Art & Inspiration Blog

The traffic and sales at the two major art shows in New York City in 2010 reflected the slow but steady recovery of the art world. According to a report in the Art Newspaper, the sales at the Armory show were up 40% over the prior year.

Also as reported by the economic press, investors are cautious. This conservatism is also found in the art world. The majority of the works that were sold were by blue chip artists, such as the wall of Louise Bourgeois paintings featured at Cheim and Read is reported to have almost entirely sold out. That work is shown in the final image below.

This conservative trend was reflected in the works shown by the galleries, which tended to be smaller and featured better known if not blue chip artists. There is probably wisdom in this choice as it is well known that artworks that can be easily carried tend to gain and hold more value over time than those that cannot, given an equality of artistic merit and recognition.

I toured the shows with my assistant and son, David Wasserman Robles who took photos and helped find interesting works. David has a strong art heritage as his paternal grandmother is the late Esther Robles, the first woman gallerist of the famed La Cienega of Los Angeles. David was raised with art and has a keen eye.

There were many works and artists that I would have loved to share here, but, unfortunately the intricacies of the work or lighting conditions made tweeting a photo taken with David’s iPhone would be a disservice to the piece, the artist and gallery.

As we tour below you’ll notice that I become tired as we only stopped and sat just before we left the Armory show.

Will Ryman statue with Judy Rey Wasserman at 2010, Marlborough Gallery’s booth at Armory Show 2010. I am not touching the art– it is an optical illusion I played with the camera set up!

At Harris Lieberman’s booth this untitled work by Bernd Ribbeck, 2009

At Gary Snyder Project Space a Sven Lukin, untitled, 1965. Even though I am 5′9″ tall, this work towers over me!

At Galerie Hussenot – Mounir Fatmi’s Mort ou Vif , 2009 at the Armory Show 2010

Armond Bartos fine art- gallery’s booth at the Armory Show 2010 featured this painting by Larry Rivers, Bar Mitzvah Photograph Painting. Rivers also lived and worked in Southampton, NY.

David captioned this Tweet himself, “A very graven image but cool, at Friedrich Petzel Gallery – Sean Landers – the Idiot 2003″

A Kara Walker work at Sikkema Jenkin’s booth at the 2010 Armory Show.

Kara Walker is a favorite contemporary artist, so the look on my face indicates only my aching feet and and need for some water to drink.

The ADAA Art show primarily featured blue chip artists, but this year there were very few larger works for sale.

James Cohan Gallery had a beautiful display featuring works by Roxy Paine, most seemed to be mock ups or small versions of her huge trees.

From our experience with the image above of Sean Lander’s black sculpture it was obvious that we could not due justice to Fred Wilson’s stunning and all black mirrors featured at Pace Wildenstein — but these provocative works are well worth seeing in person.

Julie Hefferman’s Self as Buildboy 2010, along with the lovely Eden Pilkington at P.P.O.W.’s booth.

A section of a wall of small works by Louise Bourgeois at Cheim and Read.

The continuing upswing for the art market is good news for dealers and hopeful news for artists. Savvy collectors are using this opportunity to discover emerging artists or under-priced works by mid-career artists. The public benefited as the dealers brought our more blue chip work that otherwise might only be seen in special shows or museums. Whatever, these shows attest that whatever the conditions of the world, we artists will continue to make art and people will continue to seek to experience it. It is just what we do.

Thanks to David Wasserman Robles for taking that uploading these iPhone photos and the galleries who were courteous and let us take them, Tweet them and share them.

The basic theology that Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art theory is founded upon is absolutely held by all branches and denominations of Christians and Jews. Since Christianity is born from Judaism and Jesus and all of his disciples were Jewish, the two religions agree and share certain core theology.

Recently I was asked on Twitter by a Catholic friend, Christine Ryan, if I had any Christian art. My reply was that all of my UnGraven Image Art is Christian since it is based on Christian theology!

My art may also be classified as Jewish as it is also based on Jewish theology.

That theology is that the Creator speaks the physical universe into existence, beginning in Genesis 1:7 with, “Let there be light.”

The theology also holds that the letters of the words spoken by the Creator are the essences, the very basic stuff of the physical universe. Thus, theologically the letters of those words can be understood as the smallest waves and pre-particles of science.

I use biblical letters as strokes to symbolically represent the basic essences that elementary physics calls “strings” makes my work both religious and scientific, or secular art.

The amazing discovery about the special font, known as torah font, the Bible’s original font and the one that Jesus and his disciples were familiar with, is actually the only font in the world that is alpha-numeric, phonic and binary came later. These qualities not only add to the perfect seeming symbolism and fit between what science tells us of the strings and theologians know about the letters. When one studies both, it seems as if the two groups are simply using different terminology to describe similar phenomena.

Plus, Torah font has twenty-two basic letters and thus also incredibly references the eleven strings in our universe while the opposites exist in alternate universe(s).

Applying my artistic understanding and the correlations between the strings and contemporary science gives new meaning to teachings in both the Hebrew and Christian testaments.

For instance when Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is at hand”, it can be considered that He quite literally meant what He said. The Kingdom of God —the Words of the Lord – are actually right at hand in the here and now, wherever we each are at any moment. As the essentially essences – the building blocks of our physical universe—they must be for matter and energy to exist!

Dock Less Traveled

Until Post Conceptual Art theory, all of art was classified based upon its narrative, which means imagery. For instance a painting of the Last Supper is considered Christian while a painting of a Passover Seder is considered Jewish. Works of art that depict the people, places or things held sacred to a religion are considered religious, especially if it seems that was the artist’s intent, while works that do not are considered secular. For example a portrait of a mother and child is secular but one of Mary and the infant Jesus is religious or Miriam on the infant Moses is religious.

The Manifesto of Post Conceptual Art [Click HERE for free download of it] is the first art theory to focus on the stroke, which is the one element that must exist in any work of art in any discipline. In Post Conceptual Art the stroke is a symbol. In the branch known as UnGraven Image art the symbol is a Torah font letter from original Bible texts.

My friend tweeted asking if I would paint a crucifixion with the words of the Pentateuch as strokes? I responded that there really is a prohibition in the Ten Commandants against painting an image of God, which was adhered to in the Early Church. Historically that was changed by a pope in order to help teach the Christian stories to a very illiterate populace in the Middle Ages.

My job as an artist is not to paint the past but the present, the now with The Divine at hand. Christians understand this as the risen and living “Word”. Jews refer to this as HaShem, the “Name”. Notice how close in meaning the nouns the Word and the Name are? A name is a word and a word is a name for someone or something. Notice also how both refer to a combination of letters that are capable of being spoken or written?

My art can be classified as secular It can be classified as science-based. It can be classified as religious and understood to convey important concepts of duality shared by most of the world’s religions, including Christianity and Judaism, due to the binary symbol strokes. And my art can be classified as being also and always fully Jewish or fully Christian due to the symbol strokes that are the letters of Bible texts that depict the basic theology that begins with, “Let there be light.”

Thanks to Christine Ryan for asking the question that inspired this blog! You can follow her on Twitter at @DuffyLifeCoach.

This is my first Essence Portrait of myself.

This self portrait was created as I needed it for a video on the Essence Portrait series. As I worked on the upcoming video slides and script it became apparent that a portrait of me was glaringly missing and that just using my photo or film of myself was weird within the context of the presentation.

Yet what finally motivated me to concentrate on myself, when my natural gaze is outward, way from myself, was the accidental fall I experienced a few weeks ago, which resulted in stitches on my forehead, a large bandage wrapping my head and now a scar. My face with black and blue eyes, puffy, and bandaged intrigued me as a painter. I lack vanity being a natural born clown,  so I found the look most interesting and inspirational to paint. The bandage reminded me of van Gogh’s self portrait after he lost part of his ear, only his bandage was vertical and mine horizontal.

However it seemed bizarre that my first self portrait would be of myself as the walking wounded.

The strokes are all from the words of Psalm 19, my favorite. The initial Essence Portrait was of Andy Warhol and that one is also created using Psalm 19 for the strokes. It seems appropriate for Warhol also. To date these are the only two of my Essence Portraits that use this psalm.

This is actually a double self portrait as like my other works I signed it with my self portrait signature logo. The video about my signature logo portrait is embedded below this new basic Essence Portrait below.

Psalm 19 (Judy Rey Wasserman) Essence Portrait

Creating the new Post Conceptual Art Essence Portrait of Abraham Lincoln was an exceptional experience. The humanity and goodness of the man seemed to permeate the images I used for reference as well as my own. Like when a reading  good book, I lingered at the end, almost unwilling to end the “encounter”.

As a part of the Essence Portrait series I am creating portraits of selected American presidents and heroes. I use the Ten Commandments, the original letters of the words of Exodus 20 for each and every stroke. This honors the office of the president, as the chief executive administers the federal laws. The Ten Commandments are widely acknowledged as being the basis for the laws of the USA and also of most of the free word.

There is nothing that I can write in this blog that is wiser or more revealing about Abraham Lincoln than his own words that live on.

Some of his quotes below will surprise you. They are familiar, but you may not recognize that they originated with Lincoln.  Some of the quotes reveal his sense of humor and wit.  Most are wise and wonderful.

Abraham Lincoln- Ten Commandments

By Judy Rey Wasserman

Strokes: Exodus 20

Abraham Lincoln Quotes:

• If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?
• Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.
• The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a devout person.
• A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.
• If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.
• A house divided against itself cannot stand.
• Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.
• The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.
• No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.
• All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.
• It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.
• Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
• Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
• My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.
• Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
• As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
• Y ou can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
• America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
• Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
• Public opinion in this country is everything.
• Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.
• Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty , and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
• Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.
• How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.
• I care not much for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.
• I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
• The ballot is stronger than the bullet.
• I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.
• To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
• The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.
• T hings may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
• Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
• That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.
• I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.
• I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
• I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.
• I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.
• I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.
• I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
• I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country’s cause.
• I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.
• I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.
• I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.
• To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men.
• I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.

The first Essence Portrait of George Washington, is created using strokes that are the original letters of the Bible’s Exodus chapter 20, better known as the Ten Commandments.

So while it appears to be a portrait of Washington this image is simultaneously a text.

“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible. ”– George Washington

Following the tenets of the theory of Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art theory the letters are used as traditional artists’ strokes, so the overlap, interweave and are not necessarily presented in any order, this the meaning is intrinsic but impossible to read. [Further information on Judy Rey Wasserman's new art theory is found in the free PDF download of the Manifesto of Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art theory, Click: “A Painting's Meaning is Inherent in its Strokes” and at http://ungravenimage.com ]

Creating a portrait of George Washington with a radical new art theory, perhaps the most radical ever, seems especially fitting as he was one of the most radical and revolutionary people who ever lived. He changed the world despite the indisputable fact that the odds were against him as he stood up to the then greatest most powerful country in the world: England.

“The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.” — George Washington

The Ten Commandments serves as the basis for most of the law of the governments of the world and certainly that of the United States of America . As such, it is fitting for the strokes of an Essence Portrait of any of the presidents of the USA. As chief executive the president administers the laws.

“Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.” — George Washington

I am a great fan of George Washington and find him inspirational. If you follow me on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/judyrey ) you will see that most mornings my first greeting contains a sort weather report, such as, “Sun & warm here”. The idea for that actually derives from Washington ’s own diaries, where the one update he was sure to log was the daily weather. Beginning with that grounding reference makes sense to me, too.

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. ”– George Washington

Of course as an artist I greatly revere Washington and the founding fathers as the United States o America is the first country that offered full freedom of expression, commonly known as freedom of speech, to all artists.

“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.” – George Washington

Washington ’s image on the one dollar bill makes him the USA ’s most recognized president. Like the etched lines of the engraver’s marks, my strokes of alpha-numeric Torah font symbols appear in lines to convey features of Washington ’s face, mapping him with the text.

“I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent. ”

Without Washington’s contributions as a general and then as the man who refused to be crowned as king, the USA and the world would probably not enjoy the freedom we have.

“Happy, thrice happy shall they be pronounced hereafter, who have contributed any thing, who have performed the meanest office in erecting this stupendous fabrick of Freedom and Empire on the broad basis of Independency; who have assisted in protecting the rights of humane nature and establishing an Asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions.”

George Washington’s Ten Commandments Essence Portrait

by Judy Rey Wasserman

For related articles see:

Celebrating the Anniversary of Washington’s First Thanksgiving decree http://ungravenimage.com/blog/2009/11/celebrating-the-anniversary-of-washingtons-first-thanksgiving-decree/

Barack Obama Ten Commandments Essence Portrait http://ungravenimage.com/blog/2009/11/barack-obama-10-commandements-essence-portrait/

I am withdrawing my self as @judyrey for the nomination for the Shorty Award for art in 2010.

After a week of consideration and prayer it is too doubtful that given my current PC problems that I will be able to pull of the publicity stunt I intend to do if and when I win the awards. This stunt will promote Twitter’s art community, Twitter and the Shorty Awards. Pulling off this stunt means more to me than actually winning the award.

This blog and announcement was written because today is Follow Friday on Twitter. In the previous blog I announced that i would give Follow Friday mentions to everyone who had nominated me. Last week, I obnly gave a few as I was realizing that I maight need to withdraw. This week before I hold up my end with Follow Friday mentions for the remaining Twitter members who nominated me, I needed to announce my withdrawal to discourage futher nominations due to my Tweets.

What was to be this post was almost entirely written and I was planning to post it within a few days of the last one. I was all set to run and promote myself. Then the hardware problems began. [Note to self: upgrading can be a painful experience!]

Last year when I actively for a Shorty Award my goal was to make #art a recognized and featured category. There were categories for music and design but no art.

I achieved that goal gaining enough nominations for myself and others (I gave a full e book of the Art of Seeing The Divine, What Do You See? to any Twitter member who nominated anyone for #art). This year #art is a full fledged Shorty Award category.

One of my goals is to make fine art as relevant as music is for many more people. Social Media, especially Twitter can provide a way for artists and the people who support fine art to reach people that are not reached by the traditional media that covers art.

For me, a big part of wanting to win the nomination and the award is based on a very legal and fun stunt that I want to pull off if and when I win that award to celebrate and promote the community of artists, art museums, art writers, bloggers and critics, curators, educator, galleries and art media on Twitter. My innocent stunt is geared to gain ongoing publicity for Twitter’s art community members individually, plus Twitter and the Shorty Awards.

There are compelling reasons that have me nominated for the Shorty Awards, even beyond having promoted #art so that it is now a category. As an artist I staged the first ever Performance Art event on Twitter, plus have created and encouraged the community in others. I have and continue too update one of the most complete art lists as a service to the Twitter community http://twitter.com/judyrey/art Finally, according to wefollow.com plus what I can find, artist (my Art of Seeing the Divine books are based on the effects my art has on our brains and emotional well being).on Twitter who is not recognized for other careers, such as music. But the most compelling reason to nominate me for anything regarding art is that I am the only artist on Twitter (plus most anywhere else) who is actually founding a new theory of art (free download of “The Manifesto of Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art theory—a Painting’s Meaning is Inherent in its Strokes: http://ungravenimage.com/images/ManifestoofPosConceptualUnGravenImageArt.pdf .

Yet, during the past weeks as it became obvious that this year there could be a glitch in pulling off my publicity stunt to celebrate Twitter’s art community within the time constraints between winning the nomination, then the award and the Shorty Award ceremony. Winning in 2010 became less attractive. For me the Shorty Awards offer an opportunity to help promote art – not just my art.

If you are on Twitter and follow me you may have noticed that I have not been tweeting as much recently. Wednesday of this week, I only Tweeted once —a first for me in the year and a quarter that I have been active on Twitter! I managed to get online via a laptop I only use to write and tweeted that I was experiencing PC problems and would be back soon.

Generally I tweet from a computer in my studio that I use for graphic and videos also. It is near my easel so when I am painting, taking a break, stepping back to look at my visual work and tweeting is a activity that occurs many times each day.

As I write this it is not clear what all of the course of action to fix and further upgrade parts of this studio computer will be over the next couple of weeks. What is apparent is that a chunk of my time will be spent dealing with the problem and that there will be times the PC will be “down”. This will seriously impact my ability to achieve the publicity stunt I have planned for the Shorty Awards based on time. Plus, I need more computer power than I have with my laptop to pull of what I need for my stunt. Even a magic wand with unlimited cash to hire the best people and buy whatever would not convince me that I have the time to pull this all off in 2010, along with my commitments.

Shortly after posting Part 1 on the Shorty Awards [See: http://ungravenimage.com/blog/2010/01/2010-shorty-award-adds-art-category/] I almost completely quit personally campaigning when I began to experience problems. This was due to the computer problems that I was and am fixing. I will keep my pledge from the previous post to re-tweet and give Follow Friday mentions to all the people who nominated me before this post and after that one.

I want to thank everyone who nominated me this year. I really appreciate it.

Will I throw my hat in the ring for the Shorty Awards in 2012 or for other social media awards involving art? Most likely, as I continue to support art on social media and look forward to pulling off my stunt. I intend to be in a far better position to pull off my stunt and gain publicity for us by next year.

Due to my doubts re the equipment and the time and effort to upgrade I also had not contacted my Facebook group, fans, personal mailing lists or campaigned the way I planned  until recently. It usually works out in my life that when one door closes a double door opens somewhere. I suspect next year, 2011 I will probably be able to do a much better job for the art community , Twitter, the Shorty Awards and myself than I initially imagined this year. Ironically I can already see how one of the upgrades in the works will allow for that.

Last year via Twitter I, @judyrey, ran a campaign on the Shorty Award to make #art a main category.

According to the Shorty Award rules,  we can create categories and if any new one becomes popular it will be accepted as a basic category.

There were 24 major award categories, which include music, entertainment, finance, sports, tech, travel, social media, photography and design (which includes, graphics, web design, fashion and crafts) —but no art. No art?!

According to the Shorty Award rules anyone an be nominated for any category, even ones that are not “official” so I began a campaign to get appropriate Twitter members, myself included, nominated for #art.

First, I tweeting my discomfort that music had a category but art did not. After giving it a few days, watching nominations stream by I blogged: http://ungravenimage.com/blog/2008/12/vote-for-art-twitters-shorty-awards/

Aside from blogging and Tweeting, I also promised and gave out free e books about how Post Conceptual UnGraven Image art actually changes how we see, which in turn creates fewer unwanted, negative memories and emotions throughout the day. The ebooks are sold via the Art of Seeing The Divine (www.artofseeingthedivine.com ) web site. I gave e books away to any Twitter member who nominated anyone for #art. Anyone, not just me.

Last year, when I ran that campaign, I had just made it over the Twitter hump and had over 2,000 followers. Although I had joined Twitter in the spring of ‘08 based on a link I received, I only began to Tweet at the end of October ‘08. So, when I decided to launch my campaign, I was a David of #art facing a Goliath of social media mavens.

There were enough nominations to make it a category this year #art is now a major category.

I received the most nominations in the #art category, but the awards only honored the people who received the most votes period, but the comics, newscasters, celebrities and social media gurus won.

This year I am proud to say I am being nominated in the category of #art. I think you should nominate and vote for me to win a Shorty Award for #art, simply because I campaigned hard last year (much harder than this year for myself!) to get #art as a category. And won!

You can see #art listed as a category at the Shorty Awards site:

http://bit.ly/ shorty

Unfortunately, this year, since writers, dancers, actors, cartoonists do not have categories they have moved into #art. Personally, I wish they would take the initiative to create categories that really represents them specifically. They deserve their own categories for their special talents..

However, there are even more compelling reasons to vote nominate & vote for me, which will be in Part 2 of this blog!

Everyone who was a Twitter member before this year’s Shorty Awards began can nominate up to five people in every category! It is easy to do.

Simply Tweet something like, “I nominate @judyrey for a ShortyAward in #art because she’s starting a new art theory”. The Tweet needs to mention the member name (@judyrey) the category (#art), ShortyAward (so they see it!) and give a reason as to why you are making the nomination. You can also RT someone making a nomination and that counts.

Everyone who nominates me will get a Follow Friday mention from me over the next several weeks. I have also been tweeting my thanks and/or ReTweeting the nominations from those who have nominated me so far.

Why do I win a Shorty for art?

One of my goals as the founder of a new, real art theory that is Post Conceptual Art is to help make Contemporary Art more popular, the way that music is.  Although the Shorty Award acceptance speach only allows each winner 140 characters, I have an idea, even scheme of how to bring attention to the International Art community on Twitter while saying less than that. Plus, it will be a Photo Op that hopefully will b a good PR moment for Twitter and the Shorty Awards also.

Part 2 of this blog will include my plans if I earn the nomination as one of the top five for #art, including how I plan to honor and get publicity for all of the fine artists, art museums, galleries, art media, curators and writers if I win! Plus, I am planning on doing something else for those who vote for me if I win the nomination and then the award!

Please Tweet to nominate me for a Shorty Award in #art because…{give a reason] now!

This year, four days ago as I write this, a snowstorm finally ended that has broken all the records for my area since they began keeping them in the 1600’s. If snow was gold we’d be able to lift the whole country out of recession and pay the national debt we’ve got so much of the stuff.But snow is not gold. It is frozen water. Schedules and plans were seriously impacted as many of us were busy tunneling out of our snowbound homes and into equally snowbound businesses, once they were reachable via the roads. People in Denver, The Dakotas, Maine and other far more snowy places take this kind of snowfall in stride but here in Southampton we are not prepared for such a record breaker.

For larger image click: Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal) Print

Our winter holidays celebrate light and inspiration, which is always a new beginning or birth

Usually it is a delight to tour our streets as shops and homes decorate with lights for the holidays. Now, with ice on the road there are little traffic and due to the snow many of my neighbors

are not displaying the lights they had up late last week.

While we usually think of light coming from the sun, moon and stars, snow can easily be viewed as a weather form of light. It is not only white– it reflects light to the extent that people who are out in the snow on sunny days are urges to wear sunglasses to prevent eye damage.

For larger image click: Psalm 23 (Female Cardinal) Print Collect this print

Biblically, water symbolizes the word of the Lord– inspiration– especially in the first five books of the Bible. I am not saying that the water mentioned in the Bible is not real water, but that it also represents the word of the Lord.In the time of Noah when people perish in the flood but Noah and his family safely float in the ark, when the infant Moses is floating in the basket in the bulrushes, when the red sea parts, and when Jesus turns water into wine and then walks on the sea, the waters mentioned can all be understood to also be the word of the Lord. Clearly some people benefit and are able to transform their circumstances while others who are seeking their own egotistical ways flounder or perish is suggested by the metaphors. Again, snow is frozen water. The snow fell here equally on all, without respect to age, race, religion or wealth. It was an equal opportunity snow. While that last quip is a kind of a joke it is also true because the opportunity to benefit from the snow was equally there for each person. Some people were inspired with ways to benefit and make the record breaking snowfall with the delays, changes in plans and two snow bound days fulfilling. Others failed to be inspired or discover benefits for themselves. Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal) was the initial painting of the Written on the Wind series. It was inspired by the tsunami, which was followed by a blizzard and massive snowfall where I live and have my studio. Each is created using the strokes of Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd…”) for each and every stroke. As the reports of the animals who survived, including those from a game preserve where there were many human deaths came in, I painted and watched from my window as a pair of cardinals flitted in the deep snow finding berries and forage somehow despite the heavy blanket of snow that seemed to cover everything.

We were housebound during and for a day after the snow, while the news on radio and TV was filled with stories of the tsunami. One story was about the wild animals, most of whom survived as the somehow knew to head inland for higher ground. The animals managed to know something that so many human beings who were busy enjoying the beaches and the sea failed to see or hear.

The animals were in tune with their environment, including the water, naturally seeing or hearing the inspiration they needed to stay safe.

Wishing you and your loved ones a Blessed and Inspired Holiday Season and New Year.

Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal) Large Tote ForestGreen & Natural

Cardinals Mug- opposite side has Psalm 23

Winter Beauty Girl’s Sweatshirt

Mens Tie – Double image of Psalm 23 (Cardinal) srepeated

The question is being played out in the media and soon in court in a new form, “What is an authentic Andy Warhol work?”

According to Arthur Danto, Andy Warhol’s work questioned what is art: “What is the difference between two things, exactly alike, one of which is art and one of which is not?”

While one of Warhol’s Brillo Boxes is worth a fortune, a similar regular box that contains Brillo shipped to stores becomes trash that is hopefully recycled.

But now the question has moved one step further to include Warhol’s own work, often produced under his direction by others in his Factory. What makes an authentic Warhol different from one he merely consented to issue? More importantly, is there really a difference?

Warhol would have loved the controversy, since he said, “Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.” The dispute is getting a lot of inches!

Tate Modern’s Nicholas Serota, wealthy art dealer Anthony d’Offay, Sussex businessman and underwater explorer David Mearns, and American film producer Joe Simon have all had their works of the Andy Warhol portrait denied by the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, Inc, a part of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, headed up by Joel Wachs.

Although at present magazine publisher Richard Ekstract is not reported as a part of the class action lawsuit headed up by Joe Simon against the authentication board, his red self portrait of Warhol is also denied.

No one disputes that Andy Warhol himself had the photo taken in an inexpensive photo booth, and then turned into an acetate transparency for silk-screening. The controversy swirls around the use of the acetate to create the second group of red portraits.

It seems that Andy Warhol had an associate bring the acetate to an outside firm which ran the red portraits. It is said that he later approved them, but apparently the authentication board lacks the solid proof it wants for that, although there is fairly solid proof as Warhol personally signed one copy to his longtime business partner, the Zurich-based art dealer Bruno Bischofberger (“To Bruno B Andy Warhol 1969″).

Andy Warhol also signed a copy of Rainer Crone’s 1970 catalogue raisonné of Warhol’s work. Warhol worked on this catalogue with Crone, plus an image of Bischofberger’s signed portrait appears both on the cover and inside of it.

As an artist, who like Warhol is the founder of a new art theory (Post Conceptual Art- using symbols for strokes, plus the branch called UnGraven Image), this conflict has major implications and lessons that I and all artists today need to learn.

To begin with, we need to carefully keep provenance and catalog our own works, or oversee this. While printing plates can be destroyed, digital images are fairly easy to reproduce and artists like myself who create original digital prints need to be especially careful to keep records.

Prominent artists need to set up the foundations and boards that will handle their works with checks and balances, to prevent abuses by those who hold power. There is a lot of money and art world power. Money and power can sorely tempt mere non-artist mortals who have not learned that standing in front of a canvas is standing in front of a canvas, whether in a mansion or a converted garage – what matters is light, heat or air-conditioning.

Collectors, museums and dealers have the right to question authorities. While an artwork that is the undisputed and well known work of an artist is the safest investment, does the opinion of one expert or body of experts really make a work worth more less when equally educated authorities hold a different opinion?

For a presentation video that is almost completed I created Double Un – Denied Andy Warhol digitally using the basic portrait in much the same way Andy Warhol used his acetates. It is a playful homage to Andy Warhol who is one of the artists whose work has directly inspired my work and Post Conceptual Art theory. [See: Andy Warhol is a Grandfather to Post Conceptual Art] This artwork will be available soon as an original digital print/painting (I will be painting on each one also) through a dealers soon.

Double Un – Denied Andy Warhol by Judy Rey Wasserman

If we ask the question, “What American artist and founder of a revolutionary art theory created an authentic red portrait of Andy Warhol?” Currently, the only correct answer to that question would be Judy Rey Wasserman, according to the actions of the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, Inc.Although it is possibly 15 minutes of fame I could happily bask in, there’s deeply something amiss in the answer not also including Andy Warhol, his name first , especially since my work is an homage to his.

So, another question to ask is. “When does an art authority cease to be recognized and taken seriously by collectors, museums, and dealers – who really decides?” If an authority claimed my work is fake, but I, as the artist claimed it as my work, which would be true?

The answer seems obvious. Let me toss in Marcel Duchamp’s 1917 work Fountain. Was Duchamp present when his Fountain was created? Yet, we attribute it to him
When collectors, museums and dealers accept Fountain as a great work of art, why would they give weight to the denied claim of the authentication board? At least museum curators and dealers should be able to distinguish whether the emperor is wearing any clothes, whatever he claims.
The reports, including an excellent one by Richard Dorment in the New York Review of Books , are saying that stamping a work “Denied” basically renders it unsaleable in our art market. As an artist, I personally feel this relates to Warhol’s groundbreaking work painting dollar bills and questioning value and the link between art and money. It is a question that I intended to also pursue with my own work – but with new slants.

I never anticipate the current brouhaha over Andy Warhol’s own work, which clearly by several accounts he at least appropriated as his own. But, since my art, and the theory I am founding owes so much to his work, and although I am still emerging, I have a responsibility based on what I am doing and the recognition that historically must follow. So I am about to take another revolutionary stand.

Humor me for a moment as I deeply need to thank the Warhol Foundation itself for its wonderful philanthropic work, including for the grants and help it continues to offer to artists and not for profit groups, art writers and, frankly the world because art can change lives. In no way would I take a stand other than for the Warhol Foundation itself, which basically I support.

Yet the questions exist that need to be addressed in relation to these Warhol portraits and art works in general.

Who decides if something is a work of great art?

This question is at the heart of the issue as the red portraits will be considered great art if they are by Andy Warhol and , well, perhaps not really art if they are not.

An expert is only an expert if people agree on his/her expertise and adhering to the expert’s opinions. It is not only the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board that is deciding that the red Warhol portraits are not actual Warhols – it is also anyone, including art collectors, advisers, curators, museums, and dealers who accept and act upon their decision.

What if collectors, dealers, museums, curators ignore the stamps of denied and findings of the board? Or any art expert? Who really decides if the Emperor is wearing any clothes for you?

Is there a fall domino effect that will befall other art professionals who accept the strange possibility that the authentication board is correct and that a self portrait that was signed by an artist and sent to a close friend, then included in a catalogue raisonné that was approved and also signed by the artist is not actually to be considered the work of the artist?

Is discrediting a work of art accomplished simply by stamping “denied” on the verso? Why does this have to be?

To mitigate, even turn the tables on the dreaded and seemingly powerful “Denied” stamp, I am “stamping” the word: DENIED on the back of ever single authentic red Andy Warhol stand alone portrait I create and sign. This includes the Double Un – Denied Andy Warhol along with a small edition of Holiday cards I am privately sending.

Although I am a Post Conceptual artist, I see the lettered stamp on the verso as a kind of Word Art that somehow adds conceptually to the image and work on the front side.

My current stamp is handmade from Styrofoam, which can be cut and pushed out , sort of like a piece of lino, only the Styrofoam is far more fragile making rigid lines and perfection impossible. The fragility of the Styrofoam refers to the fragility of truth and artist’s connection to a work, both physically as it passes to a collector and now Warhol’s connection to his red portraits.

Denied Stamp by Judy Rey Wasserman with artist’ signature, initials and dated

On November 11, 2009 in a secod kind of article dubbed ‘What Is an Andy Warhol?’: An Exchange in the New York Review of Books In an answer to Joel Wachs ‘s comments in letters to the Editor Richard Dorment answers Joel Wachs’ comments in the Letters to the Editor concerning the original article linked above. Richard Dorment writes,” Readers should not be fooled by Mr. Wachs’s bluster. His complaints are a diversionary tactic intended to shift attention away from the sublime idiocy of his board’s closing sentence in its letter: “It is the opinion of the authentication board that said work is NOT the work of Andy Warhol, but that said work was signed, dedicated, and dated by him.”

Not the work of Andy Warhol but signed, dedicated and dated by him?

What would Marcel Marcel Duchamp say?

UPDATE: Wednesday, January 5, 2010– This blog article and @judyrey are honored with 15 MINUTES OF FAME via @WarholWednesday on Twitter. For the next week this article is linked and featured on @WarholWednesday’s Twitter Profile page and messages Tweeted about this award!

Your name, in Hebrew, is hidden in my paintings.  Really. Everyone’s is!

Not only that, but the name of the Creator, referred to as Ha Shem (The Name) by observant orthodox Jews, is actually physically present, but hidden in everyone’s Hebrew name.

To begin with , everyone has a biblical style name in Hebrew, whether it is known to them or not. This includes everyone who is not Jewish. It does not matter what language their name(s) derive from, there is either a Hebrew version or the name transliterates into Hebrew.

For instance, imagine winning a wonderful prize so that an article is written about you in The Jerusalem Post , they will either translate or transliterate your name into Hebrew. Biblically people are referred to as son of (ben), daughter of (bat). In synagogue one is called to the Torah and gives their Hebrew name. Thus the most famous Jew had the name of Yeshua (Joshua) ben (son of) Mara (Mary) v(and)Yosef (Joseph).

Carnival Sunset Genesis Sunset-Sunrise series

The concept of one’s name harkening back to the very names of our parents brings new meaning to the commandment of honoring one’s father and mother.

Names are important and have significance in the Bible, beginning with the Creator’s naming of Adam, whose name means red and refers to the earth (dirt) from which he was formed. There are many biblical references to people who are only known to us by their names and the information as to who begat them and who in turn they begat.

Names reflect one’s relationship with the Lord. Sari and Abram’s names are changed to Sarah and Abraham, denoting their new status. Jacob becomes Israel after wrestling with the angel.

Adam’s first job is to name the animals, because by naming them he forms a relationship with each one. The idea that knowing someone’s name puts us in relationship continues when we meet people today.

“Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him.” — Isaiah 43 7

How can someone be called by Ha Shem’s name? And which name would that be, since the Creator has many?

The most common name in the Bible for HaShem is the Yud-Hay-Vav-Hey, which has been often transliterated as Jehovah.

In Torah font Hebrew all of the letters can be created from a yud (like a comma only in top placement) and a vav (resembles a plain capital “i” with a tiny top to the left, also described as a spear). This makes Hebrew also a binary language of yuds and vavs.

Heys are comprised of two vavs and a yud. In the yud-hey-vav-hey there are two heys. Thus the Great Name is comprised of five vavs and three yuds.

It is easy to dissect any Hebrew name or word into the basic number of vavs and heys necessary to create all the letters. My Hebrew name is Yehudi Rachel, but let’s just focus on my first name, Yehudi, which is spelled, yud-hey-vav-dalet-yud. The letter dalet is composed of two vavs in torah font. Thus my first name equals 5 vavs and three yuds – actually the same number of yuds and vavs in the Great Name. So, like a hidden the Great Name is hidden in my name!

In the example above we only used my first name. However, using my full Hebrew name would have yielded many more yuds and vavs. This is true for anyone’s full name in Hebrew. Thus the basic five vavs and three yuds needed to create the name of Ha Shem are easily found in anyone’s name!

This gives more meaning to the quote from Isaiah as to how we can be called by HaShem’s name! It certainly gives new meaning to the idea of protecting one’s own good name!

Since I paint using the Hebrew Torah font letters (yuds and vavs for every stroke, which combine into letters) from original Hebrew texts, the yuds and vavs necessary for your Hebrew name are in each and evey one of my paintings many times over, even hundreds of times for the larger works. Not only that but the actual letters themselves are in each and every painting to create your full name in Hebrew many times over in most but the postcard size “Shema” paintings, where you will still find more than enough yuds and vavs.

A few years ago there were a series of NewYork Times bestsellers about a finding called The Bible Code . Essentially, names and events in history are reportedly contained in the Hebrew Bible, such as JFK’s assassination. The idea is that the words are hidden in grids that can run left to right, right to left, horizontally or diagonally. In this same way everyone’s name is possibly found in the Hebrew Bible , or more importantly the Torah ( Pentateuch ), which the Book of Life . In the Bible Codes the grids are two dimensional and no letters overlap.

In a similar way, the letters that make up most everyone’s name translated into Hebrew should be able to be found actually touching or overlapping, vertically, horizontally and/or diagonally in any direction since there are many layers of letters in my work, making it really many layers (grids) of letters. The odds are that this happens in all of the larger works, considering the many layers of letters. This is in addition to the fact that the letters of everyone’s name are certainly in the works, plus all the yuds and vavs necessary to create anyone’s unique name.

As the artist, it gives me pause to realize that. This is a new idea for me, one I realized in the past 24 hours. It seems to mean that each painting is both uniquely intimate for individuals and yet universal. Since this is being posted as a blog article, I would be very interested in any feedback, whether from a theological or artistic view.

Thus, your name, in Hebrew, is hidden in my paintings. Really! Everyone’s is.

Not only that, but the name of the Creator, referred to as Ha Shem (The Name) by observant orthodox Jews, is actually physically present, but hidden in everyone’s Hebrew name.