Embedded, by Aili Schmeltz

Dreary Tuesday greetings, collectors. A special hello to all you brand new subscribers, coming to us from some fine accolades we've received in the press as of late. Today's a good day to get started! I'm presenting our second edition with artist Aili Schmeltz, using a technique that's a particular fave among our old-school subscribers, and me: the IM conversation.

First things first though: Embedded is an archival pigment print available exclusively through 20x200 in our 3 wonderful sizes. The print is based on an original 55"x42" mixed media on paper painting. As of this typing, the original is still available. Feel free to drop a line to collector at 20x200 dot com for more information.

My art critic friend and I had a good long IM conversation about LA, Ms. Schmeltz, her art and childhood memory this morning. Read on, if you dare:

Jen Bekman: Hello Buttercup
Art Critic Friend: hi there.how are you?
JB: Getting inspired for newsletter writing... Want to see today's edition?
ACF: I finished up that magazine article at a ridiculous hour last night. Yea!
JB: http://www.20x200.com/art/2008/04/embedded.html
ACF: It's about the accessibility of art viewing opportunities for the public
JB: : Noice, I like it...Can't wait to see
ACF: I talk about the various ways in which art fairs can actually limit the public's opportunities to view art as opposed to expand it.
JB: Right, it really is the pits. Not to mention that fairs are not exactly serene art viewing environments. As you know, art for everyone is what I always say! Did you look at the image?
ACF: Hey that's nice!
JB: Thank you! OK can I use you an abuse you? You are going to be my IM conspirator for this newsletter.
ACF: Sure.

detail 1:

JB: So, you and I are both on art overload from a weekend of the fairs. How many fairs did you attend total? I think I hit about 4.
ACF: 7 and I know a bunch of people who saw that many I saw Volta, Pulse, The Armory, Scope, Red Dot, The Dark Fair, and Art LA.
JB: You put me to shame! Except I'd say that as a critic it's your job to go. (and to know!) Which fair would be the most likely to have a painting like Aili's do you think? I'd say Pulse, perhaps. Although I'd love to see a one person show of hers a la Volta. She does installation work as well. Don't know if I've ever shown it to you.
ACF: Pulse possibly. I'd probably go with Art LA though.
JB: This is the most recent thing she did: Goucher Glacier, it's up at Rosenberg Gallery in Baltimore right now.

ACF: It's Richard Heller Gallery type stuff.
JB: : Ah you taunt me with the mention of his name! I have a complex about Richard Heller.
ACF: LOL how come?
JB: Because I love the work he shows.
ACF: those are really nice sculptures btw
JB: : And also, one of his artists, Amy Bennett, showed me work years ago and I didn't move on it quickly enough.
ACF: oh that sux
JB: : And now she is constantly in demand and never has work available! Of course, I am thrilled for her, but kicking myself.
ACF: Well, that was then though.
JB: : It was very early on, and I had little confidence in my instincts, especially when it came to painting. With photography, I just trusted myself from Day One. Other media have been harder, and part of what I've loved about 20x200 so far is that it's allowing me to get to know my own taste better and articulate why it is what it is.
ACF: It's funny. The process is continuous in the same way a blog is, so you grow because of that.
JB: : Right being forced to write everyday makes you a better writer. Sometimes it's grueling, but overall I'm happy for the obligation.
JB: Anyway, back to Art LA. Sure, she'd be perfect there. I just wish that Art LA didn't happen during the madness of Armory weekend.
ACF: It's a small fair -- smaller than last year, so it is a little frustrating that it happens in the middle of Armory madness.
JB: I didn't get to it. I didn't even know that it was happening until you told me about it. And it's too bad because you know that I love me some LA art.
Here are more Aili paintings btw:
JB: : Ah, yea that is too bad. I'm really kind of smitten w/ the LA art scene. I like the idea of a world class city that artists can afford to live in.
ACF: me too
JB: : And also I like the diversity of places to look at and make art. I need to get my butt out there and do studio visits soon. And rent a convertible too, of course.
ACF: with GPS!
JB: : A MUST HAVE.

detail 2:

JB: I love the blue rock crystals in the lower right of Aili's painting. It reminds me of the rock specimens I coveted at the Museum of Natural History when I was a kid.
ACF: Yeah, we used to place them in bowls on our bureaus and stuff
JB: I had one, I'm pretty sure, that was like a cantaloupe cut in half
ACF: I remember getting a bunch of those kind of things with puter wizards attached to them for my grandparents at Christmas one year.
ACF: The circular patterns of those cut rocks mimic the linear patterning of placemats...funny. Just sort of average placemats or table cloths you might find at Crate&Barrel, you see the pattern a lot these days.
JB: Aili might not like that association, but for me I love being able to connect things I see in art with mundane everyday things, and I love when art stuff presents itself in those contexts.
ACF: Maybe not, I always liked it though. It shows up everywhere in fact, that pattern even ended up at the Whitney Biennial four years ago.
JB: I am seeing here that when I wrote the newsletter for her first piece, Radar I was in LA France...re: Biennal: link! link!
ACF: An artist who had made these acrylic paintings that were without a support, the paint hung over a towel rack - it's shape remained perfectly square. Lemme see if I can find it...
I like the pattern a lot - not sure that the work itself has deep connections to this stuff though - just the pattern.
JB: : Ooh I see which placemats you mean now, the ones with scalloped edges? You're talking about the wavy lines to the left of the rock crystals?
ACF: Yeah, and above.
JB: : It's a great palette I think. Also I do like the way all the different angles and layers play off each other. Its an incongruous assemblage, but not too belabored if that makes sense. And I can't tell if we're looking at elevated freeways or roller coasters back there among the palm trees, which I also like.
ACF: For me I really like the way she treats the surface, the city in the background is barely worked up at all.
JB: Yes, I really like that too, just enough to place you, but you're really focused on what's going on beneath the surface.
ACF: It has a very gritty feel to it, while the foreground is a little more polished and refined.
JB: : I also love that huge slab of orange, although I'm not sure why.
ACF: An interesting juxtaposition with the depiction of still raw minerals.
JB: : Right the raw minerals make you want to look at the whole landscape scientifically somehow, even though you're clearly looking at an impossible assemblage of materials and angles. It's like fantasy archaeology!
ACF:Well, further than that, I think there's some connection with the skeletal framework of the roller coaster, and the alchemy of the foreground.
JB: How do you see it...I mean I think I know, but I love it when you get all art analytical. It makes me swoon!
ACF: Both represent the structural components the landscape, while also containing ideas of magic or transmutation. Typically the idea is that the transmutation turns a common substance into something more valuable. I was going to say more, but I actually think it's enough and not go into the transmutation crap.
JB: I love this, this is what I really want 20x200 to do, and it's one of the reasons why I love talking about art with you. You take me beyond the "oooh, it's pretty" and call bullshit when it's JUST pretty. And show me different ways of looking at stuff.
ACF: Thanks!
JB: I want more people to do that, but I also know that without the vocabulary, or the dialogue, it can be awfully tough to do.
Oh, hey, what things are you talking about here:
"I remember getting a bunch of those kind of things with puter wizard"
Did you mean those rock things?
ACF: Oh the crystal formations you were talking about, that looked like a fruit when sliced open.
JB: Yes, yes.
ACF: It made me think of similar crystal formations that would appear to have grown right off the rock. I remember a merchant selling a number of these rocks with wizard figurines attached, with canes, and crystal balls... it can be very cheesy stuff. I bought a bunch when I was ten for my grandparents at Christmas, thinking they would love the stuff. I never did see it displayed in their house. But you know, those kinds of objects have a kind of nostalgia to them for people of my generation I think, so it's hard to think of them too negatively. And of course, while the wizards may be a very literal representation of the "magic" or trans-mutative powers of the crystals, it ties into the dilapidated theme parks, which tend to have similar connotations. There's a kind of false hope to both representations of the landscape.
JB: Were you able to find a link for that biennial artist?
ACF: Ah found it! It was actually 2000 Biennial. Linda Besemer is the artist. Artnet has a really bad scan of the work - way too putrid yellow. I have the catalogue.
JB: Since I can't scan the catalog in time, that putrid .jpg will have to do! It drives me absolutely mad that it is so freaking difficult to find good artist info online.
I know that it's for a reason, namely that it's still way too hard to build/maintain a good website. But still! Grrr. Of course, that's a whole other conversation and you and I both have busy days before us...
~THE END~

ACF and I continued on, and will continue to continue, as we always do. Hopefully you will too - I'm always curious to hear how you all respond to work, so if you've got something to add, drop a line to hello at 20x200 dot com and let us know.

Now I'm going to scramble off to a meeting that I'm already late for. I'll be back tomorrow with a photograph which speaks to me of how I feel about all of you. See you then!