Spectum-New York | The Final Verdict

Well, this was an interesting weekend indeed. Let me start off by saying that SPECTRUM-New York was by all accounts an intimate and laid-back affair that gave collectors, artists and the public a chance to engage with pieces and their creators in a way sometimes lost in a bigger show.

That being said, despite the fact that work was moving, it wasn't moving to the satisfaction of some attending artists; on the other side of that coin there were a variety of extremely gracious and excited artists engaging with the public whose work was selling right off the wall.

Part of the problem of traffic flow felt by some can be attributed to this being the first year of Spectrum, a fact alluded to by most detractors; another was the widely variable buyers on hand.

Ranging from the serious collector to the beginner it seemed to me that some came more prepared to be seen than make an acquisition.

In speaking with over a dozen of the many artists and representatives there I'm going to give you guys a rundown of my shortlist of talent from SPECTRUM-New York who I'll be interviewing individually over the next few weeks.

Empty Lighthouse isn't just about creativity or art or photography or fashion (among other things); it's about the conversations that these and other creative interpretations of the world around us engender and the artists, designers and innovators who make them manifest. I'm merely a facilitator of this conversation-sometimes a contributor...either way I'm looking to get you the art-word straight from the artist's mouth.

Partially because I myself am an artist, partially because I have a particular fascination with artists as a group; but either way I ask you to join Empty Lighthouse in bringing conversations with contemporary artists and creatives to the forefront.

Created by artists, E.L is all about highlighting opinions form all parts of the artistic world.

As far as Spectrum is concerned, these are the saucy individuals you'll be learning more about here on Empty Lighthouse in the days and weeks to come as I sit down with each of them (and in some cases check out their studio) to talk process, art and the art-world at large.

Socrates Marquez
| Wonderfully engaging and quite the raconteur Socrates Marquez is just as vibrant as one of his amazingly textured works. I had the serendipitous pleasure of running into Socrates on the line for a cocktail where we quickly hit it off over discussing how great the boutique feel of Spectrum was and the hopes we both had that weekend was going to bring together artists and collectors in an intimate setting.

As for his own work, I can only tell you that we'll be following up with him far sooner rather than later.

Anya Droug
| A student of both art and architecture, the talented Anya Droug transforms the everyday into the magical whether it be a column, or her daughter plopped down on a red chair surrounded by her ballonos in the afterglow of a birthday party. Her pieces are alive with brushstroke and natural drips alike, in speaking with her at Spectrum she told me that she really likes to let the viewer take the lead in interpreting her work or style but tries to encapsulate her emotions surrounding the moments she seeks to capture on canvas.

I'll be talking to her more to bring you a full-fledged feature on the engaging work of this fabulous artist.

Jon Koones
| Jon is a simple guy, with a great passion for what he does.

I love his raw desire to explore the concepts which resonate with him creatively and the sense I got from talking to him that his process is defined by a certain level of respect that he has for his pieces and the messages they send beyond the immediate.

His Love pieces juxtaposed nicely with the Petra series in his booth and what caught my eye was the highly sculpted and repetitive impasto in some of these love pieces which spoke to a mystical undercurrent surrounding his overall aesthetic.

Deljou Art Group
| Having had the pleasure of speaking to both of the brothers from Atlanta who run this fantastic workshop and group of artists that create engaging and uniquely varied pieces I can say that I'm looking forward to bringing more of their extensive holdings to light. Let's face it, we all love engaging and contemporary work to look at and as I mentioned in my SPECTRUM Preview piece, sometimes at a breakneck speed.

With thousands and thousands of works to take in under the Deljou umbrella, their feature is one to look out for.

Lindsay Cowles
| Lindsay was a delight. Full of ideas for ways to take fine art outside just galleries and collectors' homes Lindsay was eager to share her beliefs in the way contemporary artists should maximize the ways in which their work can be skillfully applied in non-traditional ways.

In Lindsay's case she took images of some of her works to design a line of op-art wall paper that is not only unique and striking but is rather chic in my opinion.

Marta G Wiley
| Aside from instantly bonding over our shared love of horses, I was immediately captivated by the spirit of this artist. Marta spent her time at Spectrum painting, for passers by and her own amusement.

As she said, she's happy "as long as I'm painting every day." She recounted to me her early success with the vibrant equestrian works overseas and how her passions only grow as she matures creatively.

Excited to be coming to New York (she's currently in Arizona) Marta will be giving Empty Lighthouse a closer look behind her, her process and what makes her work so energetic.

Jim Inzero
| Aside from the fact that I have a personal weakness for the dimensionality of encaustic work, I was drawn to Jim's innate sense of color and balance within his etherial panels (birch wood to be precise). Particularly intriguing to me were the creations incorporating nautical maps; something which Jim says he started doing a few years ago.

We'll be visiting Jim in his studio in a few months for an interview about his relationship with the often under-appreciated craft of encaustic about which he seemed pretty passionate.

Don't worry, these aren't the only amazing talents I saw at Spectrum nor are they the only ones I'm working to feature fully here at Empty Lighthouse, but where's the fun if I don't keep some tricks up our sleeves?