Magda Amarioarei pt 2

Since I didn't have any accessible pics of Magda's works in previous post, I wanted to include some here and go through a few of them and what I admire about each and why I would want to acquire them.

1.  This is a beautiful example of the emotion conveyed in the work through both the image itself as well as the way the image is painted.  It's not thick with impasto but the oil, used like an ink, is splotchy, distorted, smudged to signify the unkempt nature of the image.  It appears to be wires, almost like one is looking up from ground level at a vineyard.  It's thick with foliage, hard for the light to penetrate.  You want to see through it, but you must make an effort.  I'll often speak of tension in the works I like.  This piece has tension.

2.  This piece was not one one of my favorites until I saw it in person and then I loved it.  Smaller than a postcard, I love how much detail is fit in the work.  Now it's not detail like you might find in an Indian miniature work, but it has great detail nonetheless.  You can see the building or various building structures collapsing or having collapsed previously, while you are safe as the viewer under a structure, perhaps a bridge.  This work has the signature smudging that is used throughout the Recovery Cycle series.  It could be denoting grass in the foreground, the atmosphere that surrounds you, dirt, or some other mysterious quality.  when you hold this piece in your hand, you're struck by how precious it is, like a little jewel.

3.  One of the larger works from the Recovery Cycle series, this again shows excellent use of the smudging to convey a worn look to the building.  It's almost like you are looking at the image through a piece of gauze or cheesecloth, a dream-like image.  I know it shouldn't be pretty, but I'm drawn to it.  I feel like I want to drag a finger across the surface to see if i can feel the individual lines left behind by the smudged oil.  Don't worry, I won't.

I'll stop with these 3 and may revisit some more of Magda's work in a later post.  She is definitely one to watch and is one in my collection.  She's got tremendous talent at a young age and I anticipate continued great works coming from her studio.

When you think of art, you think of fancy homes, snooty conversation, sipping wine with the pinky turned outward ever so subtly.  You think of Chelsea galleries with attendants who aren't interested in helping but rather are interested in an image.  You may feel that art is beyond your understanding or something only a certain group or class of people can appreciate.  Not true.  As I wrote earlier, art is a part of our culture.  Think of what we know from 5 centuries ago.  Religion, philosophy, books, art, music, architecture.  Sure, this is not an all exhaustive list, but art is way up there on what is passed down from one period of time to the next.  You should know about art, just as you should know about music.

Magda Amarioarei

Because I am working with somewhat limited funds, for me some of the fun of art collecting is finding someone with incredible talent, who might be at the start of their careers, sometimes in grad school or even college, and see what they are up.  Once an artist is "discovered", it's difficult to acquire much of their work without spending lots of money.  So the key is, educate yourself.  I remember when I was relatively early in my collecting and I was seeing how this collector and that collector were using art advisers. I thought, "gee, maybe I should be doing that.  These folks with money probably know what they're talking about."  Then I read something Charles Saatchi wrote about advisers, basically dismissing the whole notion and saying he collected what he believed to be worthy.  I follow that same line.  I don't need somebody telling me who is good and who to collect.  So what's the point of this blog?  To facilitate discussion.  I'm not here to dictate to you who is good. I am here to let you know who I think is good and talented, and you are free to agree or disagree and we go from there.  If Herb and Dorothy Vogel could collect such a magnificent and seminal collection of art on a relatively limited budget, then so can I and so can you.  Obviously you need a great set of eyes, or several great sets of eyes, you get to know artists personally and early in their careers, and you follow them as you and they grow older together.  It really enriches one's life and it is very fulfilling. I can attest to that.

So, for the first artist of this blog I have chosen a relative newbie to the art scene, Magda Amarioarei.  I came to know Magda's work through a friend of hers and am very thankful for that initial recommendation that I take a look at her work.  I wasn't able to actually see her work in person (something I am often faced with as I don't have the time nor the money to be crisscrossing the globe to look at art or anything else for that matter) but what I saw through pics on her website, http://www.wix.com/amarioareimagda/ro/projects , and pics which she sent to me really amazed me.  Magda is from Romania and is very early in her career, about 23 years old and in an MFA program, though has shown in several shows.  The quality of her work is quite apparent from first glance. The emotion her work conveys is what I love.  Well, I should preface that if you're into happy, fun types of work, this will definitely not be your cup of tea.  This leans to the depressed and pensive. But I like that it does that.  It conveys some of the same emotions you often feel with Kathe Kollwitz or Edward Hopper.  Obviously the compositions of all 3 of these painters are vastly different, but the emotional output is similar.  Some of the works also make you want you to touch their surfaces, like you might a photograph.  If you buy the work, you can do just that.  If you visit my home, please resist doing that to my pieces.

The smaller and newer works, part of the Recovery Cycle series, are oil on panel.  They look like they are created with a pencil or ink pen or piece of charcoal.  They are very detailed, and some convey a good deal of realism.  They are like little jewels when you see them up close and in person. The name itself conveys a sense of trying to build again, to get back some semblance of what once was.  I love the effect, but you need to see them up close to see what she has done.  Many of the images harken to WWII scenes, possibly of the camps, of areas that may be forgotten, left behind, where the overgrown weeds frames a memorialized scene.  Instead of blowing up small objects onto a huge canvas, she takes huge objects and shrinks them down onto a panel which you can hold in the palm of your hand, like a postcard.

The larger canvases from the newest series, as well as the large and small canvases from the Lanscape-Time series, all convey a sense of decay and of time passing by.  The pieces of architecture, often disembodied, are like lost souls, friends which have been ditched and forgotten.

She shows the "other" side of life, perhaps a seemier side, or at least a side that perhaps has been forgotten. She shows objects, often architectural structures in a state of decline, with overgrown weeds taking over.

Look at the work above, and what appears again to be pencil marks is oil on panel again.  I love the scratches on the piece, almost like I'm happening upon the pieces after they have been lost in storage for decades. 
What I love about Magda's work is the originality of it and the quality, especially for how young she is.  I look forward to how her work will evolve over time.  At the present time, because of her age, and that she has not yet settled with any particular gallery, her prices are still affordable for somebody working on a fairly tight budget.  I am acquiring her works because each one tells me a story.  I want to read as many pages as possible of this story, though I'm not sure I want the story to end.  There's always another twist and turn waiting for me around the corner.  (I will try to get some other photos up within these pages though most are unable to be directly imported here, hence the links. Forgive my unstreamlined blog posting.)

First posting for Art Collecting Corner-ACC

Welcome all.  I decided to start blogging about art collecting as I think many believe this to be some sort of mysterious science or only something that the ultra wealthy engage in to hedge their stock portfolios.  I want to disabuse you of all those notions that art is too highfalootin' for common folks (like me) or that you need a ton of money to collect art.  All of that is untrue and hopefully through my blog you can become a believer as well.

Each week or so I'm going to feature an artist whom I am either collecting, have collected, or am considering collecting.  I am not here to promote any particular artist, although obviously by having their name out here it can certainly do just that.  Please do leave comments at the bottom as this is meant to be a dialog.  I am keeping this anonymous as it should not matter who I am to have these particular opinions. I also am not interested in advertising my collection.  Art collecting is a personal thing.  Obviously some collectors like to display their works through gallery shows.  If I were to display a work in a show, it would be labelled "private collector".  You can disagree with me on this and that is perfectly acceptable.  Discussion and debate is the key to enlightenment and edification.  So let's start this up!