The Art Review: Artwork of J.C. Miller- Haunted Exhibit

As I walked into the Rusteburg gallery, just pass the glass doors, it is precisely at this moment where I pay attention to my own first impression, and note on what grabs my attention, whether its the vibrant colors, a certain form , a line or even framing and matting, or perhaps the way the show was curated, in other words practically swallowing the exhibit in whole and see how it tastes.

I gotta tell you, first thing I noted was the size of the art work, which there is nothing wrong with size but it gave away to the question of the way the art was presented, would it have been better matted or un-matted or if the poster framing used was what shrunk the pieces even more. I think, and this is always argued,even I have been a victim of this over and over again, investing in framing is key, it is a sacrifice, but it is a rewarding sacrifice, it compliments the work and you can always, ask for a higher price if it is for sale, and or , you can always reuse the frames if not sold, or last option you can try to return them for your money back..nothing wrong with that, some stores will honor it. Presentation wise I did think it short ended the whole exhibit.

The art itself was, which is what I should be talking about anyways was a little questionable. I got the idea that scanner was being used as a tool , the same way we use a paint brush or camera, the images seemed simply done, I didn't feel the scanner was use to an advantage. The media, candle labels Catholic Saints,artificial flowers, crumpled paper,fabrics, some Buddhist or India and Greek or Roman ceramics, which all reminded me of dollar store items for some reason..Overall the images seemed dull, I didn't get to much of any strikingly vibrant colors, which I thought a scanner would represent well. The subject matter, the objects use to connect the viewer to your feelings or ideas seemed random and or of popular art culture pushing the work into psychedelic work, disconnecting me as a viewer to the artist, in a sense that the scanner is to much empowered and in control.

I thought about this one all last night, but in my opinion, looking at the art this is what I see if I was to break down the art into "what dominates the art" this is that I would grade it, 60% is the scanner,20% is the objects used, and 20% was creativity. It should be the other way around, the way I see it the whole purpose and beuty of making art is that the artist is in control. When I look at art I like to see that what dominates it is the ideas of the arts and techniques, at that point is not a matter of what media you used or what type of framing you did, you can not help escape that the artist idea and technique was good enough and nothing else mattered, or would of made a difference, hence the price of the artwork.

I would like to say for the artist if this was a test run and its your first time with scanogrophy, great, but I think there is much to be learn.

My opinion is based on my observation as a viewer to your art.