Author: Joseph Lawrence

Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mr. Lawrence has lived in New York City since the mid-1980's. Mr. Lawrence attended the San Francisco Art Institute and Minneapolis College of Art and Design, receiving his BFA degree in 1975.

Network Test and Films of 2024

Posted on by Joseph Lawrence
Instagram Photograph
A recent photo from my apartment.

I have installed a new application to send my posts hither and yon.  This post if an experiment to see if it works.  As a bonus, here are my recommended films of 2024.  I decided not to try to do much critiquing.

 

Nickel Boys     RaMell Ross   *.  This film tells a story in a multiple of ways to tell a story:  point of view, flashback, flash-forward, news real, and probably more.  Most people will probably bail.

Oh, Canada – Paul Schrader

Vermiglio – Maura Delpero  An interesting love story combined with an anthropological study of a remote Italian village in World War II.

Blitz – Steve McQueen.  Scenes that reminded me of the burning of Atlanta in Gone with the Wind.

Emila Perz –  Jacques Audiard.  About what may or may not remain in a person’s character after sex change.

Conclave – Edward Berger     There’s a interesting twist ending, also what Hollywood would call an “All Star Cast.”

The Room Next Door – Pedro Almadovar.  Not a lot of laughs, it’s very moving.

A Complete Unknown James Mangold  Brought back memory of the early sixties folk and my first trip to NYC in 1966.  Hey University of Minnesota, you remember that kid, Robert Zimmerman?

IT’S HAPPENING: TRUMP 2.0

Posted on by Joseph Lawrence

Ever since Trump was re-elected, we have had heard nothing but tidal waves of commentary about the oncoming disasters we expect to see for the next four years.  I was guilty of jumping on the bandwagon myself.  Now everyone is either “preaching to the choir” or “virtue signalling.”  

What can we do?  We have to make sure there is continued funding for the arts, for education and for a free press.  I am especially worried about The Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio.  Many commercial radio stations have been bought up by Christian Nationalists and owners who control the news on dozens of stations.  There are extremely few sources of non-partisan news on the radio; and radio (not the internet) is a important source of information for people living in small towns.

About Open Calls

Posted on by Joseph Lawrence

 

About Open Calls

I recently came across an article in the New York Foundation for the Arts website on Open Calls.  If you are not familiar with open calls and what to expect if you submit your work to an open call.

Open calls have several functions for a gallery.  They serve as advertising for a gallery.   They generate income from submission fees.  They add to the gallery’s stable of artists with the potential to bring in sales.

An artist should understand what a gallery with an open call is looking for.  They should have a BFA and an MFA degree and a good exhibition history.  They also must have a well written artistic statement that explains their artistic process.   These two documents serve as an artist’s introduction to the public.    

In a large art market like New York, an open call can generate several hundred responses.  Now that entries for open calls can be scanned with AI, I am afraid that an artist’s work will not be enough to be selected for a gallery exhibition.

Notes on drawing with pastels:

Posted on by Joseph Lawrence

Greetings!  This blog is about my preferred way to draw, which is using pastels.  I had experimented with various drawing media: pencil, colored pencil, charcoal and pen and ink, but I kept coming back to pastels. With pastels, I can create drawings in complex color pallets that have the richness of an oil painting.  The factors that must be considered while using pastels are many, the density and darkness of strokes, how layers of color affect one another.  The color of the paper being used will also affect the overall appearance of the finished drawing.

I enjoy working with pastels because they enable me to work with great freedom and experiment with different colors spontaneously.  There is no need for special tools or solvents.  A bad composition or mistake can usually be corrected.  

Pastel, lawrence-studio, 2024
Abstraction with letter forms, Pastel, 19×25″ 2024