Price: 800.00 USD.

This piece describes the perpetual movement, the death and reinvention of women.

Well, as I mentioned at the end of last year, I had some big projects planned for 2008 one of which is the Next Star Artist competition which I have just launched. After months and months of planning it feels fantastic to have the competition underway and to have received so much feedback in such a short time. I knew from the outset that an art competition based on the commercial side of art would be controversial but I also believe that the debates and arguments that the competition will encourage have the potential to be of great benefit to the art market. Not only do I see this competition as a great opportunity for artists but also as a platform and instigator for debate, discussion and analysis of commercial side of art.There will be plenty of people who have negative opinions about the Next Star Artist competition just as there will be plenty of people who have a positive opinion of the competition and I want to hear everyone’s opinion whether good or bad. The aim of Next Star Artist is not just to make one artist famous but it is to use the current art market boom and the attention it is receiving to assist artists with their career and to encourage and educate those artists that are not in a position to facilitate their own commercial success.

As we all know the art market is currently experiencing growth and evolution at a rate never before seen, and to heights never before reached, which has taken the art world into unknown territory. I believe that in order for the art market to be sustainable and to continue growing and expanding an understanding of the way the art market is evolving and the impact on the people and the artworks involved is required. In order to achieve this understanding we need to analyze and discuss what is happening in the art market and the effect it is having on the art world and vice versa.

I would also like to this opportunity put out a call to anyone who would like to sponsor the Next Star Artist competition and provide prizes that would benefit an artist looking to gain exposure in exchange for being promoted as a sponsor of the Next Star Artist competition and appearing in associated advertisements and press releases. If you are interested in being a sponsor please contact me via my blog: Art Market Blog or email: info@artnotice.com

About the Author
Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.

Attention Visual Artists: If you think you have what it takes to set the art world on fire then keep reading because on the 19th of March 2008, the search for the art world’s Next Star Artist will begin.

Art market analyst, consultant and art critic Nicholas Forrest of Art Market Blog fame has today announced the launch of Next Star Artist, a groundbreaking new art competition for emerging visual artists.

Beginning on the 19th of March, artists from all over the world will go head to head in an international search for the artist with the highest potential for success in the art market. Unlike any other art competition, every facet of each entrant’s profile, career and work will be assessed to determine which artist is the most likely to achieve art world fame and commercial success.

The winner of the competition will receive an amazing promotion and PR package that includes, amongst other things, a solo online exhibition, an online media blitz, and three months of mentoring, advice and promotion by art consultant Nicholas Forrest.

Entry is free and is open to visual artists over the age of 18 who fulfill the entry criteria, and to all mediums (including craft, design and jewelery) with the exception of Video Art, Film and Performance Art. Entries will be accepted starting on the 19th of March 2008 and will close on the 23rd of May 2008.

For further information on this unique and exciting project and for entry details please visit the Next Star Artist website.

“The reason that I created the Next Star Artist competition is that I come across so many fantastic artists who either do not have the skills to promote themselves or are just not in a position to take advantage of the promotional opportunities that are available. I have undertaken extensive research on the promotional opportunities available to artists and have successfully promoted several artists online using various different techniques. The success that I have had has been extremely encouraging and has given me the knowledge and tools needed to implement the Next Star Artist competition. I am extremely excited to be able to offer this opportunity to the world art community and wish all the entrants the best of luck.”
-Nicholas Forrest (founder of Next Star Artist)

You will often see reports in the news of a major work of art that has failed to sell at auction and many of these reports will take the failure of the work to sell as sign of impending doom and gloom. Because auction sales are the most widely publicized and the most transparent form of art market transactions there tends to be a greater emphasis and degree of importance put on auction results. This high degree of reliance on auction results as an indicator of the health of the art market is, however, neither justifiable nor accurate due to the fact that there are so many different factors that can result in a painting not selling or even a bad auction.

The failure of a major work of art to sell at auction does not necessarily indicate that people do not have the money to spend on art, that confidence in art as an investment has declined or that the art market has reached its limit. Achieving a good price for an artwork requires the right buyers, the right price, the right timing, the right conditions, the right atmosphere and strategic planning. Just one of these factors not being quite right can be enough to cause an unfavorable result.

There are too many different scenarios that could result in a work being passed in (not sold) at auction to list in one post but I have included a few of the more common ones below:

• An estimate that is too high (I know of many different occasions where an artwork has failed to sell only to be re-auctioned a month later with a lower estimate and sell for higher than the original estimate. It is surprising how much of an effect this can have)
• Most auctioneers will put a couple of major works at the beginning of the auction to create buzz and get people excited. Just one of those key works not selling can be enough to spook all the bidders and result in a poor result for the whole auction
• People will often wait until the auctioneer reduces the opening bid to begin the bidding but if the auctioneer continues lowering the opening bid without success there will be a point of no return where will begin to question why no-one is else is bidding and resulting in the work failing to get any bids at all. It is impossible to know where the point of no-return is until it actually occurs.

I think that this is a really important topic so I will be devoting a few more posts to it in the near future. Stay tuned!!!

About the Author
Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.

In a recent trip to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I stood in front of Heide Fasnacht’s Sneeze IV from 2003 (punctured paper) and couldn’t help but think, “Hm.. I guess that is what a sneeze would look like” (if it became tactile, that is). As I looked at it, enjoying Fasnacht’s flippancy, I wondered what else this hallway had to offer. But when I glanced to its side, I suddenly switched from enjoying a clever piece of art to analyzing curatorial decisions and the impermanence of art.

Sneeze IV hangs next to Sigmar Polke’s Untitled from 1988 (black ink and stenciled spray paint on paper). Looking at Untitled, all I could do was chuckle a little, thinking “Well that looks like a sneeze, too.” For some reason, however, I don’t think the post-war German artist aimed to represent a sneeze.

The most astounding aspect of curatorial decisions is that they allow for interpretation – and misinterpretation – of art that otherwise may not have been considered. Unless I’m in the middle of one, sneezing is not frequently on my mind, so I cannot imagine I would have ever seen Untitled and thought “sneeze.” (Or, for that matter, seen Sneeze IV and thought “sneeze,” if not for the title.) By viewing Polke’s work this way, I began to consider the organic quality of a work that otherwise would have made me think of machines and mass production, with its repeated dot pattern, layers of design, and shades of grey.

Artwork on the whole, however, is organic and ephemeral. It comes from within (its maker, ie, the artist) and is put onto a piece of paper (or canvas; or shaped into a form; or is a recorded moment). The features that make up the – at least in these two instances – are permanent. The dots and lines that float in the foreground of Untitled look like they are about to move, but they will not go anywhere. They will exist as is for as long as the work exists.

The work as a whole, however, can be torn, burnt, or have coffee poured on it. It can be ruined. It may represent something mechanical, but it is not as sturdy as a building or the objects of an industrial age. Art, as I was reminded by this pairing, is always just as ephemeral as a sneeze.

Oil on masonite

Original oil on canvas, 2007
Size: 41″ x 35″

This is a small wall mural I did one night when I could sleep.

Little Trees, Matte house paint, masking tape, permanent marker,
6′ x 4′
2007