I’m reposting Borbay’s piece for Max’s Kansas City. Below is his response to: What Art Means to Me. Thanks to Borbay for giving us an uncensored poetic response. Learn more about Borbay.
For Max’s Kansas City | What Art Means to Me, A Visual Diagram and Semi-Poetic Diatribe
By Jason Borbay
Art is Freedom,
to be overtly commercial like Andy,
Warhol, yet tortured, and full of drugs ala Basquiat,
Painting the Guggenheim once a year,
for 20 years, with different grades of Facial Hair,
In plain sight, in plein air,
Art is Manhattan,
Parties real and fake,
Collaging a surface, any surface, being Borbay,
Adding Paint, landing Commissions,
Making Money, creating a job,
hitting the Blog,
generating Press through the Photography of my work,
Schmoozing with the big bucks,
celebrating Sales, sealing smart Contracts,
a Hustle Jay Z would respect,
Cocktails to celebrate,
hitting my Up or Downtown Studio,
crafting my Image, out to obliterate,
the Myth of the starving artist,
Traveling to paint and deliver paintings,
a puff of the Tangerine, a glass of Scotch,
Living my Life, the life of an artist, like Jasper Johns,
only different,
meeting Collectors through the Wall Street Journal,
Japan, shameless self-promotion on Twitter,
Staring down a Rauschenberg, any Rauschenberg will do,
back to the Tangerine, out for some Neo Rauch,
more hustle on Facebook, some gritty Bearden collage work,
Meticulous Schwitters creations,
out to Educate the world and artists,
support and love from my fiancé Erin,
Any movie by Woody Allen, pre 1990,
Fellow artists I love, Penn, Lankin, Hessel, Danko, Seslow, Sanders, Zepeda, more,
Balancing my life with ice hockey,
Taking in, admiring, or creating film,
Painting a wooden bunny with Mom at age four,
Time Out New York and my man Tony D pimpin my wares,
Striving for anonymous Celebrity,
A salute to Mrs. Livesey, my high school art teacher,
the brilliant, inspirational and textural New York Post,
incredible support from Josh and the team at BevForce.
My life as a professional location artist.
On Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend we had some amazing weather in New York City. Borbay and I decided to hit up Sheep Meadow and set up shop. It’s always a good time painting with Borbay, chatting it up with strangers, and maintaining our reputation with the regulars in the park. Below is my finished painting from the southeast corner of Sheep Meadow. Keep reading below to see how the painting progressed as well as Borbay’s painting which came out strong with blazing colors and a little mojo from The New York Post. Be sure to check out Borbay’s painting and entertaining recap of the day on his site. The video at the top of the post was created by Borbay and Greg McMahon. Several of the shots below are courtesy of Greg McMahon, a professional camera man and all around great guy who documented the day.
Feeling out the canvas and throwing in some magenta and yellow to keep things loose.
Action shot by Greg McMahon, here come the leaves and a more sky. The sky that day was incredibly blue unil a massive sewage fire broke out on Hudson River near the upper 60′s. Gotta love New York, feel the burn… in your eyes and your chest. This didn’t deter people from having a great day in the park. Check out how dark it got in the video.
Another shot by McMahon just as the sky begins to meet the landscape. Notice the one building in the composition. You can get the feeling of being inside an apartment while capturing the open feeling of Sheep Meadow. The city is full of cellular dwellings stacked high into the sky.
Check out the ambiance in the park as I sweat it out in the sun. Painting ain’t easy folks.
Putting a brush mark down in the landscape is just as important as leaving part of the canvas untouched as the painting develops.
In the zone.
Clarifying.
Distilling.
Here come the details.
And once again the finished painting.
Below is Borbay’s painting. See if you can spot George Steinbrenner or Charlie Rangel.
A portrait of the artist and his work by Greg McMahon.
All in all it was another great day painting in the park. Special thanks to Borbay, Greg McMahon, Lil Lau, the regulars, and all of the great people we met.
SUPERNATURAL EVENT: PAINTING RISES FROM THE GRAVE ON MAY 22, 2010
NEW YORK, NY–Many listless art critics have glibly declared: “painting is dead.” Another offered $10,000 for proof of expiration. On Saturday, May 22, 2010, BORBAY, Jeremy Penn and Ari Lankin offer evidence to the contrary. Opening for one-night-only in TriBeCa, Painting Resurrected will exhume eighteen contrasting paintings, supernaturally confirming – the demise of painting has been greatly exaggerated. Myths will be shattered, precedents will be set and cocktails will be served.
Find out more on the official event site, and RSVP on Facebook.
Location: 393 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10013 | TriBeCa
Date: Opening Gala: Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM; Private Viewings by Appointment: Sunday May 23rd, 2010 – Tuesday May 25th, 2010
Admittance: Open to the public
About Jeremy Penn
Jeremy Penn was born in 1979 in New York and studied Fine Art at both the University of Maryland and Pratt Institute. Penn’s paintings are best known for using color to elicit an emotional response. His works have been exhibited internationally and have gained acclaim from curators at museums such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In 2009, Penn was honored as the “Featured Artist” for New York’s first Freedom Week. In 2010, Penn’s art was awarded both ASFD’s Pinnacle Award and the ADEX Gold Medal. His works have been prized by notable collectors, including the Crown Prince of Dubai. Energized by the caprices of popular culture, Penn’s recent work explores the evolution of celebrity.
About Ari Lankin
Ari Lankin was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1980. He received his BFA in Painting and Economics from Brandies University. Although a wide traveler and avid road tripper, it is Manhattan that has been his home and inspiration as an artist, fueling his investigative and intuitive approach to painting. His concerns with systems, dreams, chaos and order, realities, and relational flow can be read in his work. The flux of these influences affords multiple interpretations, and allow for both moments of recognition and uncertainty. Ultimately he is concerned with risk taking, wisdom, process and chance rather than emulating a preconceived final image.
About BORBAY
Voted Time Out New York’s Most Creative New Yorker in 2009, Upper East Side artist BORBAY has painted famed landmarks around the world. On display will be BORBAY’s collage paintings, comprised of New York Post headlines and layer upon layer of acrylic paint. Driven to capture the actuality of society, this series visually displays the paradox of love, lust, murder, sex, sports, betrayal, triumph, religion, rape and politics in one place… concepts any person reading a daily newspaper will see juxtaposed without a second thought. His works have been acquired for private and corporate collections around the world.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Contact: Jason Borbay | info@paintingsresurrected.com | Phone Number Provided Via Email
ENIGMATICA from Kit Webster on Vimeo.
I just saw Kit Webster’s work online (thanks to Adrienne Adar) and felt it was worthy of a post. He is a self-described “new media installation and composer,” from Melbourne. His work harmoniously utilizes space, light, and sound. It’s a liquid, spatial, psychedelic soup held together with a geometric backbone. Can’t wait to experience it in person. Tickles the brain via the eye. A wonderful exploration of synesthesia and new media. The Bauhaus is smiling and so am I.
Morphology – (an earlier work)
MORPHOLOGY from Kit Webster on Vimeo.
Draws His Face Around NYC 4-2-2010, New York – When I take a walk in the city I see a lot of faces. Hardly ever am I encountered with thousands of drawn faces by an artist. Today I found myself stepping over a new face every foot of my walk on Park Avenue in the low 20′s drawn by artist Felix Morelo.
I entered the path of faces at about number 1,860. I knew this because Felix Morelo was kind enough to write the number and his name every 10 faces. Every once in a while he circled an area and designated it a “good luck spot.” Check out the pictures for the good luck spot after face 1,205 and other numerical milestones. Come to think of it I even saw them somewhere else earlier in the day, but was in too much of a hurry filming with Seamus Brown to stop and photograph them.
After the film shoot I hurried over to Cheim and Read for a glorious viewing of Donald Baechler’s most recent work. The work was sexy, refreshing, and bold. Huge layered/collaged paintings and epic bronze metal sculptures. I should probably write another blog post just on that show. Go check it out!
Thanks Felix.
It’s great when you hear about an artist, look them up, and then are totally into the work. I just formally met the late (1930-1999) Lee Lozano via the world wide web. I was particularly interested with this image. I want to thank a kind curator for suggesting I take a look after I showed her some of my recent plug paintings.
Lee Lozano
Untitled
1963
Picture courtesy of artnet.com
