Hiya!

Being a man of a certain middle age, and a luddite by nature, I am a very late arrival in the land of blog. In general I haven't felt like I had much of value to inflict on you. In all likelihood, I still don't but I do have increasingly strong opinions about the state of contemporary art, and it's importance, in my world.

I had little to no exposure to visual art in my education and growing up. I was, and still am, avidly connected to music in many forms. I played in concert band, sang in church choir and yelled in a band covering post-punk and new wave tunes.

As I went through school and university, studying science and then medicine, there was little time nor room in my brain for anything more. After writing my last exams in medical school I went on a trip to Mexico - to an area off radar for most - to the southern state of Oaxaca. The state capital, Oaxaca City,  has long been a centre of art production in Mexico and has a number of influential schools for training artists along with a strong network of galleries. I visited the museum of pre-columbian art and artifacts left by Rufino Tamayo, saw murals created by the great muralists of early 20th century Mexico including Tamayo, David Siqueros, Jose Clemente Orozco, and Diego Rivera. I spent a day in Mexico City and visited the amazing collection of the Rufino Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art and saw, for the first time, the wonders of some of the mid-century greats - european, american and latin. These were formative exposures. I had a brain open to new information and a heart desperate for new experience; it was an epiphany.

While visiting a few of Oaxaca's small galleries I was stunned to see so many different ways of representing thought, idea, and emotion. I bought my first two pieces of original work (or convinced my parents that it would be a great graduation present) in Oaxaca, and have continued to collect work that made me feel and think and sometimes to hurt. I have managed to become steward for works by Edmonton, Canadian and international artists and learned of the great privilege that comes with patronage. I now know that by committing my resources to acquiring original art I am able to support artists to continue the important work they do. The works I get to live with could become the cultural treasures of the future, or perhaps they are the means that allow that artist to create the next watershed cultural work that can change our world.

I volunteer at a local non-profit gallery and support the major collecting institution in Edmonton. I attend as many events as I can in my area to support local artists at all stages, and I have worked with local artists to produce major works that have shown locally and are slated to travel internationally. I travel several times a year to major art centres and events including art fairs in New York, London, Miami, and I look at a vast array of art. I read art journals, blogs and critical writing. I visit museums and galleries frequently. I have very strong opinions about the important role artists play in our communities and the need for their work to be supported, shown, collected and documented by collectors and institutions.

In this blog I will be commenting on work I see, on developments in the international art world, on art that inflames me, and on the practices of artists I love. I hope to infect others with the collecting bug, and to inspire a culture of patronage in readers as well as dialogue and learning about art theory and practice. Posts will happen when I have something new to talk about. Conversations are encouraged.