Why Surrounding Yourself With Art Matters -- And How To Do It

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Fri Jul 2, 2021, 05:16 PM - Edit history (1)

https://nymag.com/strategist/article/wall-art-from-black-artists.html
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NPR, Life Kit podcast, July 1, 2021.

The art you choose to display in your home tells a story. For me (TK), it represents who I am and what I care about most. After all, "If there's any place in this world, if you are so fortunate to have a roof over your head, that you can be the main character of your story, it is at home," says independent curator and author Kimberly Drew.

I spoke with Drew about how to find and choose art for the home. Drew isn't so interested in what constitutes "art." Instead, Drew thinks the important question is: "What kind of stories do we want to tell for ourselves in our home space?" The first thing to realize is that art is all around us in the everyday objects we keep, from ticket stubs to T-shirts. If it means something to you, it can be art. Go through that box of treasures and see what brings back beautiful memories, then think about how you might display them.

Next, let the art speak to you and your space. Social media, magazines, and television shows have endless advice on how to curate the perfect home. While they're fair game for inspiration, there can also be a downside: They can push us to create the "ideal" home for external approval. Recognize that your taste is unique to you and your space — no one can dictate what you're drawn to.

Buying art can sound intimidating, but it's like buying anything else. Think about your budget and who you want to support. See if there are auctions that are attached to social justice issues you care about. Many artists during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s would sell art to benefit movement work like that of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Congress For Racial Equity (CORE). In 2021, that would be like your favorite artist doing an auction benefiting an organization you support.

You can also ask the artists directly, find out where they are showing next, email them or follow them and interact respectfully on social media...

More + Images,

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/22/1009098860/find-art-for-your-home
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- Also: 'Comfort Decorating Is All About Making Your Home A Sanctuary,' NPR, https://www.npr.org/2021/03/08/974858326/comfort-decorating-is-all-about-making-your-home-a-sanctuary

- Black Art Matters. 2020.

- Black Opera as Architecture: A Conversation with Kimberly Drew, Alicia Hall Moran, and Imani Uzuri. Jun 30, 2020

National Gallery of Art- Kimberly Drew, writer, curator, and activist; Alicia Hall Moran, artist, composer, and mezzo-soprano; and Imani Uzuri, composer, librettist, and 2019-2020 Hutchins Fellow, W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University. Edgar Degas's (1834–1917) renowned images of the Paris Opéra are among the most sophisticated and visually compelling works he created. Celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Opéra’s founding, "Degas at the Opéra" presents approximately 100 of the artist’s best-known and beloved works in a range of media.

In celebration of this exhibition on June 17, 2020, Kimberly A. Jones, curator of 19th-century French paintings, welcomes Kimberly Drew, Alicia Hall Moran, and Imani Uzuri to discuss the influence of opera on contemporary artists’ practices. Their conversation expands upon an Office magazine interview conducted by Drew about the possibilities of opera as the architecture for Black cultural production. Together they explore the medium as historically unapologetic, dramatic, and bold, asserting its potential to set a precedent for all artists. This program coincides with the publication of Drew’s book "This Is What I Know About Art."

[lunatica]

1. The first thing I do when I go to someone's house the first time

is look at the art on the walls. You can tell a lot about them. A lot! People are careful about what they put up on their walls. They also put a lot of thought into it.

[BigmanPigman]

3. I'm not so sure about that.

During Covid we get to see inside a lot of people's homes and what I see is a painting hanging on a wall because it matches the furniture and decor. I think some decorators do this sort of thing and it bugs me.

While I was in art school I had my friends illustrate and sign my jeans with a Sharpie...all original, wearable artwork. I hung them on my wall about 10 years ago but the sunlight started to fade the art so I put them away to preserve them (40 years old jeans).

About 10 years ago I got a 5 pound lobster and saved most of its shell still intact. I made it into a piece of art/sculpture and hung it in my kitchen. It is a favorite. I also have made a piece of about 400 floating pens from all over the world that I've collected since 1981. Everyone loves that one since you can take the pens off and play with them. When I die that is the only thing of mine that anyone wants.

[lunatica]

7. Many people decorate around artwork

and there is a lot of stereotypical thinking that goes into art as to where to display it and how. An example is the typical nature painting in living rooms, over the couch.

I have my art on my walls and sometimes I switch it around just for the change. I hang my own paintings and drawings because otherwise they would be propped against the back wall of my closet which it was before I moved to New Mexico. I also have art hanging that was given to me over the years which I love. I have artwork which I’ve done specifically for the kitchen or the bathrooms or the living room but mostly I just paint what I want to and somehow it works out. What other people think of it is not my worry. Most people like it. Most will admire particular paintings that catch their eye and it’s surprising how many are also artists. Many people own some of my art which makes me feel good about it too. Over my lifetime I’ve given a lot of art away, many times just because the person liked it so much.

But even though I’ve hung much of my art I still have lots put away but it’s still available if anyone wants to look at it. Every once in a while I pull it out to look at and I’ll decide to display it, or not. I have a lot to choose from and everything I do now just adds to my choices.

[BigmanPigman]

8. I don't care what anyone thinks about my decorating

since I do it to suit my desires and tastes too.

[lunatica]

9. If it suits your comfort level then it's no one else's business!

I’m quite comfortable with how I decorate my condo, so like you Indon’t care what others think. The only one who has to like it and live with it is me.

[appalachiablue]

4. Artwork and other special items

in personal spaces express who we are and provide enjoyment and solice. You can switch or rotate art like in a gallery, a good idea and something my artist mother suggested. Books, music and furnishings also reflect our tastes and values.

[LakeArenal]

2. I'm not sure what it says about me. Here's my latest acquisitions.

They are both by the same artist.

The fish are carved from on piece of wood.

The butterfly was a spontaneous purchase when I went to pick up the fish I commissioned.


https://postimg.cc/mtCWKxpM]


https://postimg.cc/gwk9wxzq

[appalachiablue]

5. Nice pieces, reflecting nature and

the environment with good design and coloring. It says what you find attractive and interesting and that's what matters. I love the idea of subjects from the outdoors and the tropics.

[LakeArenal]

6. Weirdly, I like art that has faces. Eyes.

Not a still life or landscape person

[lunatica]

10. I really like both if those

Tropical motif are always exciting and colorful, and a bit alien which makes them mysterious. I love the butterfly one!

[LakeArenal]

11. Yes. I find my color sense exploded since we went tropical.

To me, Costa Ricans are far less colorful than I thought they would be.

But I couldn’t wait to fill our space with Tico art and colors I like.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

12. My apartment is

Drenched in cat art. My own and other artists work I like.

Got rainbow curtains,rainbow couch and chair covers.rainbow pillows with rainbow tigers on them..

A huge black panther sculpture sits at the entrance of my bedroom. Like a sentinal. He is a sentinal charged his purpose in a ritual.

Anyways I hate that apartments want you to keep ugly white walls.

White walls are triggering for me.

So almost every inch of my walls are covered with colorful art and Cat art.