Contemporary Chaos is an original painting with a lot of movement and interesting focal points! Contemporary Chaos is made up of geometric shapes, lines that are straight and curving, as well as bold colors that compliment each other and add unique touches to the piece. The painting incorporates a diverse collection of colors- everything from cerulean blue to lime green and highlights of purple and white. In addition to the wide array of colors united on this single canvas, many different shapes and lines are depicted in the different sections of this piece. There are vague shapes created out of intentionally haphazard brush strokes as well as very clear lines creating a checkerboard look in one corner of the piece. There are also bright blocks of colors emphasized by thin, curving lines and a whitewashed section that utilizes broad brush strokes befitting it’s bright colors.

This canvas is endlessly interesting and impossible to clearly define because it fits so much material and so much beauty into such a small amount of space. Anyone who is interested in exploring the ways in which different styles and subjects can work together to create accord in a single harmonious piece, should be interested in this distinctive abstract piece.

Although this piece is represented on a single canvas,the shapes and lines work together to create one large, far reaching and breathtaking painting. The disparate shapes, colors, lines and feels of the different subjects in this piece make it a suitable in at least one respect for a wide variety of rooms and decorating schemes. The exploration of subject and tone works very well on a single canvas because it forces the viewer to draw comparisons between the different sections of the piece and make meaningful connections across the material. For more original canvas paintings that share some of the qualities of this piece, try browsing the Modern Canvas section of our website. If you are interested in viewing another piece that shares a lot of the themes of Contemporary Chaos, take a look at Patches of Color.

Arnold Print Works

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Exterior of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art

Location:

87 Marshall St., North Adams, Massachusetts

Coordinates:

42425 73659 / 42.70139N 73.11639W / 42.70139; -73.11639Coordinates: 42425 73659 / 42.70139N 73.11639W / 42.70139; -73.11639

Built/Founded:

1872

Architectural style(s):

Italianate Industrial

Governing body:

Private

MPS:

North Adams MRA

Added to NRHP:

October 25, 1985

NRHP Reference#:

85003379

Arnold Print Works

The buildings that MASS MoCA now occupies were originally built between 1870-1900 by the company Arnold Print Works. These buildings, however, were not the first to occupy this site. Since colonial times small-scale industries had been located on this strategic peninsular location between the north and south branches of the Hoosic River. In 1860 the Arnold brothers arrived at this site and set up their company with the latest equipment for printing cloth. They began operating in 1862 and quickly took off. Aiding their success were large government contracts to supply cloth for the Union Army.

In December of 1871 a fire swept through Arnold Print Works factory buildings, destroying eight in total. Rebuilding started almost immediately and an expanded complex was finished in 1874. Despite a nationwide depression during the 1870s Arnold Print Works purchased additional land along the Hoosic river and constructed new buildings. By 1900 every building but one in today’s Marshall Street complex was constructed.

At its peak in 1905 Arnold print works employed over 3000 workers and was one of the world’s leading producers of printed textiles. Arnold produced 580,000 yards or 330 miles of cloth per week. Arnold had offices in New York City and Paris. In addition to printing the textiles, Arnold Print Works expanded and built their own cloth-weaving facilities in order to produce “grey cloth,” which was the crude unfinished textile from which printed color cloth was made.

In 1942 Arnold Print Works was forced to close its doors and leave North Adams due to the low prices of cloth produced in the South and abroad, as well as the economic effects of the Great Depression.

Sprague Electric Company

These large factory buildings were not inactive for long. Sprague Electric Company, a local North Adams company, bought the Marshall Street complex to produce capacitors. During World War II Sprague operated around the clock and employed a large workforce of women. Sprague did not employ women just because of the lack of men, but because it took small hands and excellent manual dexterity to construct the small hand-rolled capacitors.

In addition to manufacturing electrical components, Sprague had a large research and development department. “From the 1940s, Sprague physicists, chemists, electrical engineers, and skilled technicians worked with state-of-the-art equipment, investigating practical applications and conducting fundamental research on the nature of electricity and semiconducting materials.” This department was responsible for research, design, and manufacturing of the trigger for the atomic bomb and components used in the launch systems for the Gemini moon missions.

At its peak during the 1960s Sprague employed 4,137 workers in a community of 18,000. Essentially the factory was a small city within a city with employees working alongside friends, neighbors and relatives. The company was almost completely self-sufficient holding a radio station, orchestra, vocational school, research library, day-care center, clinic, cooperative grocery store, sports teams, and even a gun club with a shooting range on the campus. The site was formerly listed as a superfund contaminated site. In the 1980s Sprague began to face difficulties with global changes in the electronics industry. Cheaper electronic components were being produced in Asia combined with changes in high-tech electronics forced Sprague to sell and shutdown its factory in 1985. As a result North Adams was left “deindustrialized” and found itself on a steep economic decline.

MASS MoCA

The development of MASS MoCA as a museum institution began just a year after Sprague vacated the factory buildings. In 1986 a group of staff from the nearby Williams College Museum of Art were looking for large factory or mill buildings where they could display and exhibit large works of modern and contemporary art that they weren’t able to display in their more traditional museum/gallery setting. They found a large number of vacant factory buildings in North Adams and were directed to the Marshall Street complex by the Mayor of North Adams. It then took a number of years of fund raising and organization to develop MASS MoCA from an idea into a reality. During this process the project evolved to create not only new museum/gallery space to exhibit contemporary art work but also a performing arts venue allowing the museum to run a schedule of visual arts exhibitions as well as performing arts events.

The project was able to begin through funding provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The museum was granted .6 million after a public/private coalition petitioned the state government to support the project based on its cultural and historical significance and the museum’s potential for economic revitalization. In 1999, MASS MoCA opened its doors.

Designed by the Cambridge architecture firm of Bruner Cott & Assoc, it was awarded highest honors by the American Institute of Architects and The National Trust for Historic Preservation. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Exhibitions

Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing Retrospective Exhibition

On November 16, 2008, the museum opened a landmark exhibition of Sol LeWitt wall drawings in partnership with Yale University Art Gallery and Williams College Museum of Art. The exhibition, Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective occupies a 27,000-square-foot (2,500 m2) building located at the center of the campus. Over 100 monumental wall drawings and paints conceived by the artist from 1968-2007 will be on view through 2033. Cambridge-based Bruner/Cott & Associates converted the historic mill building and worked with LeWitt to design the gallery space. LeWitt designed the final placement of the drawings before his death in April 2007, and the drawings were installed by a team of draftsmen between April 1 and September 30, 2008. The exhibition was chosen as the “top museum exhibition of 2008″ by Time Magazine.

The Knitting Machine

On June 30, 2005, MASS MoCA presented an American sculptural installation by Dave Cole. Cole was in residence at MASS MoCA with his project The Knitting Machine which comprised two excavators specially fitted with massive 20′ knitting needles. The knitting project was expected to be completed by July 3. The product of The Knitting Machine is an oversized American flag – a flag which can be seen as both a celebratory gesture of pride and a commentary on America’s role in world affairs.

When the flag was removed from The Knitting Machine it was folded into the traditional flag triangle and was on display in a presentation case which Cole described as “slightly smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle”, accompanied by the 20′ knitting needles, and a video of the knitting process. .

Building 5 Exhibitions

Robert Rauschenberg

Tim Hawkinson

Robert Wilson

Ann Hamilton

Cai Guo Qiang

Carsten Hller

Christoph Bchel’s installation

In May 2007, the museum became embroiled in a legal dispute with Swiss installation artist Christoph Bchel. The museum had commissioned Mr. Bchel to create a massive new installation, “Training Ground for Democracy,” The exhibit was to include a re-built movie theatre, nine shipping containers, a full size Cape Cod-style house, a mobile home, a bus, and a truck, before the artist abandoned the work after the museum balked at changes the artist made to the planned installation..

The museum, which had already invested significantly in the exhibit and had amassed literally tons of materials in its largest gallery, filed a lawsuit to determine its rights and those of artists were in relation to showing or removing the materials. Bchel claimed allowing the public to view it in an unfinished state would misrepresent his work and did not respond to requests by the museum to come and remove the materials. On September 21, 2007, Judge Michael Ponsor of the Federal District Court for Massachusetts, Springfield, ruled that there was no distortion inherent in showing an unfinished work as long as it was clearly labeled as such. Judge Ponsor said that his opinion would likely not be viewed as creating a legal precedent.

Though the museum was granted permission to open the gallery, it chose not to and the materials were discarded without ever being seen by the public.

Jenny Holzer Projections

On November 18, 2007, Jenny Holzer presented her first indoor projection in the United States at Mass MoCA. Previously, an indoor projection had been presented at the MAK, Vienna. Holzer’s projection at Mass MoCA filled a large chamber first with selected poems by Nobel laureate Wisawa Szymborska, and later with selections from prose by Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek. Holzer placed expansive beanbags around the floor of the chamber, inviting the audience to sit, lie, and bathe in the light of the work. Holzer’s installation immediately followed, and took place in the same space as, the Bchel installation.

Simon Starling

Simon Starling’s The Nanjing Particles opened in December 2008. As a conceptual artist Starling places a great deal of importance in the process of art making and an overall concept or idea uniting the piece. When he came to MASS MoCA he did a bit of research about the museum’s factory buildings and North Adam’s history. In doing so he found a small stereoscopic photograph depicting a large group of men in front of a factory building. It turns out that the building depicted was the Sampson Shoe Factory and the large group of men were about a hundred or so Chinese workers who Sampson had brought east from California in order to break a strike. As a result North Adams had the largest population of Chinese workers this side of the Mississippi. Starling’s work typically investigates manufacturing processes and labor. His next step was to view the stereograph image underneath a one million volt electron microscope, allowing him to see individual metal particles that comprise the photograph and allowing that to propel him towards the creation of two large scale sculptures that ultimately were manufactured by hand in Nanjing, China.

Iigo Manglano-Ovalle

Opening in December 2009, Iigo Manglano-Ovalle’s Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned With opened with an ambitious installation of an upside-down Mies van der Rohe glass house in MASS MoCA’s large Building 5 gallery space. The architecture of the house comes from plans made by Mies van der Rohe for his house with four columns or the 50×50 house (1951), that was never realized. Within the house, whose furniture defy gravity sitting firmly on the floor that is the ceiling, there is evidence of an occupant who has been up to something. The setting is a reference to one of the first science fiction novels written in the 1920s by Yevgeny Zamyatin entitled We(1921). Additionally, this sculptural installation references a 1930s film by Sergei Eisenstein, The Glass House, that was never produced and was based on Zamyatin’s novel. Accompanying the house is a film, titled Always After (The Glass House) (2006), that might answer some questions about the house or just raise even more. The film was created at Crown Hall, Mies van der Rohe’s 1950 School of Architecture building on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus in Chicago.

References

^ Dobrzynski, Judith H. (May 30, 1999). “Massachusetts Home for Contemporary Art”. NYTimes.com. New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9F02E3DD1331F933A05756C0A96F958260. Retrieved 2007-09-20. 

^ “National Register Information System”. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://www.nr.nps.gov/. 

^ Trainer, p. 9

^ Trainer, p. 9

^ Trainer, p. 10

^ Trainer, p. 11

^

^ Trainer, p.11

^ Trainer, p. 12

^ “Bruner/Cott Award”. brunercott.com. http://www.brunercott.com/bca2006/pages/awards.html. Retrieved 2007-09-20. 

^ “Press Release: Site History”. massmoca.org. http://www.massmoca.org/press_releases/background/Site_History.html. Retrieved 2007-09-20. 

^ Smee, Sebastian (November 16, 2008). “In vast LeWitt show, absurdity and beauty”. Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/11/16/in_vast_lewitt_show_absurdity_and_beauty/. Retrieved 2008-12-09. 

^ Lacayo, Richard. “Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective”. 2008 Top Ten Museum Exhibits. Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1855948_1863352_1863353,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-09. 

^ Smith, Roberta (September 16, 2007). “Is It Art Yet? And Who Decides?”. NYTimes.com. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/arts/design/16robe.html. Retrieved 2007-09-20. 

^ Johnson, Ken (July 1, 2007). “No admittance: Mass MoCA has mishandled disputed art installation”. Boston.com. Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2007/07/01/no_admittance/. Retrieved 2007-09-20. 

Bibliography

Trainer, Jennifer ed. MASS MoCA: From Mill to Museum. North Adams:MASS MoCA Publications, 2000.

External links

Mass MoCA website

v d e

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Keeper of the Register  History of the National Register of Historic Places  Property types  Historic district  Contributing property

List of entries

National Park Service  National Historic Landmarks  National Battlefields  National Historic Sites  National Historical Parks  National Memorials  National Monuments

Categories: North Adams, Massachusetts | 1999 establishments | Contemporary art galleries | National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts | Museums in Berkshire County, Massachusetts | Art museums in Massachusetts

Contemporary abstract artist Judy Hintz Cox has been exploring her own style of original abstract paintings for over thirty years. By experimenting with various uncommon media, such as epoxy resin and encaustic wax, Judy’s abstract paintings push the envelope of contemporary abstract art. As an artist, Judy’s boundless energy and minimalist sensibilities come through in a variety of her original abstract paintings, and one look at the expressive textures of her white encaustic series, the vibrant colors of her epoxy resin paintings, or the subdued tones of her abstract ochre series, is enough to be transported emotionally and spiritually in a way that only the finest of contemporary abstract art can achieve.

Judy derives inspiration from many sources, and the rich and contrasting qualities of black and white photography inform some of her most celebrated contemporary abstract painting.

Judy’s abstract black and white paintings eschew the vibrant coloration of some of her other work, such as her epoxy resin paintings, in favor of boldly contrasting lines and energetic brush work. The feverish, often aggressive composition of these abstract black and white paintings excites, energizes, and challenges viewers to examine themselves — and reexamine their expectations of contemporary abstract painting.  

Judy is known the world over for her contemporary abstract paintings, and in particular for her original abstract series that explore particular themes, techniques, and approaches to abstract painting. Judy’s epoxy resin paintings, for example, use the difficult and dangerous substance of epoxy resin to achieve startling levels of translucency and vibrant color enhancement that distinguish these highly original abstract paintings from much else in the world of contemporary abstract art. Such originality and experimentation with new techniques is a hallmark of Judy’s, whether seen in the eloquent topography of her white encaustic series, the more conventionally contemporary painting of her abstract ochre series, or the boundary-pushing freneticism of her abstract black and white paintings.

For over thirty years Judy Hintz Cox has explored her unique artistic vision through a variety of media, and her boundless energy and minimalist sensibilities come through in every painting. Never satisfied with any one particular style or approach, Judy’s work delves into territories of theme and technique that combine a searching, restless variety with a cohesive aesthetic unique to her. It is in the quality of line and texture that Judy is most expressive, whether that be seen in the careful irregularities of her encaustic wax series, the weighty translucency of her work with epoxy resin, the brazen freneticism of her black and white abstracts, or the serendipitous juxtapositions of material and composition of her mixed media work.

Contemporary canvas art is a broad category because experts have chosen to put so many styles together under it as an umbrella heading, but this has ensured that it remains relevant for decades at a time. For example, contemporary art like pop art existed in previous decades but has evolved to incorporate minimalist styles and forms as well as realism, abstract and various other movements in history. Artists from one generation have literally taken what the previous generation had to offer and ensured that it evolved to make it relevant in their particular time. No matter what your generation, you can identify with a number of styles and forms as a result, tracing them through the ages and easily becoming fascinated by the historical significance the art has to offer.

Now there is nothing to say that you have to become involved in the significance of art in any way, shape or form. Most people that look at paintings or other forms of canvas art do not care about such issues. They have no idea of its history and they do not care. However, they do care about the impact that an image makes and contemporary canvas art can certainly do that. They contemporary canvas paintings can add glamour, elegance and charm to a wall or they can add life, vibrancy and a taste of the realistic. You can choose from any number of images to suit your tastes, which leads us right on to the advantages that this particular wall art style has to offer.

Contemporary canvas paintings have a lot of advantages over other types of canvas out there and many of them go some way to explaining why they are always relevant. For example, they offer a series of different colors, forms, themes and styles all in one category so there is something for everyone, regardless of your personal sense of style or taste. You can choose a vibrant canvas that has plenty of color depicting patterns or flowers for example, or you can choose a modern minimalist sketch of your favorite landscape art. Both of these options and everything in between the two fit into this particular wall art style. This leads us to another major advantage in that you can contribute to your space with an image that does not clash with existing decor.

For example, if you are looking for a piece of art to fit into a minimalist room then you can choose from some of the offers from the realism branch of this form of art. They are rather stark and represent the exact image seen by the artist. You can find sketches or paintings within this particular niche but it would suit the environment perfectly. Alternatively, if you are looking for a little color then you may prefer to invest in an abstract piece. Abstract canvas art is subject to interpretation, with the artists taking inspiration from various sources and interpreting it into a subjective image that may or may not be representational. Abstract art tends to be colorful and draws all eyes to it automatically.

Contemporary wall art, in short, gives you a whole range of options when it comes to investing in beautiful canvas art for any given space. Whether you are looking for colorful or stark, you will find it in this particular category along with relevance. Modern artists offer those looking for an investment or simply something to add to the decor so much that it is difficult to describe it all within one article. As such, you may want to look around to find something to suit your tastes. No matter what they are though, Canvas Paintings Gallery will have wall art styles for both your needs and desires.

Abstract Art came about in the last few centuries where artists sought to move away from pure realism painting and put in their own style and emotion into the subject of their painting. From the Renaissance and Baroque styles of almost photo-realistic paintings, abstract contemporary art began to become popular.

Romanticism, Impressionism and Expressionism followed on from the traditional art styles and started to allow artists to impress their own creativity. Such styles laid the foundations for the later art movements which are collectively referred to as Abstract art, in the modern era.

Post-Impressionism continued the change towards abstract art yet further, thanks to works by the likes of Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne. Inspired by the likes of Paul Cezanne, Fauvism & Cubism were created, bringing famous artists like Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Wassily Kandinsky & Pablo Picasso to the public’s attention.

Synthetic Cubism also followed. The Abstract Contemporary style that we have now was ready to be created at this point.

In Britain the first Abstract art exhibition was opened in 1935, with paintings by the likes of Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson on display the following year at a more international event.

The attack on art by the Nazi party in the 1930s and 1940s forced some abstract artists to flee to America which resulted in the likes of Modernism, Late Modernism, American Modernism, and Surrealism starting to gain popularity, particularly in New York. These attempts to control art’s direction actually helped to spread communication of these new art movements to the rest of the world.

The 1950s to now have brought us the likes of Neo-Dada, Fluxus, Conceptual Art, Neo-expressionism, Installation art, Performance Art, Video Art and Pop art. Pop Art of course remains hugely popular today with the likes of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein still selling well.

Modern Abstract Contemporary art styles include the likes of Abstract expressionism, Color Field, Lyrical Abstraction, Post-Painterly Abstraction, Sculpture, and Minimal Art, though new movements appear all the time, particularly with the influx of computer based artists, and different styles of digital art.

Here’s a thought for the festive season. We’re always racking our brains trying to think of the ultimate gift to give someone. You know – something really original, something they’ll love and use and admire. Something, in other words, that will actually be worth buying in the first place and won’t end up consigned to the Drawer of Lost Items in approximately three and a half days’ time. How about some contemporary art? Genuine, real, original art that no one else will have – and that will be guaranteed to go perfectly with the house?

Here’s how. The Internet, bless its little cybernetic cotton socks, has made a lot of stuff a lot more available to a lot more people. That includes art, which, until the limitless storage space the Internet offered meant that anyone could see and buy it, was pretty much trapped behind the alarmed windows of galleries and could only be bought by people rich enough to have more than one surname.

These days, the Internet has liberated the art collector in all of us: and some sites, like the rather lovely UK offering of Art 2 Arts, are now selling genuine original contemporary art for perfectly realised prices – to anyone who wants to buy.

The perfect thing about these works is that they are absolutely guaranteed to be one off pieces: no reproductions, no copies and no second runs. That means, if you see something that you really like, that it will be the only painting or piece of its kind anywhere in the world. And that means, if you see something you think a friend or loved one would really like, that you stand a chance of getting him, her or them the best Christmas present they’ve ever had, A totally unique, totally original and completely wonderful piece of genuine contemporary art.

Christmas, of course, is a time of year to feel cosy and snug; to get warm, to nest, to enjoy one’s surroundings. If one has just been given a rather splendid picture for one’s walls, then one is likely to enjoy that feeling a whole lot more. In other words: proper original art, given as a Christmas gift, is about more than just being completely unique, or totally inspired. It’s also about giving a feeling or an atmosphere – about giving a gift that helps someone to really enjoy their surroundings. That something is contemporary art.

The best online art sites will allow you to search by price, artist, colour and size as well as style. That means no budget shocks and no chance of picking something that doesn’t go with a known colour scheme or theme. It’s the art world, but not as we know it. Democratic, widely and easily available and full of beautiful things for every home owner. So have a little think this Christmas, before you start buying all those flash in the pan gifts that won’t even be in the house any more in six months time. Get hold of some really nice contemporary art and change someone’s surroundings for the better.

The art establishment is not the sole determiner of what contemporary art is. Just writing about the term “contemporary paintings” makes me cringe because it conjures up a type of art snob with nose in the air as they speak knowingly about what they call fine art. For I admit to being one of those people who loves art, who thinks she can tell the authentic from the nice, and certainly can identify the awful and shallow. But I abhor the official snobbery of the art establishment, those who would declare themselves arbitraters of what is art and what is not. And I know I am not alone.

Believe me I get just as tied up in knots over all those art terms out there as you do. What is bioart, neo Dadism, installation art and so on? If there is a wacky word then it is probably related to an art movement and some would say a lot of it is a real movement if you get my drift.

Even the term contemporary artist seems to conjure up an image of a blank wall which has people standing in front of it, heads to the side contemplating the meaning of this major artistic statement.

But how do the rest of us communicate what we think contemporary art is, or maybe more to the point, should be? The only valid way I can think of is to just say what we think art is and damn the noses of the art elite.

For me art goes beyond pretty, beyond a reasonable representation of whatever is being painted. Certainly it goes beyond shocking and the laziness of the artist who throws together a bit of paint and calls it art. For contemporary art has to be about now, whenever that now might be. Likewise good art is always a statement from the artist that, “This is what I feel, what I think, what I see, who I am – right now”. And as importantly I must be able to see and feel and understand as well.

Essentially if the contemporary painting does not speak for the moment – for the times the artist lives in then it really can’t speak at all. As Edvard Munch, the early 20th century artist said, “In my art I attempt to explain life and it’s meaning to myself”. Artists such as Whistler, Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton were contemporary artists of their respective times and the strength of their artistic statements about what was contemporary in their lives and the necessarily unique way in which they expressed it continues to resonate.

We know this not because someone has told us so but because we can see in their art something authentic about the depiction of their times – their own now. That is why Whistler’s Mother ( Arrangement in Gray and Black), American Gothic, Van Gogh’s sunflowers, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Sid Nolan’s Ned Kelly continue to speak to us, impress and thrill us and to open the gates of time to know this is who they were whether it was in 1875, 1935, 1956 or today.

This is also good news for us all because the “great painters” are not only from the past. They emerge everyday as gifted artists continue to define their own contemporary times. Artists such as Garry Duncan – the self taught Australian artist, whose landscapes transcend any previously described art movement, will no doubt be known amongst the likes of Van Gogh, Munch and Nolan. And Garry Duncan will be one of our contemporary artists who will be known for what he should be known for, creating art that is his own and which explains his life and speaks for his times.

What is so interesting is that those who swan through the halls of contemporary art galleries and presume to define art for us may not understand what the rest of us understand. That is, that most of us, those very interested in art and others who just know what they like, are able to see that great art, real contemporary art communicates to each one of us and holds up a window for each of us to see our time not just through the artist’s eyes but through our own.

There is certainly no shortage of greeting cards available to choose from in the specialist High Street stores and the supermarkets. When you start to look along the expansive racking you quickly notice that there is a standard theme running through all of these retailers and the bulk of the greeting cards that are on offer are very generic and much the same from store to store. In fact it is hard to determine one publisher from another at the mass market level. On thing that is very clear and that is there is very little design led contemporary product available unless you are fortunate enough to have a boutique style greeting card specialist in your town such as Scribbler.

Scribbler has a fantastic selection of cool contemporary greeting cards to choose from and virtually none that you will see in the likes of WH Smith or Tesco. Clearly the buyer at Scribbler has a great eye for spotting first class funky cards that will definitely appeal to the discerning card buyer. They have rude cards from Dean Morris and Icon, and they have hand made products from a selection of small producers. They also stock funny photographic greeting cards from Icon with a bizarre slant which are sure to bring a smile to your face.

Icon is a creative publisher of cards with a reputation for excellence in designing and producing contemporary greeting cards, birthday cards, note cards and stationary. Established in the early eighties, Icon remains as dedicated today to producing innovative greetings cards and wall art for the discerning buyer as when they began. Their products reflect popular culture and are influenced by their passion for photography, design, art and typography.

Icon greeting cards and posters are stocked worldwide by many independent, national and international retailers and can be found on the shelves of iconic retailers such as Selfridges and Harrods of London. Icon’s distribution centre is based near Cheltenham from where they offer express delivery all over the world. Visit the Icon shop today and see the fantastic products for yourself.

It would be nice to see more of this type of product in the supermarkets and in the specialist greeting card shops that are dotted around our High Streets throughout the country or it is likely that discerning card purchasers will move to the internet to gain access to a much broader selection of product to choose from.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the following definition of art – “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” In terms of contemporary art, the concept of “emotional power” is probably the most important part of this definition. Art is all over something that surrounds us, not only in the form of paintings and sculptures but also through music, literature, film, photography and others. So it’s no wonder that environmental problems can be found being discussed in art in one or another form.

Art is a great way to attract people`s attention to the environmental issues that are the negative result of human activity, for example climate change, pollution, resource depletion. Ecological problems shown through art have much more influence over people because you do not need to visit some lectures or read a textbook in order to be worried about ecological situation.

You can simply see photography about global warming in the gallery or watch a science fiction movie in the cinema, to experience something that will touch your heart and change your relationship with nature for life.

Environmental art starts its history in 1960s, as a part of the environmental movement, and it has continued to grow since then. Examples of art forms that may be described as environmental art include:

* Land art, in which landscape is used by artists like a form or tool for creating their artworks. Spiral Jetty, by Robert Smithson, is one of the best-known examples of land art

* Arte Povera, in which, to show the influence of industry on the nature, artists use industrial or non-art materials. The most complete collection of works from the Arte Povera movement is at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein

* Site-specific art, artworks created to exist in a specific place

* Eco-art, artworks which have both ecological content and materials

Also growing in popularity are terms such as ‘sustainable art’, which has a wider definition of the environment. Sustainable art may deal with social, economic, biophysical, historical and cultural environments.

Ecological art has many different values, from the pure aesthetic appeal that many of the works have, to the creative displays many include which bring new ideas into the artistic circle. Yet they also have a more concrete advantage, in that the artist is taking advantage of their gift to bring our attention to a problem they consider to be important, and are therefore encouraging discussion about the issue. In this way it contributes valuably to our society and plays a role that increases our sense of social responsibility.

Australian art takes two forms – Aboriginal and Colonial. Any art collection depends on the taste of the individual collector but to have a rounded collection of Australian artwork, it would be a good idea to try and cover all historical bases.

Some of Australia’s most prolific colonial artists have risen from Victoria. The era just after the European settlement saw contemporary art in Australia go from a ‘European sense of light’ to ‘Australian sense of light’. The stylization changes ever so slightly so inflections of each European country can still be seen yet the subject matter starts to change and focus on the new and undiscovered land. It started with very heavily focused natural art – the new raw fresh countryside attracted a lot of naturally themed works of art from many new settler artists. Contemporary Art Gallery Melbourne captures these images and the development that follows.

As the settlers began to explore, the very early nature-based works of art became more focused on discoveries.

The images began to focus heavily on natural discovery images, more rugged landscape and of course the aboriginals themselves. The Jackman Gallery Stockroom has a variety of images which show this transformation. From here art exhibitions began to become more and more popular – this could be because there was something now new and original to discover. The people in the towns and camps were intrigued by life outside of the settlement.

When the 20th century was reached we began to see the rise of Australian born artists, those who had lived their whole lives in the country and had no first hand memories of being elsewhere. It was over this period of time that style really developed and contemporary Australian art began what we know it today. It is this work that is mainly on show at the Contemporary Art Gallery Melbourne in The Jackman Gallery. Sculpture also began to rise in popularity and artists such as Bertram Mackennal, who was born in Melbourne, became iconic figures – he was famous for designing the coinage and stamps bearing the likeness of George V of the United Kingdom.