SOMETHING'S AFOOT 5-11-03
I've been dealing with signing a manager to handle my business end, so I can keep up with the commercial work and the fine art work. I'll talk more about that when it's all final, still dealing with lawyers and contracts and and contracts and stuff to get it all zipped up tight, but this guy and his firm are going to take me to the next level.
I really am going to push more fine art this year. My new manager is kind of known for discovering the next big thing in fine art, helping launch careers. Early in their careers he landed shows for Basquiat and Keith Herring and others in the 80's and now he wants me to create a series for a new show pushing my fine art into a new direction (which is totally different from the previous shows I had LIFEbeat & THE BLUE SHOW-and is going to be phenomenal) . So I am sketching my new painting series out, and trust me, this time I am staying away from blue and gray. It's going to be crazy colorful, really dope.
In preparation for this I made 2 more leather bound copies of my portfolios. Let me break this Makin' Copies thing down. If you've ever gone to an Office max, Staples, or Kinkos, and hand them tear sheets (pages from magazines with your artwork or writing on them) to be color copied, the first thing they always say is "Um, I'm sorry, we aren't allowed to photocopy copyrighted material."
Then you have to explain to them that it's all your artwork, that or it's your words. This tedious exchange is mindnumbing because it's almost like it's scripted, the way every Kinko's monkey is taught to deal with the situation. They then will ask to see proof that you are who you say you are. It didn't happen this time though, the guy started to, but was cut off in mid question when he looked down at the first piece to be copied, it was the tear sheet of the contributor section of Complex Magazine, with my face next to my name. The guy laughed a dopey laugh and said.."oh, now I see. OK, how many do you need?" I was thinking, "If only I had room in my apartment for a color copier!"
The other thing I did this week in preparation for my managerial shift was go and get some canvas' and a resupply of paints.Well, to get my paints, I was going to drive out to Pearl Paint (Huge chain of art sto res) but on the way there (in Long Island)return the Mac G3 I've been borrowing to my old boss Peter Rolih - THANKS PETER (www.town24.com) who let me borrow it a few months ago (when my G4 was on the Fritz). So I returned the computer, and on the way to Pearl I spotted Art store and decided to give them some business.
The guy who worked there was really helpful, almost too helpful. One of those artists, who never really made it as an artist, so he opens a tiny art store where the supplies are piled up to the ceiling on every available wall, and every shelf is blocked by more supplies on racks in front of them because his little store has to compete with the big chain art store down the street. The weird thing is he kept calling me Maestro the whole time he was helping me sift through the precariously balanced paints to find the colors I needed within the different brands (every paint brand has different names for their colors, even though it is the same color for another brand, it will have a different name, which is tough if you aren't familiar with all the brands eccentricities).
OK Maestro, no problemo Maestro. That paint is the heavy duty Maestro, that paint is no joke, it's a killer paint Maestro. It started to get annoying, but this guy knew his paint. This is one of those situations where you realize that the mom and pop store, outshines the chain. I doubt the 16 year old minimum wager behind the counter at Pearl Paint would have any clue about the paints he sells. How the paints actually look or work, or what colors are the same with different names, and which is the better bargain. I thought about this, and even though the Maestro thing was annoying I felt, this is how you should treat a customer. Art store guy, you f'in rock! As I was leaving I heard him talking to the next guy in line, he called him Maestro, and I thought to myself, hey wait..I'm Maestro.. :(
Just another day in the life of an Art Juggernaut.
-Cojo