What is the meaning of Local Art? What is the value in owning art made from local artists? The push for local artists makes messaging difficult. I am an international artist… or am I a local Texas artist?… this is getting confusing. A buyer in Colorado assured me that he needed a local Texas artist for a new Dallas corporate headquarters. While I am glad anytime the phone rings I had to point out that I really doubt anyone walking through their lobby will know where the art is from… or care. So what gives?

Here’s what gives and its pretty simple actually. Corporations buy art to make enhance their environments but also to say something. They may be saying ‘We have good taste’ or ‘We are smart art investors’ or ‘We are innovative and so is our art’ etc. Recently Deloitte asked me to write out my ideas regarding innovation and my process which they put on a plaque and posted in their lobby. Oh man, I hope they spell checked it ; )

I don’t think I am stretching it to say that the art is essentially personal affect of the that reflects the company’s ethos. To that end, most of the companies that are forward thinking, innovation driven global concerns have a challenge. Consumers and talent don’t want to deal with or work for a massive impersonal entity, they want an engaging personable, insightful, hip and empathetic connection. So, just like eating local, buying local and supporting local is a movement at the grass roots level it has been adopted by corporate fine art collection stewards also. And that’s it. The corporations have figured out that leveraging local artists gives their spaces local street cred as well as helps solidify “Local” as part of their identity.

Ok, on with the art! Working with some licensing companies which is a real education for me. I am new to the game but I have come up with some pieces by taking steel work that has been scanned and digitized at a massively high resolution. Then I take a single line of pixels from this very organic work and digitally stretch it to create what is for me the ultimate minimalist abstraction from the original already abstract piece. Others of these pieces are layers of work that I built using a similar process that I use on my steel work only completely digitally to a much different effect. Let er rip!