A few weeks ago I blogged about an art exhibit at PDX Contemporary Art. It was an exhibit that baffled me. I knew what the artists were trying to communicate, but the exhibit looked like ordinary objects at high-end art prices. Well, to my surprise the artists read my blog, and despite my critique, took the time to write me and shed further light on their exhibit.
I'm still a bit baffled by the whole exhibit, but at least now I am aware of the precision and time it took to create the pieces. The lesson I've learned, is next time I'm confused about an exhibit I think I'll ask questions of the artist. There may be more than meets the eye. Below is what the artists sent....
We appreciate that you took the time to go see our exhibition at PDX Contemporary Art, and we appreciate all the thought that you put into writing about it, but we wish that you would have taken a bit more time looking at the work itself. If you had, you would have noticed a few things about some of the works you mentioned, like that the #2 pencils each have hand-carved text on them, or that the textual works (like the one reading 'READ WRITE EAT SLEEP') is a painting not a print, or that the notebook paper you wrote of is all hand-drawn with ball-point pen. But, the main thing that we want to clarify is that we are not in any way attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of would-be collectors. We put a great deal of time, effort and thought into the things we make. And, we definitely aren't 'laughing all the way to the bank,' because the sales of our art (which is pretty reasonable priced as these things go) barely cover our costs. We consider collectors to be the ones making it possible for us to continue doing what we do, and for that matter, they also are the ones who make it possible for you to go out and have something to write about.
And that my friends, is the other side of the story.
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