Studio Visits are a crucial part of understanding an artist’s motives and background. It is the dealers’ opportunity to experience art as it was created, see works in progress and speak with the artist about their practice.
In Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in The Art World, she asks Jeffrey Poe of Blum and Poe Gallery, what is a dealer’s role in the studio? “When people think of artists’ studios, they imagine Jackson Pollock dancing around a canvas, says Poe. Dealers are editors and conspirators. We help determine what gets shown and how it gets shown, we help put art in production. At the end of the day, our business is to sell symptoms articulated as objects,” he declares.
The benefits of the studio visit are twofold, it also gives the artist an opportunity to show their work to people behind the scenes. These visitors could potentially help them with their careers and give them insightful feedback.
We have some exciting announcements on the horizon and are happy to share this behind the scenes look at Ken Tate’s most recent body of work.
Ken Tate (born Columbus, Mississippi, 1950) is currently residing in Covington, LA. He is an architect and painter whose work is rooted in abstract expressionism. As you will hear in the above interview, inspiration from Tate’s latest collection acknowledges the influence of the subconscious. “I like the way the subconscious can actually be more creative than the ego. The subconscious does everything; tap into it, trust it and do not question it.”
His process is refreshingly simple: one size canvas (4x5), vertical, and painted using only a squeegee. In contrast to his past works, Tate incorporates “decorator” colors from Sherwin Williams and lets the new colors do all the talking.