Many artists are poor. The idea of the starving, struggling artist is as true today as it was for generations of artists before us, except for a lucky few like Pollock and Picasso. It’s a painful irony that iconic artists such as Modigliani, who was born poor and died broke, now has artworks like Nude Sitting on a Divan selling for nearly US $70 million. … Continue reading Why your day job is killing your #art
This morning, Myuran Sukumaran was shot to death by firing squad on the island of Nusakambangan in Indonesia. Myuran was a convicted drug smuggler who spent 10 years on death row in Bali. He was also a rehabilited criminal, who studied fine arts to become an established artist in his own right; someone who could call Australian artist Ben Quilty, one of Australia’s most-popular contemporary artists, … Continue reading Art and death by firing squad: Myuran Sukumaran
Every year we try and head down to Adelaide to get amongst the crazy hubbub of festivals. We were lucky enough to snag an invitation to the opening of Trent Parke: The Black Rose. As a boy, Trent watched his mother die from an asthma attack, he was the only one at home and was helpless to save her. As you can imagine it had a … Continue reading Watching your mum die is no way to start as an artist @ArtGalleryofSA @mitzevich #art #photography
Often when I’m creating work it’s in an absolute frenzy. I’m slapping on glue and paper, getting bits stuck to my face, the hairs on my hands become stuck together like childish dreadlocks. Then, once I’m done, I’m done. I don’t touch the thing again. Last weekend though, I went back inside the studio after not being in there a couple of weeks – and … Continue reading Reworking old work is a great lesson in self-destruction #nohomo #art #collage
Artist’s need to relax more. Artist’s need to forget more. And they need to try less hard. It’s easy to say those things, far far harder to do it. It’s a crazy notion, to learn only to forget. To practice only to let it go. But every artist I encounter is trying to do the same thing, relax, let it go and tap into the unconsciousness … Continue reading Why each stroke doesn’t have to be a masterstroke #art #artforsale @sturgallery
When I lived in New York, I worked in an ad agency on Madison Avenue, just around the corner from MOMA and St Patrick’s Cathedral. Just like all things New York, the advertising agency I worked in was competitive, the best idea always won. The trick was coming up with the best idea. Sometimes in desperation I would escape onto the streets looking for inspiration. Sometimes I’d … Continue reading Reuniting old faces. Ben Quilty is always fresh; the man we love to love @AWMemorial
When I heard that the Chuck Close exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia was just prints I was really put off. I mean, would you go and see an exhibition of Francis Bacon prints? You’d lose that texture, the thickness of the paint. It would be silly, indeed. Stupid me. It clearly shows my lack of understanding of Chuck’s work that much of … Continue reading How much Chuck can a wood Chuck cut? #closetochuck #ChuckClose
You can’t control what goes on in your head. You don’t know where inspiration comes from – or when it will come. If you try to rationalise it, it often vanishes. The only way to capture it is to get it down, get it out, splay it across a canvas, scribble it down onto paper. For the last few years, I’ve been working from the … Continue reading It’s not pretty, it’s not comfortable, but it’s mine. A room of one’s own.
As a kid our cat Sally would mate with a feral Tomcat who lived in the wild. Two months later she’d pop out a litter of kitties, often in the washing basket in the laundry, amongst our dirty socks and pyjamas. Sally was a good mother and a beautiful cat with an incredible light grey fur, a colour I’ve never really seen since. And couldn’t mix … Continue reading Drowning kittens; saying bye bye to my babies #art #artforsale #newhome
Just before Christmas, Saatchi Art let me know I had sold one my my landscapes to a collector just outside Atlanta, Georgia. It was quite a euphoric moment for me as this work was one of my favourites from my Dark Side of the Road series that was shown during Art Month at Gaffa Gallery in Sydney. I love that it’s gone to a new home, … Continue reading Georgia on my mind #artforsale #modernart #collage
Ray Monde 