Central School Project, Hamilton (Ont). Photo by Chris Erskine, Urban Landscape Artist
Media attention is essential for any artist and Chris Farias is certainly providing this for local Hamilton Artists. Chris Farias is a partner and owner of Kitestring, a creative marketing and design firm based in Hamilton.
On Friday, CBC Arts posted a short film by Chris, giving a tour of two local Hamilton Artists: Steve Mazza, prop maker; and Stephanie Seagram, mixed Media Artist.
My impression is that this film is part of a larger project that will highlight Hamilton artists.
Despite the acclaim for Hamilton’s arts community, I still feel there is not enough attention given to the artists. So, efforts like Chris Farias’s short film are critical for artists and collectors.
For example, I make a real effort to follow the Hamilton art scene, but I still managed to overlook the Steve Mazza.
In Farias’s film, he notes several strange objects on a table that were part of an art project several years back. Reviewing Mazza’s website, these weird objects turn out to be smoke from fantastic small models of brick-like factories.
These works are just one of several wonderful examples of his creativity. Without someone like Chris Farias promoting Steve Mazza, I may have continued to miss his work.
So, well done to Chris Farias and I hope he continues this promotional efforts.
As an artist, I returned to painting because people were increasingly unwilling to spend money on artwork that they could easily reproduce on their home printers for free.
Bold Street Painting Project. Photo by @erskinec
Woodblock and linocut are printed on paper. The size of the work is usually, small when compared to a painting. Once the print is framed and placed behind glass, it can be difficult to tell difference, particularly when viewed from a distance.
When the gap between real and fake art is small, it hard for people to justify buying something when they can get it for free. This is the same sort of situation that faces the movie and music industry.
As a result, I returned to painting. While you can copy the image of a painting and make a poster, the experience of standing before a large painting is very different. Even the most flat painting is still a three dimensional object. Paint always leaves a texture to the surface. This texture surface will change with different lighting conditions and viewing angles.
You also feel the size and weight of a painting as you stand before it. While a painting is not a living creature, so it is not like standing before another human being, there is still presence to it; a digital image cannot give you.
Digital images is information, not experience.
When I went to Rome a few years back, I had the great fortune of seeing three of Caravaggio’s great paintings that were created in 1599-1600 for church of San Luigi dei Francesi:
The Calling of St. Matthews
The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew
The Inspiration of Saint Matthew
These canvas painting were created in 1599-1600 for the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. These amazing works are designed for this very location. He took into account both the lighting conditions of the chapel and the fact that the viewer would be looking up at the paintings.
the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome. Photo by @erskinec
While I can show you what the paintings look like, with digital technology, I cannot provide you with the experience of walking into the church on a hot and dusty day. Walking towards the alter and then turning left and in the dim light seeing the glowing figures of Caravaggio’s creations.
Calling of Saint Matthew. Photo by @erskinec
The small chapel is dominated by these large paintings, but it is hard to view them together. You have to stand and face each one separately to appreciate the works. The dark backgrounds of each canvas allows the figures to separate from the canvas a float above you with a sense of meaty heaviness.
Inspiration of St. Matthew. Photo by @erskinec
Despite all our modern technology, paintings still defeat the powers of digital reproduction. A poster cannot never challenge the power of a physical painting.
The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew. Photo by @erskinec
This is the official web site of the Save Century Manor Task Force 2 (CMTF2). This task force was created not only to draw attention to the existence of Century Manor, an important Hamilton heritage building in danger of demolition by neglect, but also to provide information on Century Manor and to gain support within and outside our community for our ongoing fight to save and preserve this heritage building through restoration and adaptive reuse.
