"Romancing the Looky-Loos" by Dave Hickey

"Romancing the Looky-Loos" by Dave Hickey is an exploration of the current art culture. Hickey begins with a conversation between Waylon Jennings, a new up and coming musician, and himself. They discuss the difference between fans. Jennings states that when playing for people who know you and your music, you're free to do what you want because you know your audience understands you and you're free to experiment. However, when one plays at a concert they are playing for a group of people who are there because you're "famous" and they "want to be like you." He distinguishes these fans in groups, "looky -loos"- people just observing with no real passion, "spectators"- people who like what's in at the time, and" participants"- those who move on once something becomes popular. This is than related to the art world. There will always be those who like a work of art because the artist is currently famous and really have no knowledge of what the work means or its significance and there are those who will hate a work of art because its popular or cliché. Many artists who come into fame are accused of "selling- out." Hickey states that participants increase the value of work by buying it. Once an artist’s work is known to sell it will only increase in value.
This view on the art world seems to be a bit discouraging; yet based on truth. There is a harsh world out there of politics that come along with anything. Art included. There will always be critics and audiences judging ones work. Nothing is exempt from that.
However, if one starts playing into those roles they start to lose the importance of why one makes art or what the art itself really stands for. While criticism exists, and "looky -loos," and "spectators," there are actually artists out there whose concern isn't just about the audience but about making work because it's important to them despite the harsh world around them.

current work

inspiration

Edward Hopper:






Edward Hopper's rendering of the urban life has been a huge inspiration in my work. His simplified depictions of cities and daily urban life, and use of color is something I try to emulate in my work. Hopper was born in Nyack, New York. He studied in the Ashcan School of American art. He painted realistically when abstraction and cubism were the leading styles. His work is considered classic and still remains strong on the walls of art galleries next to new contermporary work.





Richard Estes:









Richard Estes is an American painter known for his photo realistic paintings. It is his reflective warped surfaces he started working on in 1967 have been a great influence in my recent work.

















David Hockney:







David Hockney is an English artist who was considered a British pop artist as well as an expressionist. He attended Royal College of Art. His ability to simplify scenes into strong shapes and vibrant colors has made him on the the most influential artist in this century.





Fairfield Porter:









Porter was a self taught artist who attended Harvard. His representational art mainly consists of domestic scenes and landscapes. What makes his work so impressive is that he created figural art during the height of abstract expressionism. His use of simple shape and color while still making work that looks life like has been highly inspirational in my work.





Eric Fischl:









Eric Fishcl was born in New York city and grew up in Long Island where he became intrigued by the "country club culture." The parallel between reality and image of reality people try to create for themselves. His paintings have been considered "psycho-sexual suburban dramas." It is his ability to make the viewer feel as thought they have just walked in on a private moment that makes his art so intense. We almost feel a sense of guilt for witnessing a private moment in anothers life that make likely should be kept private. This sense of the painting directly effecting the viewers makes him work dynamic and strong.





Jenny Saville:









Jenny Saville is an English painter. She obtained a degree from Glasgow School of art and University of Cincinnati. She is known for her paintings of extremely overweight women that create a sense of discomfort for the viewer. However, he lush use of paint and beautiful colors makes her work beautiful despite it's disturbing content.




Cecily Brown:









Cecily Brown was born in London and recieved her bachelors degree from Slade School of art in London. Her first show was in New York. Her work has been considered controversal due to its sexual content and her feminist stance in a male dominated art world. Her work has opened doors for women artists. Her thick paint, and brushy texture create a true "painters painting" that are pretty to look at even without considering the sexual content.





Albert Oehlen:








Albert Oehlen was born in Germany and has had many solo exhibitions as well as showing at the Saatchi gallery.

Vermeer In Bosnia

One of the most interesting things about art is the range of interpretation it receives from its viewers. However, when an image becomes “famous” it risks becoming a cliché. When something is a “clichéd image” it can block people from forming open-minded observations.
What I found interesting about this article was that the reader gets to go through the author’s process of interpreting Vermeer’s and how the time/period in which he lived affected his work. He didn’t say that he had the answer; he was working through ideas and allowing the reader to follow his thought process.
I was intrigued by the author’s concept of Vermeer’s subjects showing a calm strength amongst the storm and the idea of not letting conflict inside of us. Vermeer’s works do seem to stand still in time and emit a calming aura. However, the true reason or explanation to Vermeer’s work will never truly be known. However, that in itself may be a good thing. The mystery preserves the work from ever fully becoming clichéd.

art resume

Whitney Babin
513 B. South Juniper Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Contact #: (717) 471-4186
E-mail: whit1011@comcast.net

Born: April 23, 1985 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Education:
University of the Arts Philadelphia, PA
B.F.A Painting/ Drawing & Art Education 2003-2007

Temple University study abroad Rome. Summer 2006

Hempfield High School, graduated with honors in 2003


Objective: Seeking a job as an art educator


Honors and Scholarships:

• 4 year recipient of the Promising Young Artists Scholarship
• Member of the National Scholars Honor Society
• Deans list 2003-2006 University of the Arts


Art Experience:

• Art show @ Hempfield High School 2003
• Portfolio won first place in a regional competition in Lancaster, PA 2003
• Sold and Original work of art to a café in Lancaster, PA 2004
• Have a piece hanging in the Women’s and Babies Hospital in Lancaster, PA
• Work displayed at University of the Arts
• Commissioned artist: drawings, tattoo design, and photography


Teaching Experience:

• Internship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Delphi program 2005
• Internship at Russell Byers Charter School 2005
• Internship at Early Intervention School 2006

revised artist statement

In my work, I explore the world in which I live. One will not view my work and see a dramatic or horrific scene because those concepts are abstract to me. My work is a personal exploration of my environment. Each individual views his or her surroundings in a unique way. As an artist I have an opportunity to portray images of my every day life through my line of vision.
I am currently interested in city scenes since that is what I view on a daily basis. When I walk down the street I take in bits and pieces of a whole. Some things I focus on while others get blurred into my preconceived idea of what is there. What we don’t notice is perspective or the grid work of a city. When we see the same places everyday we don’t tend to pay as much attention. Yet, we always tend to see something slightly different each time we observe something.
This concept is what has inspired my current work. I am not interested in perspective or making things correct. I am painting what it’s like for me when I walk down the street. Some things focus others fade. There is not one viewpoint or horizon line. Those things change when looking in numerous directions and in different Therefore, I am painting realistically in a personal sense but the work itself takes on a semi- abstracted feel. The experience of looking at many things at once changes the perspective.
I use photographs as a reference since I paint in a studio rather than outdoors. I take the photos myself after picking a place that I find interesting. However, I do not follow the photograph entirely. The photograph does not limit me. I look at is as a starting point. I can return to the location of the photo and sketch or re-experience being there. Color and light is important to me as well as composition. I am constantly trying to be more aware of these things in my work.
While my work is about my environment, it is not personal. Anyone can view my work and take something different from it. I find it interesting to hear other people relate their view or interpretations. After all, different points of view were my initial inspiration.

Robert Ryman @ PAFA

It's a bit hard to talk about Robert Ryman's speech at PAFA seeing as that he didn't talk much about his work himself. I was initially excited to get to hear such an established artist talk about his work. When Ryman opened saying that he wasn't going to talk about art but he was going to talk about painting, I though, YES! this is already sounded like it's going to be an intriguing lecture. Ryman, than proceeded to talk about how there are "right and wrong" ways to paint. I personally thought he was going to expand on how AB-EX has standards just like any form of art. However, this subject was not touched upon again. Ryman proceeded to talk about Matisse's work and how well thought through the shape, form, and color where. Ryman only showed about three of his own slides which he only discussed in terms of light reflection and refraction. I was a bit disappointed. I thought that someone who would have had to undergo intense criticism with AB-EX and white on white paintings to be able to talk more about their work. Ryman wasn't even able to answer questions! I personally found the lecture to be a bit of a joke. Whether Ryman just didn't want to talk about his work, or felt that he'd already said enough in the past, I wasn't impressed with the lecture of the laughing that resulted from questions asked. At least I liked his paintings!

artist statement.

My work is about the everyday life. Because that is the world in which I live. One will not view my work and see a dramatic or horrific scene because those concepts are abstract to me. My work tends to be light in subject matter, in that the viewer will not feel a heavy message impressed upon them when viewing my work.
I use photographs as a reference. However, I do not follow the photograph entirely. I change the photo to make it work as a painting. Whether it's deciding what to include in the painting or what colors work in the envirornment. The photograph does not limit me. I look at is as a starting point.
When I paint I depict a scene, which is somewhat of a narrative. However, the viewer does not get the whole story but looking at my work. They can relate the scene to their life or try to make meaning of it from myself/the artists' viewpoint. I like that there's not one way of looking at anything.
I am currently working with city scenes, which is a change from the figural for me. I like my subjects to be recognizable in a painterly sense. Therefore, my subject is always realistic but somewhat abstracted due to the fact I am working with paint and I am in no way trying to be a photo realistic painter. I like the paint to present in my work not confined. Color and light is important to me as well as composition. I am constantly trying to be more aware of these things in my work.
I consider painting fun. I am not trying to do anything fashionable or even concern myself with art criticism at the moment. I enjoy that in each painting I learn something new.

Frank Bramblett @ UPenn

I attended Frank Bramblett's lecture @ Upenn on the 5th. Bramblett takes small objects, which he examines in detail and then makes a painting based off of them. I found his presentation a bit confusing. He talked generally about his work before showing his slides. He than displayed images of his paintings next to pictures of random objects, places, and things. The images didn't influence his work. He just wanted to viewer to acknowledge that they could have. While I found that aspect of his presentation to be a bit unorganized, I was impressed with what he said about putting words to his work. Bramblett stated that he believes talking about his work in depth is just "art speak." He believes his work isn't about the finished product but it's about his experience while working on it. I found that interesting. It was refreshing to just have someone show their work and not necessarily read and artist statement off. Sometimes, I'd just rather see the art than hear about it.