An Emerging Artist in Twenty12

Its over. My solo exhibition, PolyChromatic ,which was on display this past month at the Elmhurst Artists Guild has come to a close.  Some might say this a sad thing. I admit am a bit sad that has had its run. It was an amazing experience. But not to sad. Why? As good fortune would have it the show came down and was relocated to new digs in a great space in downtown Chicago the very next day. Due to a great opportunity provided by Pop-Up  Art Loop, an initiative of the Chicago Loop Alliance, a smaller but still powerful and dramtic version of PolyChromatic will be on display at 29 W Randolph in the loop directly across from the Ford Theater for the next 6 to 8 weeks. Now thats incredible. So if you misssed an opportunity to see it at the EAG and you find yourself in the loop go check it out. I think youll find the experience amazing too! 

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Opening reception recption.Yes .Thats tough to say.  But the word success is not. The opening reception for the PolyChromatic exhibition was this weekend and the reception from the art community was a huge smash. We had a large crowd come out and brave Chicagos winter elements to see this show at the beautiful Elmhurst Artist Guild Gallery and they were not disappointed. Great art, food and conversation were abundant.Works such as the large and bold signature piece PolyChromatic stunned many with its size and its emotional depth while political pieces such as the eerie NWO and Living Dead Girl gave a visual declaration of the state of the world in which we reside. Prolific is a word that could easily describe this body of work. And more important was the fact that this is a show that marks for many the opportunity to see an artist that has continued to challenge himself  beyond a safe comfort zone and is at that stage of a career right before it rockets away to runaway success.Collectors take notice. Yes.. its a bold statement but that seemed to be the conversation bantered around by many upon viewing PolyChromatic. It might be true and it might not. And the only way to judge is to see for yourself. So check it out. I think you'll agree. The  PolyChromatic exhibition will be on display at the Elmhurst Artist Guild Gallery in Elmhurst through February 17th. 

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Happy 2012 everyone. I'm resuming my blogging activites for 2012 and the years already off to a great start. First,  we have a solo exhibition right around the corner. Mine. Its called PolyChromatic-Tradigitalist Art by Randal Stringer.It opens on January 17th and runs thru February 17th. There's also a meet and greet reception on the 20th from 7-9pm.Ill be on hand to discuss the art . This is an important show. With over 2 dozen works on exhibit its a great opportunity for the public to see a prolific emerging artist starting to get his legs under him.Its also an opportunity for galleries to to take notice and see something refreshing and different.

 Simultaneously I'll also be exhibiting at the Morpho Gallery in downtown Chicago.And as usuual theres more on the horizon.With this kind of start  I know its going to be a great year in art for everyone! 

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 Here we are getting long into summer and my adventures as an emerging artist continue. Since I started this its been a wild ride and I have learned tons of lessons. Ive entered several juried competitions, have been rejected more than I care to remember, actually gotten into a few exhibitions , won some awards and I even landed my first solo exhibition.

Even after all these great things one of the lessons Ive learned in the business of being an artist is that you always have to ask yourself whats next? These two words touch on lots of areas of an artists life and I am not the exception.

Whats next? Two words but critical ones. They spur you to action. They make you question where you are and whats going on. They make you anticipate. They make you explore. These two words are an ally when youre between events and makes you take a direction-whatever it may be. Lull? No way. For me it means back to the studio to continue getting my creations to come to life. It means prepping for the next competition. It means continuing to push the social networking. Blogging. Tweeting. It means scouting out potential galleries. It means more rejection. More victories. More festivals.

Every time an adventure ends theres always another one right around the corner. And every minute of it is pure joy. So even though the days of summer are here and some say its a time to slow down and relax I will continue to be diligent. I will continue my pursuit as the emerging artist. I will always be asking- whats next?

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First off- what is ArtPrize? Some people have of heard of it and some havent. I myself hadnt heard of this unique competition until a few weeks ago.

Heres what they say:

ArtPrize is a radically open competition. Open to any artist in the world who can find space. Open to anybody in Grand Rapids, Michigan who wants to create a venue. Open to a vote from anyone who attends.

After reading that and scanning the site I decided I had to go for it. I read the rules, jumped in and began my participation with tons of enthusiasim. Man what an experience so far.  Just getting in is a bit of a rollercoaster ride. You fill out your entry, you propose the work youd like to exhibit and then the fun begins. You see, you get to pick your venues and they get to pick you. You go through and find venues that match your taste style etc and you submit for a connection. And the reverse works for all the venues that are looking for artists.

This part is the nerve racker. Day after day its did I hear from someone ?  Was I accepted?  Oh no I was rejected today but Ive got more opportunities pending.  I need to find more vendor opportunities just in case. Its a cycle I have repeated daily for the past few weeks.  Did I mention that theres a deadline and if you havent matched with a venue by then your out of the contest?  Well for me since I discovered the contest  late time and speed were of the essence. I was fortunate they had a deadline extension this year for registration so that helped me get started. But that only left me with a few short weeks to try and find myself a hosting  venue before connections closed. Lots of venues were already full at this point. So I started the matching process. And after about 17 rejections I finally found a venue to host my work. You can see  my new piece called Carnival  exhibited  at the venue CompuCraft,Inc .  Many thanks to them for their generosity. As I stated, I did it but literally in the last hours before matching closed. I was relieved and excited at the same time.  And so now whats next? Well, its on to the creation of my proposed work and then its off to the ArtPrize contest. And I know going into it that I may or may not win any of the top 10 spots but as an emerging artist, its about the participation.Its living the artist life. And that means Ive already won.  Ill keep updates posted as this project comes to life.

And in case your curious ,  ArtPrize takes place in Grand Rapids, Michigan starting September 22 and continues thru October 10, 2010. Voting is open to anyone who attends. Check the whole thing out at www.artprize.org. Its worth it. See you in September.

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