Gallery: Artist Adam Belt

I've had the pleasure of knowing Adam Belt and his graphic designer wife, Wendy since my days in design school. This uber-talented couple now lives in picturesque Carlsbad (a stone's throw away from San Diego), where they live with their colorful keep (daughter: Ruby, dog:Violet).  I've been amazed by Adam's work and its evolution throughout the years and have been waiting for an opportunity to showcase it (you can currently find it displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego). Adam was kind enough the take the time to answer a few questions about him, his work, and art in general.

(above: Pari Radio Telescopes, 2008 © Adam Belt )

Girl Of All Work: Your work seems to juxtapose both natural and man-made materials. We see concrete blocks and melted ice, organic swirls of blue watercolor with satellites as the negative shape. What is it about the natural vs. unnatural forms that attract you?


Adam Belt: I think what draws me in is the point of meeting and contact. When you look at the expansive landscape of the desert southwest, for example, the topographical features meander and flow into each other stretching far into the horizon. Points of contrast highlight the expanse giving you a tangible sense of the scale and a heightened awareness of the dynamic natural forms. Dams for instance, are an abrupt intervention; graceful arch dams like Hoover or Glen Canyon punctuate the landscape. The engineered forms contrast the rugged terrain and the resulting barrier becomes point of focus, interest, and tension


G: How has your approach changed as you've matured as an artist?
A:Through the process of failure and success I have had to reassert my focus on what my work means to me and why I create art. In terms of approach specifically I work on those projects, which are particularly poignant, the ones I need to make as well as works I know I would regret not making. These may seem like obvious criteria, but like all professions art can quickly pull you away from why you became an artist leaving you with nothing but careerism and empty strategies to get to the next level. I do not want the sum of my artistic production to be a bunch of contemporary art looking stuff.

(above: Glen Canyon Dam Detail, 2004 © Adam Belt )


G: I know that your wife, Wendy, is a graphic designer. Does what she do influence your work, if at all?
A: Her process of creating through the computer has opened that up for me as a meaningful tool of production. Also, the persistence of her work ethic is something that I have admired and learned from.


G: A lot of people don't "get" fine art. What would you have to say to them?
A: I believe the main difficulty is the disparity in expectations. If you are looking for beauty and a display of skill and an extensive amount of time to complete the work you are looking at, you may be disappointed in the contemporary art context where those elements are not cherished in relationship to the gauge of a works success. What I recommend to people, and this is from my own experience as a person who was not raised in an art background, is that you experience the work as it is rather than what you perceive it to be lacking. Also, the experience many people have is of seeing particular works that resonate with them on a profound level.  This experience opens the possibility of and desire for further investigation and discovery. And finally, it is important to remember that contemporary art, most often, is not a passive experience, it requires some commitment from the viewer and that is why the experience can be that much more enriching.

(above: Drift, 2008 © Adam Belt)


G: Where would your dream artist's retreat be located?
A: Maybe on a house boat in Lake Powell. Although the lake is man-made and has flooded a spectacular environment, the lake affords the visitor endless opportunities for exploration and the blue water amidst the sandstone cliffs is as beautiful a location as I have ever seen. Not to mention the silence in the evening and the stargazing.

Gallery: Tessa Farmer

As I stared and stared at artist Tessa's Farmer's exhibit at the Spencer Brownstone Gallery in NYC last winter, I knew my world had been changed. It wasn't just the gruesomeness of her materials that made an impression, it was the completeness of her vision--so carefully realized and beautifully detailed. Farmer is a gifted creator of dark fantasy worlds. Her installations feature aggressive fairies wielding spears against insects and planting themselves on hapless dogs and birds (among other familiar animals). That's not all. The fairies, it turns out, are each so miniature that, peering at them with the unaided human eye, you can hardly see all there is to see. Not only that, but, well, they're composed of dead insects. And the dogs and birds they perch on are real, dead dogs and birds. But the most interesting thing about her installations is that these details become less important, the more that you look at her work. It's not every day that someone creates whole worlds. Go for the shock factor; stay to marvel at her talent. Farmer's work will be showing, along with that of other artists, at the State Hermitage Museum, in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, from October 25 through January 17, 2010. an expanded version of the same exhibition will open at the Saatchi Gallery in London in June 2010.

Gallery: The Art of Tea

I love autumn. It's my favorite season, and when the weather turns chill, you'll usually find my hands wrapped around a mug of tea. There's a beauty in the ritual of watching leaves unfurl in a steaming cup.
Now through November 29th, the Fowler Museum at UCLA is running an exhibit on the art of tea, featuring its medicinal origins in China to its key role in the development of the British Empire. And, of course, in the the midst of all that, you'll also get to see some beautiful patterns and dainty tea ware.

I'm sure after your tour, you'll probably have that itch to acquire some of your own tea ware. Check out these great options. I love the beautiful colors of the ceramic japanese teacup, the incredibly decorative moroccan tea glass, and the impressive tea-stain pattern cup (the pattern becomes more pronounced with use):

Gallery: The First Day of Autumn...

Artist: Ed Ruscha
(via New York Times, Op Ed)

Gallery: Stefan Hattenbach/ Type Designer

Like most fellow graphic designers, I'm a bit of a type nerd. I have a hoodie embroidered with typography lingo. My deck of font flashcards have softened with age. And for enjoyment, I cull through hundreds upon hundred of typefaces to find that perfect fit for my latest project. It was during one of these sessions that I stumbled upon font designer Stefan Hattenbach's beautiful work.

 

Founder of Mac Rhino Fonts, Hattenbach works from his picturesque studio in Stockholm, Sweden, where he has produced such notable fonts like Delicato (which I'm using for an upcoming project—more to come in a future post!), Graphics, and Sophisto. Stefan was kind enough to take time out of a crazy schedule to sit down and answer a few questions:

 
Girl Of All Work: Do you think that most of the typefaces you've designed reflects your personality?

Stefan Hattebach: Yes, they probably do. Not so much as a thought-out plan, but more of a way they got executed. I think it's very hard not to put some of yourself into any kind of artistic profession. Many designers have their style, and I see nothing wrong to show that personality as long as it's a secondary thing. Also, in my opinion, display typefaces can be more "playful" than classic text faces.

 
G: How does your environment affect the way you design?

S: I work as an independent designer and have run my own business for 15 years. This gives me a lot of freedom and allows me to choose whom to work with. Graphic design is some part of my work, and is gives me the chance to try out and work with type as well.

 
The rest, about 75%, is more closely type-related, such as logotypes, graphic identities, and of course, type design. I'm not sure if I have a certain "Scandanavian style?" Born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, I've always felt more like a "European." I've travelled a lot, which has given me loads of inspiration overall. Type design is a very odd profession in Sweden, so that gives me a rather unique position. I find that fact very positive.

 
G: If you weren't designing type, what else would you be doing?

S: I've always been interested in architecture. To me, it has a similar way of thinking—constructing something that has to be a bigger picture. Of course, on different levels. For example, you could see the construction materials as the body parts in a letter and the light and room as the white spaces—that it's also equally important to get a rich and complete end-result.

 
Another passion is music. I'm a former DJ and listen to music practically every day. I could also very well have seen myself working as a producer or something similar.

 
G: Please don't cringe...but the difference between established font foundries like yours and a site like 1001freefonts.com?

 S: Isn't it obvious?! Most of the typefaces on "free font" servers are:

1. Stolen ideas or "wanna-be's"

2. Overall of very poor quality

3. Single weights and often missing basic characters.

 
Even if there are many places distributing these kind of typefaces, I don't think they are actually used in professional work that much. So it's mostly an expression of "bad taste" rather than a "plague" within the graphic design business.

 

G: Your personality during work-mode?

S: Concentrated and playful at the same time. I hate to do something "half-good." But at the same time, I nowadays tend to break the rules here and there. I think we have to get that organic feel back. The computer is great, but has often made things too perfect. I find many good typefaces a bit stiff, because they are too perfect. Lately, I've seen some good signs of playful solutions though.

 
G: And I have to ask this: what do you think about the switch from Futura to Verdana in the new IKEA logo?

S: In one way, I can understand IKEA. They have made a choice for an acceptable solution to cover web and print with only one typeface. IKEA has had Futura so long that it has become a familiar part of their identity. Now, Futura is not the perfect typeface either when it comes to readibility. Especially in smaller sizes. The web and pdf document will increase and probably replace much of the now printed material. 

On the other hand, I'm sure this is more an emotional reaction from people, rather than practical. Myself included. I have even signed a protest list on Facebook. It won't make IKEA change back, of course, but sometimes it's healthy to just make a stand.

 

(photos via Mac Rhino Fonts /Stefan Hattenbach)

Gallery: Peter Callesen

I thought the most fitting artist to spotlight on our first Gallery posting is Danish artist Peter Callesen. He's one of the artists I stumbled upon about a year ago and whose work always leaves me speechless. Taking humble sheets of A4, he transforms them into intricate, narrative pieces of art. Below are just a few examples of some of his beautiful work:

Alive, But Dead (2006), Peter Callesen

Holding on to Myself, 2006, Peter Callesen

Eismeer, 2006, Peter Callesen