This news brought to you too late.  AVAF was at the Bronx Musueum for an exhibition of Brazilian art (Tropicália: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture).  I first became somewhat acquianted with his work as part of the Whitney Biennial.  AVAF created quite an impression among the exhibit-goers with a psychadelic room of art and sensory experience.  I would love to see more of his work in person.

I have oftern heard AVAF described as an individual (as described after the jump) and a collaboration.  I think it may be both under the artistic control and leadership of Eli Sudbrack.  The concept is interesting to me as a frequent skeptic of the “art scene.”  The name — although bringing attention to itself — is meant to deflect from the personality(ies) and identity(ies) of the artists, and the focus is the work itself.  I find this admirable, if not also a little gimicky, in that our art culture(s) and gallery culture(s) and museum culture(s) have become celebrity obsessed in the same way our mainstream culture has, and in the same vein we do not hold these celebs to any real standards.  We are just happy to be graced by their presence.  Of course, that is a generality but one I see making inroads at greater and greater speed.

This news is almost too late:  Gothamist brings us an invitation to a benefit for Brazilian Street artists, the proceeds of which are to be used to bring these artists to share experiences in New York.  I would love to learn about the end results of this collaboration.

The benefit is organized to raise funds for eight Brazilian street artists from São Paulo and Choque Cultural Gallery representatives to participate in a multi-tiered cultural immersion in New York City. Artists will raise awareness of Brazilian art and culture through community outreach and educational events. Projects include a public mural project, live painting demonstration and art exhibition, and Brazilian-themed celebrations. Proceeds from the event will go to BrazilFoundation and to support travel and lodging for the group of visiting Brazilian artists.

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The following excerpted from Justin Ruckmin.  This well sums up the arrogance of the gallery/museum culture and the democratization of art and culture.  Thanks again to the Internet.

At the beginning of 2006 Barry Neuman, art dealer, remarked to Artnet Magazine:

I think it’s a safe bet that there will be 50 to 60 new and bona fide (i.e., seriously authored by qualified people) art world blogs by the end of the year.

… to which Kriston Capps, writer for the Smithsonian’s Eye Level blog responded:

“Seriously authored by qualified people,” [is] a sentiment totally contrary to the esprit de corps of the blogosphere. What’s in fact great about most blogs is that they are nonseriously authored by nonqualified people. By the best count I’ve read, there are around 400–500 art blogs in the nation. Assuming even half of those are updated regularly, that amounts to a virtual library of information about artists, trends, and institutions. Even if not all these blogs are of the highest quality, the cream rises—and distributes the best information from the lesser-known blogs. To a certain extent, blogs survive by this network. (…)

(…) Artists, professionals, and enthusiasts writing about art are in fact part of the “actual, hands-on, real-world art scene.”

It is true that art blogs are becoming more diverse, with institutions joining the ranks of the citizen journalist. (…) But even to the extent that museoblogs bring some unique expertise to bear on the subject, the blog model is still fundamentally one that the layman can do as well or better. In other words, I wouldn’t wait for the pros to come ’round on blogs before I started paying attention to them.

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