07-06-2010
A Battle to Benefit the Greater Good
My competitive spirit kicked in at the recent Nova Arts S.A.S Salon Exhibition. The S.A.S. (Secret Arts Society) showed off works by talented architects and designers who moonlight as fine artists. On display were a variety of sculpture, charcoal drawings, and paintings. I admired and got inspired while enjoying snacks and drinks—which softened me up for the evening's sideline event: a silent bidding war!
The event benefited the Give Your Art Foundation, a non-profit branch of Novo Arts that distributes art to charitable institutions. The process began months ago as a call to the architecture and design community to gather at three 'studio night' dates where designers tested their skills at figure drawing, painting, papier-mâché, and other arts and crafts. Afterwards, curators (who work for Studios Architecture, Cannon Design, and S.O.M, among others) picked their top twenty pieces from each night. These pieces were then auctioned at the exhibition-event I attended.
My eyes focused on some charcoal figure drawings: one by Vincent Celano depicts a portrait that reminded me of a late 1920s French flapper, and the other by Dorcas Roehrs seemingly portrays the same figure but washed out and not as refined. My limited wallet opened in support, and I started battling it out with other admirers. While figure drawings seemed to dominate, there were also abstract paintings and drawings and a couple wire sculptures. However, some very impressive robots made of found materials by Gordon Bennett seemed too sophisticated to be created at the events.
Whether I won my bidding war is not really important (although my walls at home may disagree). The whole point is spreading the joy of art to the public as much as possible. I look forward to the next time Novo Arts organizes the design community masses so I can participate and eventually battle it out again for that greater good. It's tough job, but somebody's got to do it!
by Nadia Samuelson
The event benefited the Give Your Art Foundation, a non-profit branch of Novo Arts that distributes art to charitable institutions. The process began months ago as a call to the architecture and design community to gather at three 'studio night' dates where designers tested their skills at figure drawing, painting, papier-mâché, and other arts and crafts. Afterwards, curators (who work for Studios Architecture, Cannon Design, and S.O.M, among others) picked their top twenty pieces from each night. These pieces were then auctioned at the exhibition-event I attended.
My eyes focused on some charcoal figure drawings: one by Vincent Celano depicts a portrait that reminded me of a late 1920s French flapper, and the other by Dorcas Roehrs seemingly portrays the same figure but washed out and not as refined. My limited wallet opened in support, and I started battling it out with other admirers. While figure drawings seemed to dominate, there were also abstract paintings and drawings and a couple wire sculptures. However, some very impressive robots made of found materials by Gordon Bennett seemed too sophisticated to be created at the events.
Whether I won my bidding war is not really important (although my walls at home may disagree). The whole point is spreading the joy of art to the public as much as possible. I look forward to the next time Novo Arts organizes the design community masses so I can participate and eventually battle it out again for that greater good. It's tough job, but somebody's got to do it!
by Nadia Samuelson