The way to buy original art online

Kick boxing champion to abstract artist? Zatista’s contributing writer Joe Conway sat down with L.A. based artist Kevin Brewerton to discuss his original, and very physical path to the canvas.

I’ve read that you grew up “hating art,” so how did you move from the athletic world into the creative world as an artist and appreciator of art?

I guess I didn’t really hate it, I just didn’t understand it. I grew up in a coal-mining town in northern England, I was from a working class family and we were always taught that art was for rich people.

I moved to London when I was 17 and while I didn’t understand art at the time, I always found myself at the Tate Gallery or in some other gallery. I wound up coming out of boxing gyms and going into art galleries, I guess I was always drawn to art.

I think though I was always an artist. I expressed myself as an artist in the athletic world in the boxing ring — on a different kind of canvas. Expressing myself is what I’ve always been after. I think the expression is the impetus and the drive.

Your work either flirts with abstraction or embraces it outwardly. It’s interesting that you went from someone who felt alienated by art to someone who embraced abstraction, because that’s usually what many people find the most daunting.

I’m drawn to abstraction because I find it to be very spiritual. All the great artists talk about art being a mirror of your deepest feelings; your personal feelings, and I think that abstract art really is.

Mahoning, Franz Klein - 1956

I look at a piece of art I like from Franz Klein — he lived in NY and he did lots of abstracts in black and white. There’s this tension between the black and white, and they look very simple; they’re simply painted. But within it, within the framework it’s quite easy to see someone who is holding on.

When I attack a canvas, I might have an image of what I want to go after, and sometimes I have no idea. Abstraction is immediate, spontaneous, provocative. I’ll just start; it’s a subconscious thing that’s working and you’re working from your deepest level of unconscious and putting your soul on that canvas. It’s about exploration, it’s about discovery, it’s about learning about yourself, about revealing yourself.

You have said that creating art takes just as much if not more courage than stepping into the ring. Was starting to make art a matter of courage for you?

One of the first things I learned from my mentor, Milton Katselas, is that if you’re afraid of something, then you have to do it. There’s no place for fear if you want to be an artist. Being a five-time world kickboxing champion I figured, “I know what fear is, I can go in the ring with anyone.”

To be a great fighter, you have to have heart: with art you reveal your heart. With fighting, it’s all about protecting, covering up and putting a wall around yourself so that no one can get to you. When I became an artist I had to relearn everything: I had to take the walls down and reveal myself. It was much harder than putting walls up to protect myself.

You’re kind of a success story in terms of your relationship with art, going from feeling alienated by it to becoming an artist and appreciator. Do you have any recommendations for people who are learning to approach art, maybe by looking at your art?

I think the best way to approach art is to get a canvas or a sketch pad, some paints or a pencil and just start. Once you start the process, it’s infectious. You don’t have to be skilled, good at it, or have years of training to immediately benefit from it. It’s a part of our inherent, creative spirit and when you connect with it, it’ll lead you right into it. Just start.

There’s an obvious connection to your athletic past in the figures that you paint, does your relationship with sport have any other bearing on your work today?

The semi-figurative boxers I paint, they’re all part of me. I ended up doing a series of them and I’ve been approaching them from different perspectives when I paint. Sometimes I’m reminded of different fighters who I’ve faced, but usually they’re coming from some sort of stage or phase that’s happening inside of me. In some respect, they’re all a kind of self-portrait.

Are you still training?  Has you art affected your athleticism?

I do still train. I think about it as an expression, the way I move when I’m kickboxing. Martial art is, after all, art. My mentor Milton Katselas talked about what we possess as artists and how powerful art is. He talked about the world of physical strength, athleticism—about guys who are unable to break in or find it more difficult to break into themselves—it goes back to courage.

It’s the courage to be vulnerable, to have vulnerability in your art which makes it more human. What he said is that art is about humanity, it’s about life. I think that’s what changed me when I started “becoming” an artist. I mean, what’s bigger than life? Why not create art? It’s in every aspect of our lives.

Do you know of other artists these days who blur the line between athleticism and art?

I don’t. I think I may have read about a boxer in the 1920’s who was also a painter.

Who are your greatest inspirations artistically?

Motherwell: For sheer scale and depth.

Pollock: Action painter—no beginning and no end point.

Yves Kline: Audacious. Spiritual.

On Zatista I like Kim Curtis,

Sandra Wray,

and I found Lisa Cacciopoli’s work provocative.

Anything to add?

There is one more thing that I’d like to say, and that is that each painting has a life of its own. I often don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m going until I get there. Not unlike stepping into a ring, the process requires faith.

In my first post for Wall Spin, I addressed the hesitance or downright reluctance that a lot of guys have to trust their instincts and individual taste when first buying art. My sentiments can pretty effectively be summed up as “trust your taste, buddy, you know more than you think.”

I was glad to see that Madelyn Jordon, a gallery owner and art consultant, made a great point in a comment, anticipating the topic of my next post. She said,

That is a start, but when committing significant funds to a purchase of art ( $10,000 and up), it’s best to make an informed decision. It’s great to have an emotional response, but I am happier when there’s a bit more knowledge and thought behind the decision..as a gallery owner and consultant, we educate and illuminate, choosing art with both the wow factor and quality.

Ideally, anytime you purchase art you will be making an investment–one that will appreciate nicely, if not astronomically. And realistically, while Madelyn is definitely right about the $10,000 threshold, let’s face it: one man’s Fiat is another man’s Ferrari.

Sierra Crystal Cut by Katrine Hildebrandt on Zatista.com

So whether that painting that caught your eye and haunts your dreams costs $150 or $150,000, it’s always a good idea to make an informed decision. Now, the question is, how? If you don’t know any thoughtful, articulate gallery directors like Madelyn, the key lies in a key. Actually a combination of keys, really–Command-t on a Mac or ctrl-t on a PC.

That’s of course assuming that you already have Zatista opened (it’s set as your homepage, right?!) and have just found a piece that you’re really, really into. We’ll use my friend Katrine, a Zatista artist, and her piece “Sierra Crystal Cut” as an example. You can get some pretty good info on the artist by clicking on her name just to the right of the piece of art. OK, so you read her artist statement:

“Katrine’s work investigates the world through a philosophical and scientific lens, using data or specimens as models or metaphors in order to examine a philosophical concept.”

That really speaks to me, and wow, that piece is actually a cut paper design–that seems really intricate and labor intensive, and it’s beautiful. I’d say that’s well worth $175 (granted, I happen to be biased in this situation, I’ve watched her make these and the process is amazing).

You can always pull the trigger right off the bat, or you can also pop open another tab on your browser (that’s where the Command-t or ctrl-t comes in) and instantly have a world of value asserting information in front of you. Artists, especially emerging artists, are some of the most web savvy people out there today. They have websites, blogs, and use Twitter. All of those things can lead up to a pretty accurate assertion of where they’re at in their career and where they may be headed.

www.katinehildebrandt.com

So let’s google Katrine Hildebrandt. Yep, there’s her website. The first thing to look for is a CV (Curriculum Vitae, like a resume used for applying to academic, education, scientific or research positions)–that’s your key to see where Katrine or any other artist went to school (Mass Art), if she has a graduate degree (yep), where she has shown work (Boston, San Francisco, Portland and google those galleries–see who else has shown there) and what kind of press she’s received. Solo shows are a good indication that the person is going somewhere, as is a generally active exhibition schedule.

www.katrinehildebrandt.blogspot.com

From there, you can dive as deep as you want. Artists are smart, they blog about major projects and collaborations with other important artists. They promote their shows and get the word out when their work is going to be featured in the media. Of course, all of these things are just ingredients for success and there’s no guaranty that any artist’s work will appreciate. However, with the internet you now have previously unimagined access to an artist’s life and career and a better ability to assess the potential for any purchase to prove to be a sound investment–and that’s an amazing thing.

I don’t care who you are: as a guy, “wine” and “art” are two terms that are likely to give you sweaty palms or even a mild case of the hives. Rumor has it that John Wayne himself was known to wither a bit in the presence of sommeliers and disapproving gallery directors with angular haircuts.

Look for a theme: Zatista.com Petra Simmons "II" $525

The fact of the matter is that you already know what you’re talking about in both areas.  The average guy has been making informed decisions in nuanced, subjective realms (albeit with less pomp and circumstance) his entire life. We all have our favorite bands, authors and sports heroes we’d follow into battle.  And while art is it’s own universe—one that you may only be contemplating for the first time—you can rest assured that just like basically everything else in life, your “taste” can be boiled down to a simple gut reaction.

And run with it: Zatista.com Ann Calfas "parian octopus IV" $550

Looking at a piece of art for the first time is no different than flipping through radio stations, and just as with wine, relying on your own reactions with a little bit of confidence is what’s important. Sure, you can study up and focus on deciphering the cryptograms of terroir and varietals, but what it really comes down to is “what do I like?”

Or match the piece to your place: Zatista.com Brent Schneeman "Zilker, Zilker, Zilker" $400

Don’t trust yourself to make that informed decision?  Well, you should.  After all, who is it that reaches over and turns the dial from Kenny G to John Coltrane?  And who devoured The Old Man and Sea and then bought the cliffs notes to Pride and Prejudice back in college? And while that Prius was the right choice for your transportation needs, you still can’t stop obsessing about that ’82 Land Cruiser, can you?

Or just find something that speaks to you now and will for a long time: Zatista.com Busser Howell "Blue Square" $10,800

Granted, there are a few faux pas (the incorporation of your favorite team’s logo in a painting, dogs playing poker, and any thing that can actually be specifically classified as “Man Art”–even if it’s going in your Man Cave), but they’re as easy to avoid as the pleated jeans in the men’s section.  When it comes down to it, art is about relating universal elements of the human experience, so “I don’t know, I just really liked it” is the perfect justification for almost any purchase.