Lyn Bishop : Sharing Secrets

Have you noticed the number of social networking sites specifically created for artists these days? It seems like there is a new one coming online daily. Could this be an indicator of the growing influence that the Internet offers in showcasing and, dare I say it, selling art.

These online communities are often free services (or pay to upgrade) where artists can showcase their work, chat with fellow artists online, build their network, host a blog, and create an online portfolio without having to build a stand alone website. It offers a venue for the artist to share their skills and receive feedback on their work from an international community. (more…)

On Saturday, San Jose hosted a town hall meeting for artists interested in learning more about the city’s new Creative Entrepreneur Program.

Kim Walesh, Chief Strategist for the city, began by expressing her optimism that today, more than ever, there is more opportunity for artists to be a part of the San Jose economy. Artist based business are growing faster than other segments and San Jose has a high rate of independent creative entrepreneurs.

The Silicon Valley companies that are really succeeding — think Apple– understand the intrinsic aesthetic value that creativity brings to their product. San Jose’s future plan now includes steps to honor both the the left brained technologists and the right brained artists, and recognize innovation in all their various aspects. Walesh suggested that city government was crafting a future plan where not only arts and cultural facilities were included, but now individual artists were encouraged to think together with them to build an artist friendly San Jose. (more…)

Today’s New York Times article on cruise ship art auctions is pretty scary. It discusses big name artwork (mostly prints) being auctioned for many times over their land-based market price. The work is often sold to first-time bidders who may not really know what they are buying until they get home and suffer buyers remorse after doing more research and finding out signatures may be fake or that the print is nothing more than a quality poster.

This is the kind of story that makes everyone uneasy. It worries me, as a printmaker myself, that some unscrupulous art-dealers-turned-snake-oil-salesmen will take advantage of naive clients. Thankfully, there are websites like Fine Art Registry where artists can permanently register their art when they create it and where collectors, museums and galleries can register their collections.

While the big name artwork may be appealing, why not consider collecting artwork directly from living, breathing artist alive today. Not only can you collect some amazing work, you’ll support a living artist in their career. And if you’re lucky, you may, in the process, develop a one-on-one relationship with them, too. Now that’s priceless.

(Art: Missing Threads, by Lyn Bishop)

The Los Angeles Times reports a lawsuit filed against the temporary Louis Vuitton boutique created to sell Takashi Murakami products in the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art. According to the Times, the Vuitton luxury shop failed to provide the collector with the proper documentation in the form of a Certificate of Authenticity for the the Murakami prints he purchased there.

Do you know what a Certificate of Authenticity is? Did you know that it is required by law to be provided upon collector request when purchasing a multiple in the State of California? Why should you care?

A Certificate of Authenticity, as defined by California Civil Code Section 1740-1745 is a written or printed description of the multiple sold, exchanged, or consigned by an art dealer.

A Multiple, as defined by this same California Civil Code is any fine print, photograph (positive or negative), sculpture cast, collage, or similar art object produced in more than one copy.

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This proposed amendment to the Copyright Act is designed to allow the use of copyrighted works in the event that the copyright owner can not be found to acquire the appropriate license, hence the term Orphan Works…

That sounds fine on the surface, but what kind of ‘good-faith’ search would a prospective user of the artwork need to preform? Where would they start the search? When would they give up the search? In my opinion, this Bill creates an effective method for legalized theft of countless works of arts, and creates a new big business in the process.

The Bills before both the House and Senate will do nothing to strengthen the rights of copyrights owners, and instead will impose a heavy and costly burden for the artist who wishes to protect their intellectual property.

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