Curating Life

Back on saddle

2008-12-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

Seemingly there are more people reading my sorry blog than I expected (well, I should have known it before putting my thoughts on public), so I feel bit obligated to update.

I will make it short.

I had a few good shows, a few not so good ones this year. But all I know is that I am lucky to have ANY shows regardless. I owe everyone I worked with. And I am sorry if I was hard to work with.

I hope to work with you again next year, and wish to work with someone and somewhere new too.

THANK YOU for all of your supports!

Cheers,

Hiroshi

Next Project....

2008-07-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since the last post.

This is just a quick update.......

Next curating project is a solo show of a photographer, Tatsuro Nishimura.

He is a commercial photographer who is trying to cross the boundary between Fine Art and Commercial Art.
It will be interesting.

I will update again soon, I promise!

Connectiong Dots

2008-03-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

This post was meant to be uploaded while ago,,,,, Please pardon me for my tardiness.

Opening of "Strange Country" went very well. As a matter of fact, it was AWESOME.
It was pouring outside, but so many people showed up. I can not thank enough for all the people who came to see and support our show. And needless to say, Nicole from The Fields was such a gracious hostess. This exhibition couldn't happen without her.

One of important lessons I learned through this journey of "curating an exhibition" is there are WAY more people involved than artists and curator.

You can easily imagine that there will be someone to install the show. Then marketing, logistics, legal, etc.... Because of the size of production, I got to do pretty much everything, but Nicole was there to help me marketing, catering, and some of the logistics.

She has been very patient with me from the day one. I, as a rookie curator, had no clue of what, when, how to do things. But people around me have been very helpful. I learned a lot because of them. To name a few, Meredith Lippman from Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs and Ben Goldman from City Without Walls.
My big Thanks to them!

This post is getting sort of pointless. I should wrap it up by saying this one thing.....

As with everything else, there is a limitation of things you can do by yourself. You need people to make things happen. I hope someday there will be someone who needs "me" to make something happen. For the day yet to come, I should train, learn, and do whatever I can do to make myself better.

Strange Country Post 4: Promotion!

2008-02-20T07:32:00.000-08:00

I received a small grant from Puffin Foundation(thanks guys! you Rock!) to realize my exhibition. It is great to have my idea validated and have monetary compensation for it.
I was going to make it happen one way or the other (read: paying out of my pocket), but I guess it is not so professional to do so after all.

If I believe in an importance of my exhibition, and no need to say, talents in my artists, I SHOULD be able to raise money to make it happen. I truly think the show is very timely.

I became SO good at promoting the show shamelessly. I make cold calls to city officials and news papers to find a person who will be willing to help me out. I have never dreamed of doing such things for my own sake. It is much easier to promote other good artists, not myself. And it is much much easier if they are my friends. I can talk so much about their works and how great they are without any hesitation. I wish I can do so as freely for my own works....

Maybe I should promote my friends and they should promote me! We both work as an agent for each other.
I don't know why I haven't thought about it....

Oh I know. It doesn't work if only one party becomes successful. Then the other party will be "WTF! I promoted him and now he is a big-time artist. What about me?"

Hmmmm I wouldn't mind promoting my friends, and I will be so so so psyched to see them successful, but I guess I want to be doing well as well.

Does anyone want to be my agent? I will Show you the Money.

Interim (off the topic)

2008-01-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

"When it rains, it pours."

So true.... I was depriving my sleep almost everyday so I can get stuff done. That was last month. I thought dark circles under my eyes were permanent... But I am getting at least 5-6 hours of healthy sleep nowadays. I look better and feel better. But I feel like my creativity is slightly going south.... I am not saying that artists have to beat up himself physically to sharpen his mental aspect (creativity), but there are some truth to it.

I used to compete in Martial Arts Tournament. I went through severe physical training. Also I was on much severer diet that makes even vegans run for their money. More I make myself physically exhausted, I realized my overall mental state got sharpened. I was thinking much more clearly and more aware of things I usually dismiss.

I was reading an article written by a writer who decided to take anti-depressant to curve his anger. After taking the pills for a period of time, he realized that he is much more calm and happier. But his creativity was noticeably decreased. I am not going to jump to conclusion and saying that artists have to suffer in order to be creative, but there is always this one question remains.

"Would I make art, even if I am fully satisfied of my life?"

But again, who is truly satisfied of his life? I don't know any. Do you?

Strange Country Post 3: Greg Maka's Amazing Works.

2008-01-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

One of the photographer, Greg Maka, came over to share his works with me last night.
I was totally blown away. It was a treat for my eyes.

I do not know a word to describe his works. If I put them down in the words, it will be very simple.

It is a picture of bird-eye view city scape. But it is beyond what the subject matter is. I don't know what he does, but I don't want him to stop. His images are just gorgeous.

His works are too good for my exhibition space. I knew it already. All the artists for "Strange Country" are too good for my space. But I wanted to set a standard. I wanted to show how good we can be. How amazing unknown artists could be. And how "good" art can enrich lives.

"Strange Country" Post 2

2008-01-01T17:31:00.003-08:00

"Strange Country" will be my first official Curatorial Debut.

It is to investigate how location (or change of location) affect human Psyche. Like you feel a strange nostalgia in places you have never been, or feel of lost in places you are familiar with.

My case was all started from one photograph. I saw one photograph (actually a series of photos, but the one stood out), and I felt this strange yet strong connection to the piece. It was a picture of Cambodian children. The picture itself is a quite simple, almost traditional, portraiture. But something about it "touched" me so strongly. I can't quite understand why till this day....

Then I wanted to find out what and how it made me feel so close to the picture. Is it the artist who took the pic? Is it the location? Is it the technique. etc....

So in a way, this show could be an investigation to my own personal question. But what matters most is how the exhibition is (there are no, NO, questions about how good my artists are! I love saying "my artists"...) There shouldn't be much concern for how the show started out.

It will be a great show and I am so excited about working with (so far) three photographers, Melissa Buesing, Colleen Gutwein, and Greg Maka.

Prelude: Sticky Fingers

2007-12-31T12:16:00.001-08:00

I "curated" my first exhibition, Sticky Fingers, 2 month ago.
The show is still up and will be closed on Jan. 19Th 2008.

I don't want to call it as my curatorial debut since I included myself in the show. I "organized" the show.

It was still a lot of fun.

When I first met Colin, who owns the space, he mentioned that he wants to make a use of a vacant space on his floor. I took a liberty of putting a show together with my comrade, Kayt Hester Lent.

I wouldn't say that it went smooth, but I believe I did a good job for the first time.

Below is a list of things I was in charge. It's not much, but it was time consuming.....

Scheduling
Designing card and poster
Catering
Installation
Promotion
De-installation

The opening was a big success (I owe a lot for other venues in the building for attracting most of visitors), and I can't ask more.

I am making limited edition hand printed cards to raise fund for the gallery. It will be sold at closing of the show.

BTW
Awesome Jazz band, Nobuki Takamen Group, will play at the Closing!! You all should swing by to check them out! Support local artists and musicians!!

First Official Exhibition: Strange Country

2007-12-31T10:27:00.000-08:00

I landed myself on an opportunity to organize art exhibitions in a lobby space of a loft in Jersey City, NJ.

I am not a Curator by any mean. I am an artist with an urge to find undiscovered/under appreciated artists.

Ones I would like to show are all talented. They don't need my help to reach their fames (I am the one who needs help). But if, what IF, I could help them to connect to some one who has a connection to some one who has more connections...... Like six degrees of separation.

I have a romantic notion of being one of the first ones to discover yet to be discovered talents.

I should go back to day one to describe how it all started......