Has the Art World Finally Crapped Out?

April 20, 2016 by 4 Comments

The Universe Juxtaposes in Strange and Unusual Ways

Toilet art

Today, The New York Times published an article about a new installation at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum here in New York City. It is a solid gold fully functioning toilet, with seat. (See the above top image.) The toilet will be located off a gallery and will be available for the public to use. The sculptor, Maurizio Catalan, said, “I don’t see it as a joke.”

Also today, my father-in-law sent the bottom image to me. It was intended as a joke. It’s called a Redneck BBQ and Beer Cooler. Sadly, the artist wasn’t credited. It was captioned, “When you are done, just turn the handle & it puts out the fire.”

Now I ask, which of these two toilets exhibits more creativity and which is the bigger joke?

Until next time…

Filed Under: Criticism, Public Service Announcements Tagged With: , ,

Meet the real Marvin Mattelson, Portrait Artist & Educator

August 29, 2012 by 10 Comments

No this isn’t me. It’s a portrait of the great model Dustin, painted by my student Sam Zanger during the last workshop I led at SVA, a couple of weeks back. This was a breakthrough painting for Sam, who has been studying with me for the equivalent of six semesters. Sam is a regular in my Saturday class.

I’ve been very busy lately finishing up my summer workshops, and trying to get everything ready for the fall semester at the School of Visual Arts, where I teach, so I’ve had to put my fledgling career as a blogger on temporary hold. Once I get things settled I’ll once again be churning out more provocative points of view, and when I have time, working on my commissioned portraits–just kidding, the portraits always come first.

This coming Wednesday and Thursday there will be two open houses at the school for students interested in finding out more information about continuing education classes–of which I teach two. I will be attending both these sessions, so if you’re in the neighborhood please stop by and meet the man behind the blog.

Wednesday, September 25

School of Visual Arts

133 West 21st St., Rm 602C, New York, NY.

6:30PM to 8:30PM.

Here’s one the following night.

Thursday,  September 26

School of Visual Arts

209 East 23rd St., Rm 311, New York, NY

6:30PM – 9:30PM

Until next time…

Filed Under: Art Education, Marvin Mattelson, Public Service Announcements Tagged With:

How Much for a Quickie?

May 28, 2012 by 18 Comments

One of my goals in writing this blog is to educate potential clients about what’s involved in commissioning high quality portraiture. Sometimes people’s expectations can really throw me for a loop, so I consider this post to be my first public service announcement. Based on the following, I think I’ve got my work cut out for me.

The above portrait is one I recently completed. A larger version is on the homepage of my website. If you keep clicking on the image you’ll be able to see enlargements of details and see some of what went into creating this challenging commission. Click on each enlargement and the magnification will continue to increase. It’s a portrait of the Hart-Cohan family. It’s a posthumous portrait of the mother, Arielle Hart. The size of the portrait is 4′ x 6′ and it took over a year to complete.

I just received an e-mail from a potential client. The e-mail read as follows,”Need a painting by Friday of my parents and/or family. Similar to one on your homepage. I need a price quote ASAP Sir. Thank you!”

Until next time…

Filed Under: Marvin Mattelson, Portrait Artist, Portrait Painting, Public Service Announcements