Advice to Collectors:

Be Adventurous

Take an honest look at your art collection ... Are you tired of your collection and feel a bit stuck in a rut? Find yourself collecting the same genre, and not sure what to buy next?

Our advice: Do a little research and don't be afraid to try something new!

Top art collectors are rounded in their art collecting. The best collections include a variety of subjects and mediums, often at the sake of getting out of your comfort zone.

Consider landscapes and sculpture – as classic ways to expand a group of artwork which may already include contemporary photography, abstractions, and works on paper.

Project 1:2011 Los Angeles Art Show

Launching 2011 with its inaugural exhibition, Project 1:2011 at the LOS ANGELES ART SHOW, Micaëla Gallery + Projects (USA) introduces the following artists: Donata Benker, Marvin Lipofsky, Eugenia Pardue, Lorraine Peltz, Kevin J. Pocock, and Nicole Schmoelzer.

Firmly planted in the 21st century, our gallery program embraces the enriched vernacular provided by contemporary fine art approaches to drawing, painting, and sculpture. With an exhibition of paintings addressing ideas, social perceptions (Benker, Pardue, Peltz) and light (Schmoelzer), sculpture (Lipofsky), and video (Pocock), Micaëla Gallery + Projects presents an introduction to Los Angeles of artworks that are as beautiful to regard as they are engaging.

Each artist was carefully chosen because of singular contributions to contemporary visual dialogues.

Kevin J. Pocock | LA Art Show 2011

Kevin Pocock’s videos and digital work often arrive from a process different to his paintings and drawings. Some follow the 'idea and design' process, while others come very spontaneously in the moment. 'The Painted Forest' falls in to the latter category. Pocock was on holiday in Slovakia. With no intention of making this film, he found himself on a quiet descent from a spectacular mountain. Drifting gently past the tree tops of the mountain side forest was a rare, strange and special moments. He was compelled to capture it.

Pocock states: ‘I am fascinated by the thoughts, memories and dreams we carry with us each day. The ones that make us tick. I present these ideas in a semi-abstract, defined architectural space, often using common symbols and elements. I like to incorporate the universal to represent the very personal. Private thoughts made public. The internal made external.’

IMAGE: Kevin J. Pocock. The Painted Forest, 2010. Video still from video with audio. 5 minutes, looped. Ed. x/100.

Lorraine Peltz | LA Art Show 2011

Lorraine Peltz' work is a continuing discussion of feminine ideas in a fresh, beautiful manner in relation to place and identity. Her vernacular uses recognizable, highly charged images that explore women's fantasies and desires. Peltz' mimicry and reconciliation of how information comes to us and how meaning is made -- real life alongside memory, poetry next to prose -- become the landscapes of her exterior world and an interior space of dream, desire, hope, and memory. Images of chandeliers, among others, co-mingle the language of 17th century-esque still-life objects and pop imageries of lightening bolts, puffy clouds, painted lips, ominous blackbirds, and more. Peltz received her MFA from the University of Chicago. She lives and works in Chicago and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

IMAGE: Lorraine Peltz. Chandelier Blue, 2010. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 40 x 40 in. Singular.

Marvin Lipofsky | LA Art Show 2011

Marvin Lipofsky, educator, inveterate traveler, multi-awarded artist, respected sculptor, and passionate supporter of the arts, is credited with bridging international communities of artists through ideological barriers, over time and across continents, to become a fundamental pillar of the international glass community. Working with established and respected artists from the Czech Republic, Venice, China and the United States, among others, his collaborative sculptures can be found in important museum and private collections worldwide. A master colorist, Lipofsky's work pays homage to the communities where he created his work. For example, during his visit to the Czech Republic, his sculpture referenced the landscape and political climate, while the work he made during his visit to China used colors that traditionally augur joy and prosperity in Chinese communities. Lipofsky's work also addresses the manner that light shifts through space as well as the effect on space that his work occupies, in terms of color and texture. He established the respected glass programs at the University of California at Berkeley and the California College of Art; and resides in Berkeley, California.

IMAGE: Marvin Lipofsky. California Loop Series #17, 1970. Blown glass. 9 x 27 x 18 in. Singular.

Eugenie Pardue | LA Art Show 2011

Eugenia Pardue credits art for saving her soul. Born in Los Angeles, Pardue lived in Minnesota, New Orleans and Miami, where she received her BFA. She received her MFA in 1998 from Clemson University.

Pardue's work is concerned with the organization of space, rater than the figure. Using her brush as a tool to carve into her paint, she defines her work as a fusion between painting and sculpture. Her current painting vocabulary addresses the surface of painting, asking the question, 'What is a painting?'

In 2005, Pardue decided to focus solely on the surface of her work, using tonal variants of white, while applying decorative motifs and architectural elements. Today, the tension of her forms and surfaces possess allure, shadow and shape, resonating with ideas of femininity and the natural world.

IMAGE: Eugenia Pardue. Anne of Bohemia, 2007. Acrylic on panel. 36 x 36 in. Singular.

Donata Benker | LA Art Show 2011

Donata Benker's landscapes do not connect to the conventional genre of paintings. Her work evades the classical definition of 'landscape' because they do not refer back to an external reality but to themselves. Her understanding of landscape universally includes presence and absence of people, animals, objects, natural and artificial places. Over and over again, apparently recognizable places or objects appear in her paintings and invite the viewer associative access to her figurative world. In describing her work, Benker states, “A landscape is much more than just a place: it is rhythm, movement, color, light. With all its voices, it tells about things I have no words for. My paintings try to approach the space behind the landscape that elude our direct view.” Benker's paintings are about the tension between real conditions and their abstractions, between corporeal application of paint and transcending colors, and this is the source of their strength.

IMAGE: Donata Benker. Pausenhof, 2010. Acrylic, oil, lacquer on canvas. 39.4 x 51.2 in. (100 x 130 cm).

Idiot with a Tripod (aka, Man in a Blizzard), by Jamie Stuart

Time Magazine (online) and Roger Ebert like this video enough to state it deserves an Oscar. I love the video!

2011 New Year resolutions

Dear Friends,

With a hearty and sincere farewell to 2010 (may you never return...), I thought it might be fun to share a few of my New Year resolutions for 2011 with you.

1. Avoid evangelists (religious or any other kind of sales). Anyone who tries to evangelize knows nothing of the downside of the evangelist spirit, and probably didn't check in with you. In fact, if you meet an evangelist, leave immediately. Go next door, where your neighbor is preparing for the next Hell's Angels run to South Dakota. Keep your self respect.

2. Hydrate - it's the new PC word for drinking water. Hydrate with as much tap water as possible. And quickly. It's rapidly becoming a rare commodity. You can no longer find natural potable sources in Africa or developing 3d world countries. In the USA and Europe, it's politely offered in small plastic bottles. Drink up! For the frat boy or sorority girl in you, every sip is a great pre-drinking binge and post-hangover tonic (I'm not advocating a binge ... my champagne dealer tells me she prepares for a cocktail party by seriously hydrating an hour before). For the organic fashionista - nothing is more organic than pure H20. In fact, it's an heirloom thing our ancestors enjoyed before we were ever a twinkle ... It's a treat. Enjoy. Have a glass for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's 2011! Stay healthy.

3. If something comes with fringe benefits, use it. That's the entire point of fringe benefits. Fringe benefits do not come alone, they come as a gift, or a bribe, or something given to you by mistake. But, they're yours to enjoy, and are supposed to be a good thing. Ask questions later. Make lots of friends, who knows, there might be a fringe benefit to that too, and you'll get more the next time around if you're really good. Enjoy the benefits. Stay friends. Repeat. Be good.

4. As for traditional resolutions, like getting back into shape, losing weight, tracking your gas mileage, opening a savings account, scheduling that botox or nose job appointment, always ask and consider: Why bother? Is it worth the pain? Be honest.

5. Do not check in with your best friend for matching New Year's resolutions in an effort to support your new resolutions. The whole point of making resolutions each year is to break them, feel guilty, and suffer all year long with whatever character you have left. Your friends will feel better about knowing you, as they're doing the same thing. And you can have lots of fun with your friends and enjoy being naughty. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you check out the malls or your favorite stores between now and the end of January. You can do that in April when taxes are due and you won't have any money to spend. Now is the time for long walks with your dog, which you'll need after having circled the many Christmas buffet tables you were invited to, and partying all night long on New Year's Eve. Enjoy the fresh air and the company of your dog. Soon you'll locked up in your office again, and no one will love you so much as man's best friend. Be smart.

7. If you come across something really tempting during your walk with Fido outside (it's possible you live next to Union Square and the Saks Fifth Avenue windows are irresistible - they'll let Fido in, they luv dogs!) like that must-have bottle of perfume, Italian shoes, diamond earrings (didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, huh?), or necessary tech toy, position yourself near your target and don't budge. Check the credit limits left on your plastic, discreetly riffle the paper in your wallet, and pretend to text-message, as you review your smart phone bank balance. You'll soon be the center of attention, before you know it, with many new friends. Be kind to yourself.

8. Same for books. Magazines. Posters. Anything in print. Grab one of each. Or if you don't like posters, grab two magazines and a book. Always have three. When else do you get to seriously think about your future? Labor Day? This is perfectly justifiable because you're feeding your intellect (you bought GQ or Vogue? Well, aren't you the fashion savvy one, huh?!)

9. Did someone mention friends? Granted, they're loaded with the mandatory (occasionally, celebratory) obligations, but avoid new ones at all cost. I mean, have some standards. Treasure your old friends, after all, they are your old friends for a reason. Same with family. Avoid the newbies, make them earn their stripes.

10. Lastly: If you don't feel terribly noble when you're done making your New Year's resolutions list or finish reading this, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over and hurry. 2011 began today, and 2012 is just around the corner.

Remember these thoughts to live by:

• Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Soren Kierkegaard
• In life and business, there are two cardinal sins.. The first is to act precipitously without thought and the second is to not act at all. Carl Icahn

I'm looking forward to a terrific future and our continued friendship.

Happy New Year! Best wishes for Joy and Prosperity in 2011!!

Micaela