Set Me Free by Ingrid Dee Magidson

Here is Ingrid’s newest piece, “Set Me Free.”  Another masterpiece.

“Set Me Free”

30 x 24″

Layered mixed media in a shadow box

The evening began with a cocktail reception on the 10th floor of Sotheby’s in the preview rooms of the Contemporary Evening Auction.  This important auction included masterpieces by Willem deKooning, Clyfford Still, Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol, and more.  We moved down to the 7th floor for the main event and dinner.  Several important contemporary artists were honored for their impact on Russian art, and to the Hermitage Museum.  These included: Cy Twombly, Sergei Bugaev Afrika, and Ilya & Emilia Kabakov.

Of course, the height of the evening was when Ingrid’s piece “A Moment in Time” was auctioned off.  She created this unique piece as an homage to Catherine the Great, founder of the Hermitage Museum in 1764.  In the piece, Catherine, 16 looks to the future through a web of events connecting her to the past, and her impact on the future.  It is a beautiful work.  The auction was conducted by one of Sotheby’s auctioneers.  The bidding began at a modest $5,000, and quickly rose to $10,000.  There was a pause as several new bidders entered the auction bringing the piece up to $11,000, $12,000, $14,000.   Ingrid and I watched with excitement as the piece ultimately sold for $16,000.  What a thrill to have major collectors appreciate her work.  And most gratifying to know that the money will benefit one of the most important art institutions in the world.  Bravo and congratulations to Ingrid and the Hermitage Museum!

From the film description:

This visually stunning documentary takes you behind the scenes, for an honest glimpse into the passions and experiences that drive Ingrid’s creations.

Running time 21 minutes.

For more information about The Reid Effect

For more information about Galerie Zuger

The Exhibition is at the Masters Gallery in Greenwood Village, www.mastersgallerydenver.com.

The video can be played at high resolution (1080) for better detail.

Our Eternity Begins Now 53 x 38"

Ingrid has finished and sent off the final 5 pieces for her exhibition in Denver.  “Windows into the Past” opens Thursday & Friday at the Masters Gallery from 6-9pm both nights.  Ingrid is very proud of her latest work.  The exhibition consists of 11 works, all but one completed in 2011.  “It has been thrilling.  I dug deep into myself for this group, and I’m very pleased with the results.  I can’t wait to see all the work hung in the gallery.”  Ingrid said yesterday as the works left her studio.  “The works are very personal to me.”  She said.  “Sometimes people ask, ‘Then how can you let them go?’  Once the emotions are expressed they are free to go.   When they leave, they create a space for me to create more.  And that is what I live for in my art.”

“Windows into the Past”

Opening on two nights: Thursday and Friday, May 19 and 20 at 6-9pm.
Masters Gallery
The Village Shops at The Landmark
5370 Greenwood Plaza Blvd.
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Phone: 303.221.2449
www.mastersgallerydenver.com

www.IngridMagidson.com – then click on available art or just click the main image on the first page.

Here are the details:

Ingrid Dee Magidson
New Work
Opening: Friday & Saturday, February 18 & 19th, 4 to 8pm

Galerie Zuger Vail
141 E. Meadow Driver
Vail, CO
970-476-5619
http://www.galeriezugervail.com/index.html

“Metamorphosis”

“tis But a Brief Moment on this Mortal Stage”

“Another Season’s Past”

And just for fun, a video collage of Ingrid’s work from a fellow in Russia:

Perhaps it is the ultimate expression of hubris: but I find the current definitions of art inadequate, and want to propose a new one.  The standard definitions have diluted art to everything and nothing.  And our reward for our neglect of this important word:  we end up with ads that say, “The fine art of laundry soap.”  If we allow current definitions of art to go unchallenged or remain ambiguous, we run the risk of losing all use of the word.  We need a standard by which to judge art.  Otherwise, we are lost in the morass that is “art” from 1917 forward.

Why 1917?

That is the date that French artist, Marcel Duchamp declared art, “anything the artist touches.”  With his submission of “Fountain,” a urinal turned on its back, to the Society of Independent Artists he changed the very nature of art forever.  The object was rejected, but the concept remains, and confuses us to this day.  If art is anything, and an artist is anyone, than we lose all ability to judge.  A printed Brillo box by Andy Warhol (identical to the commercial version) now sells for millions of dollars.  Cynical is too weak a word.

Help me Merriam

Merriam Webster (online,2010) defines art as: “The conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.”  This helps, but avoids the question by using another ambiguous concept: “aesthetic object.”

A New Definition of Art:

Art is an object, made by man, that one interacts with to gain emotional and conceptual experience.

Let’s break this new definition into its parts to better understand it.

Art is an object, made by man…

This is a simple yet important point.  Though nature can give us emotional and conceptual experience – it is not art.  Nature is perfect unto itself, it doesn’t need us to exist.  And when we stop looking at it, it is still nature.  This is not so for art.  Object means anything physical.  Music for example appears at first glance (or listen) to be non-physical, but it absolutely is.  Music is made of vibration, physical disruptions in space.  An object doesn’t have to be permanent to exist.

…that one interacts with…

A forgotten painting shoved into a closet with the door shut, ceases to be art.  It is our interaction with the object that is art, not the object itself.  This sounds simple, but is a difficult concept.  For example, what if I think about a painting I saw in a museum years ago –but was later destroyed in a fire?  If the object is gone, then how can one interact with it?  Time and space are irrelevant in this case.  The object continues to exist in the viewer’s mind.  The interaction can continue as long as the memory lasts.  This is one of the supreme powers of art, why it is so important to us, why a glance can change us.

…to gain emotional and conceptual experience.

When we look at a painting that moves us, or hear music that makes us pause, we are having an emotional, conceptual experience.  We easily understand the emotional part of this definition, but without the conceptual part, any manmade object could be art.  A brand new car gives plenty of emotional reaction, but with few exceptions, should not be called art.  Conceptual experience means an idea, a greater message than the object itself has been conveyed to the viewer, listener, or reader.   When we look at a painting, we take in enormous amounts of information at a moment’s glance.  Space, tension, movement, emotion, place, and color, all conveyed in an instant.  Literature and music take a little longer, but might be sustained longer.  This process is unique to art.

The Lessons of  Cavemen

When we define art for what it truly is, an object that changes us, makes us more human, then we protect it from decay.  Consider what this means and how important it is.  Artists 30,000 years ago crawled into caves and painted beautiful scenes of animals and men.  Yet we can appreciate their art, marvel at it, be changed by it today –150,000 generations removed!  Extraordinary isn’t it.

Jay Magidson
Colorado
December 6, 2010