"Alexander Gorlizki is an up-and-coming artist, known for paintings that superimpose fanciful images over traditional Indian designs. His work has been displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Denver Art Museum and Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, among others, and sells for up to $10,000.
Mr. Gorlizki lives in New York City. The paintings are done by seven artists who work for him in Jaipur, India. "I prefer not to be involved in actually painting," says Mr. Gorlizki, who adds that it would take him 20 years to develop the skills of his chief Indian painter, Riyaz Uddin. "It liberates me not being encumbered by the technical proficiency," he says."
Mr. Gorlizki, who employs the artists in India, has a harder time with supervision. He uses a courier service, shipping paintings back and forth to New York so that he can make suggestions, and once or twice a year he visits India. Because this process is so time-onsuming, a painting often takes two or three years to complete.
But Mr. Gorlizki, who talks openly about his use of assistants and puts his apprentices' names on the back of his paintings, thinks he's found the ideal arrangement. His Indian assistants "all get salaries and they get bonuses," he says. "They earn much more money than they would from the tourist trade."
In a telephone interview, Mr. Uddin, Mr. Gorlizki's chief assistant, said that Jaipur has about 3,000 painters, and almost all of them churn out traditional Indian paintings for the tourist market. Most of them have little interest in pursuing their own creative artistic careers, he says. Mr. Gorlizki "is a great artist," Mr. Uddin says. "I'm happy with the way it is."
The real art project here is not the subject of the work, but the manner in which the work is executed, and the conversation about the disconnect between the art and the artisan. It's really just another way of looking at the discussion of how technology has aided or hindered the artist, except instead of machines, there are humans. It is interesting, but I doubt I'd find one of his paintings worthy of purchasing. I am still someone who values the craft of the artist.
Sol Lewitt did not produce his wall drawings. His assistance(s) followed "a set of parameters" or instructions to guide them through the creation of the piece.
My sister is an artist, and she has a gaggle of interns. It's actually incredibly common and has a long history in the art world, predating Warhol. Think Rodin or even Michaelangelo. In a lot of ways, I believe art that employs interns actually has a higher degree of craft than art created by an individual; the reason being that art involving many people is often incredibly labor intensive, beyond what an individual can accomplish on his or her own. Of course, this is different than what Warhol was doing where mass production was a part of the conceptual underpinnings of the art. What I am describing is closer to Rodin or Michaelangelo where the art in itself is highly labor intensive.
Why actually have to learn a craft?
From the WSJ this morning....
"Alexander Gorlizki is an up-and-coming artist, known for paintings that superimpose fanciful images over traditional Indian designs. His work has been displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Denver Art Museum and Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, among others, and sells for up to $10,000.
Mr. Gorlizki lives in New York City. The paintings are done by seven artists who work for him in Jaipur, India. "I prefer not to be involved in actually painting," says Mr. Gorlizki, who adds that it would take him 20 years to develop the skills of his chief Indian painter, Riyaz Uddin. "It liberates me not being encumbered by the technical proficiency," he says."
Mr. Gorlizki, who employs the artists in India, has a harder time with supervision. He uses a courier service, shipping paintings back and forth to New York so that he can make suggestions, and once or twice a year he visits India. Because this process is so time-onsuming, a painting often takes two or three years to complete.
But Mr. Gorlizki, who talks openly about his use of assistants and puts his apprentices' names on the back of his paintings, thinks he's found the ideal arrangement. His Indian assistants "all get salaries and they get bonuses," he says. "They earn much more money than they would from the tourist trade."
In a telephone interview, Mr. Uddin, Mr. Gorlizki's chief assistant, said that Jaipur has about 3,000 painters, and almost all of them churn out traditional Indian paintings for the tourist market. Most of them have little interest in pursuing their own creative artistic careers, he says. Mr. Gorlizki "is a great artist," Mr. Uddin says. "I'm happy with the way it is."
Rest of the article is here
The real art project here is not the subject of the work, but the manner in which the work is executed, and the conversation about the disconnect between the art and the artisan. It's really just another way of looking at the discussion of how technology has aided or hindered the artist, except instead of machines, there are humans. It is interesting, but I doubt I'd find one of his paintings worthy of purchasing. I am still someone who values the craft of the artist.
Lot's of artists do have assistants, even "mass producers" (Andy Warhol's Factory?) but this is also interesting because it has been outsourced.
Sol Lewitt did not produce his wall drawings. His assistance(s) followed "a set of parameters" or instructions to guide them through the creation of the piece.
My sister is an artist, and she has a gaggle of interns. It's actually incredibly common and has a long history in the art world, predating Warhol. Think Rodin or even Michaelangelo. In a lot of ways, I believe art that employs interns actually has a higher degree of craft than art created by an individual; the reason being that art involving many people is often incredibly labor intensive, beyond what an individual can accomplish on his or her own. Of course, this is different than what Warhol was doing where mass production was a part of the conceptual underpinnings of the art. What I am describing is closer to Rodin or Michaelangelo where the art in itself is highly labor intensive.
see also mr brainwash as featured in exit through the gift shop
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