood and the others by molding resins. Seeing it is exciting. People rush up to it, point to it, tell others about it. Here is a mass produced item that so many people enjoyed (and struggled with) as children but that they rarely think about as adults. The Etch A Sketch was a license to explore without cost. Grab the little white wheels and go. Seeing this giant version reignites this creative energy and desire to play.



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This blog explores artists that incorporate or exploit conventions of business or marketing in their work, and the use of art by business and marketers. Please share your comments and examples at citizen@citizengershaw.com