COLLECTIVISM: A Movement of the Here and Now; Powered by The Collectivism Coalition.

Collectivism-  A collective way for artists to discover their creativity, together. This artistic movement in the infancy of the 21st century, looks to bring a taste of the early Modern Art Masters, into the here and now....We are looking for artists who have been influenced by Modern Art from the 1900s to present day..
         -Paulo Guimaraes(co-founder)

Winter Landscape  Pablo Picasso, oil (1950).

Tulips and Oysters  Henri Matisse, oil (1943)

The paintings are from two of the best known Modernists in the 20th century, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse; I posted artwork by them to demonstrate how much of this new movement we hope to inject into today's "loose" art world, will likely revolve around them(or similar artists) directly or indirectly somehow.

These particular two artworks are also famous for being part of many trades between the artists(the same open relationship encouraged under Collectivism), according to Picasso, his 'Winter Landscape' may have been Matisse's muse for the chasubles in his Venice Chapel; and Picasso chose Matisse's 'Tulips with Oysters' because: "he didn't understand it".

This relationship between the two Masters highlights what Collectivism is all about, it's a movement that doesn't revolve around today's mentality of pure individualism nor the attitude instilled into art students that: "every other artist is your competition"; but that without other artists, there is no art, so why not take advantage of possible relationships with other artists, especially with the Masters who've left their mark for a reason!

Collectivism is not naive in saying that everyone be "buddy buddy", but that we admit our differences, put them out into the open(w/o fear), and not to be afraid of criticism or a little friendly competition, to adopt a mentality of: "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger", we believe that the art-world of today simply needs a little(lot) more togetherness, revisit the past & push each other toward the future.

For more interesting reading on the relationship between these two Modern masters, I have provided a link below:

Matisse and Picasso: The Story of Their Rivalry and Friendship

Vincent Van Gogh; Letters to Emile Bernard, and Now a Lucid Mosaic by C.T.Rasmuss.

Upon reading the first few letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his artist friend, Emile Bernard; I couldn't help, but admire one of his sketches that he sent to Emile, in letter III.  The book also included accompaniment of the final painting, in which I only saw in black n white, til now(on purpose, as I hoped to capture as much color correctness through his words only).

Shown above is my Lucid Mosaic, a technique all of my own invention(to my knowledge), and below is the original(in oil) by Van Gogh himself, done in Arles, early April 1888:

And this is the sketch he included in his letter to Emile:

In these two(B/W) renderings of Van Gogh's 'A Provencal Orchard', I was immediately stricken by the intersection of the horizontal garden path(both ends hidden by the fence), and the diagonal "main" path running down and to the right corner(placing the viewer left of this path w/o mistake of their orientation to the entrance of the Orchard), a perfect composition in my mind!

And I was inspired to prove how strong this composition is, I believe it may be an overlooked piece and doesn't have the panache of his more famous iconic ones, but deserves just as much attention, mostly due to its teaching aspects and composition values.

I mainly wanted to give a somewhat ordinary(at first) artwork of his: a "new life", and this actually has opened the door for me to do the same for many other pieces; after succeeding in this attempt, I feel like I can take my technique and give new life to, other Old Masters not so famous artworks, within their oeuvre.  Not that they really need it, but I would like to give attention to, perhaps what the critics, art lovers and contemporary artists may have over looked.

Going back to the process for execution of the mosaic(after deciding what my new mission was, or is becoming), I drew a quick sketch from Van Gogh's painting, followed by an actually thumbnail.  This allowed me to transform his original painting into a template, for the purpose of my technique; and my favorite part of this particular experience vs. previous pieces I've done, was that this was the first time I concentrated on the actual brushwork, I was able to because of the way Van Gogh worked his canvases with heavy impasto.

I've also included the part which he explains the Orchard to Emile if you'd like a sample for yourself:

"Here, by the way, is a sketch, the entrance to a Provencal orchard with its yellow fence, its screen of black cypresses(against the mistral), its characteristic vegetables of varying greens...the whole of the sky has a bluish hue and the greens are either definitely blue-greens or yellow-greens, purposely exaggerating in this case the yellow or blue qualities."

And that is that, and there you have it...and now on to the next one, So...there is a Signac I saw yesterday, and after sketching it I suddenly lost my will, but a few pages later I really got excited again especially after sketching it twice, so who knows..

What's in The MoMA? Artist - Paulo Guimaraes Gets Inspired (Part 2 of 2).

 Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)  Salvador Dali, oil (1954).

For us artists some times the answer to the question, "What's in the MoMA?" when asking the regular public, would most likely be, "just a bunch of stuff that makes no sense"; and this type of response would of course offend most of us.  But what right do we have to be offended by such an attitude from the public, if we ourselves do nothing to defend the nobility of such important establishments?!

As I'd mentioned in part one of Paulo's visit to the MoMA, he became heavily inspired, and now has a series started, totaling 4 pieces; he's actually exhibiting these pieces in NYC:

posted above is Dali's vision of Christ, and it happens to be the inspiration for Paulo's final piece of his 4 piece series, he told me that he recalled it from when was still in school; and just for the record, this is not in the MoMA,but actually in the MET, which just so happens to be around the corner, so your in luck Paulo Guimaraes in being reunited with your muse!!

I remember seeing my 1st Dali and it was at the MoMA, and I saw a lot of artists here for the first time, and some for the "plentieth" time; as always it's a great feeling to see masterpieces that you've never saw, but can see work you've done in them.  And then there are works that you wish to aspire to, followed by the ones you'll only ever be able to admire(I feel that by admitting this last one, only means that there's no reason for me personally to figure it out artistically, leaving the magic of it untouched & forever pure).

As you can see from Paulo's final artwork(of 4) below: there's a good resemblance to Dali's masterwork, with much added character and uniqueness to it, staying in line with the rest of Paulo's series as a whole; and in viewing his series as a whole, there definitely an evident signature, so much so, that the words which come to my mind are: "Cubist-indigenous Americana"(perhaps a dawning of movement parallel to the original Cubist movement, where African artifacts inspired Picasso, not my call however-artist freedom, a beautiful thing we must agree:):
>click here to view (part 1) & Paulo's 1st two artworks of series<

Cubist Christ  Paulo Guimaraes, oil 24 x 36 (2014).

The whole: "copying", which I, as you might already know refer to as "Remake" of the masters always resurrects a great argument between most all artists; of all genres and philosophies; whether academically trained to the max or 100% self taught(independent)..."When is a painting truly a one of a kind?' this eventually leads us to another world, too large to discuss here and now. What's important for now is: just because you visit a museum for inspiration, view art books, take part in collectives or learn from your contemporaries of the world...what matters most is:

      That you stay true to yourself, never stop learning from the library amassed by the great artist before you, and give credit when credit is due.  Because how else is the generation after us to learn about their craft and their surroundings(artist/non-artist) and to truly make the best of it!

And again to be great is to be part of the great circle that continues to grow, and the only way to be part of it: is to wholly infuse yourself into it with everything you got, and as Dali once said:

“Begin by learning to draw and paint like the old masters. After that, you can do as you like; everyone will respect you.” 
                                ― Salvador Dalí

James McNeill Whistler: Adaptation of an Radical Artist's Template (Part 2 of 2).

Display of artwork by C.T. Rasmuss, artists studio space (2010).

 Dear Redtree Gallery,

"My name is C.T. Rasmuss and I'm an artist who wishes to display his artwork at your fine establishment.  And I'm quite sure if given the opportunity, that I have enough artwork to fill the entire space of your gallery; even if hung semi-Salon Style; as I would also be including my best and latest work.  The title for this show that I'm presenting to you is: Open to The Public, as this cycles around the main concept that I have in mind for the purpose of this exhibition; My goal follows in the steps of 19th century artist and founder of "art for arts sake", James Mcneill Whistler.

As I wish to present my art to the public in a new, inventive and revolutionary way, as I believe he was bringing the art-world into the revolutionary 20th Century, I to wish to be on the fore front of bringing it into the 21st century, a century heavily fueled by heavy advances in social media.

The main statement revolves around my Blog, which I've been maintaining since 2010, I have over 200 posts on art topics and art I've done, concentrating mostly on the paintings/sculpture I've produced, steps taken, processes, influences, etc.  My purpose in maintaining this blog has been to keep a log for myself as well as  inform the "public", on a world they might not be familiar with, because the way I see it; what good is it if the people your doing it for has no real means to understand what is being presented in front of them?.

In being part of many shows in the past or just as a guest to exhibits, whether they be in Manhattan or here in the Midwest, the atmosphere seems to be dominated by appetizers, wine and small talk, which I have no problem with, but artistically speaking: my will is for the people to be more engaged with the art, which experience shows that when this actually happens, it makes the wine and cheese taste much better, which also makes a happier gallery, because their patrons/guests are naturally taken over by the art; which is a big reason for my motivation as an artist, we all want something to talk about(in this case it's art) so leave what's outside the gallery, outside and: "take a load off".

So to you, I'm including a brief detail of what I'm suggesting, curatorial-wise:  I will include a wide variety of works, price-wise, style, size, medium, etc. they will fill the space aesthetically to the dimensions of space, with a mix between salon style and "white cube" hanging.  The main theme, is my Blog, where rather than the normal: title, price, medium simple label or even a brief description; I will be including an actual(uniform through the space) printout from my blog, including photos, sketches, pretty much however the blog appears, some will be cutoff because of the uniform approach...being that its a blog this will give the viewer the opportunity to gain further info. at their discretion if they so chose, also during the opening, the public has more information on the artwork that speaks to them(as many museums today use headphones), and therefore a way to generate conversation: "art for art's sake" between the artist, patrons and gallery.

Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room  James McNeill Whistler, oil & gold leaf on canvas, leather & wood.

Now for the above image, known as Whistler's 'Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room'; it was painted between 1876-77 and is considered to be one of the greatest surviving aesthetic interiors, the most marvelous example of the aesthetic movement interior decoration, and part of the Aestheticism movement in which the battle cry was: “art for art's sake”, whose works are sometimes described as “autotelic” from the Greek autoteles, “complete in itself”; which backs up my goal of establishing the importance of each piece in the exhibition as an individual evoking person-ability between the painting and viewer(interaction with information on each piece via my blog and other accompanying visuals), encouraging the intimacy fine art deserves.

This was a statement piece then and remains unchallenged today, aesthetically speaking, this is also just one aspect of a truly multi-dimensional artist who was widely known throughout the art-world as an expatriate artist, writer, performer and self publicist, among other things like part-time gunrunner.  These are all great or interesting attributes, but I'm most interested in: "His purposeful use of past art and his awareness of the collapse of private & public spaces..." - James Mcneill Whistler; uneasy pieces by David Park Curry

“From the invention of the picture gallery in the early Renaissance until the last quarter of the nineteenth century, paintings were generally displayed salon style...frames touched frames, leaving no room for labels”(as well as no room for due individuality);as I've already briefly mentioned, example shown below:

"...Whistler's work as an exhibition designer played a crucial role in development of modern styles of displaying art...He controlled every aspect of his installations...he designed distinctive designs for pictures and made sure the baseboards and crown moldings were colored to harmonize with the fabrics he used to cover the walls. He even designed color-coordinated uniforms for the guards. Whistler's installations were unlike anything contemporary art lovers had ever seen, and his exhibitions were widely discussed happenings.”
-Mr. Whistler's Gallery; The Art of Displaying Art – Magazine Antiques;Nov. 2003 vol.164 issue 5, p142; Myers, Kenneth John.

The Artist's Studio  James McNeill Whistler, oil (1865).

His contributions as well as other artists of the aestheticism movement, lead way to the presentations we see today: “the white cube” which by 1960's completely replaced the outdated, salon style of the past.  Again my hopes are that all my future exhibitions from here on out will follow in the footsteps of a master, “a master of breaking the mold”, as you'll see by showing up to one of my next exhibitions:)

example of a modern day "white cube" exhibition

I feel now is the time for a neo-renaissance starting with the weakest link, the connection between the artist, viewer and artwork itself; somewhat like the dark ages so long ago, but that's another story..

Follow this link to view part 1 of this 2 part series.