juliaribeirostudio

[juliaribeirostudio]

obviously art history/criticism is important af and like, offers a beautifully human way of understanding our world.

but at the same time, there’s palpable tension in the fact that so many of the artists we worship as gods would NEVER be able to succeed (or even function) in today’s art world/market.

sure, 100 years ago modernist painting probably felt how technology feels today. it was a new frontier to explore and push boundaries. “how much can i fuck shit up and still call it a ‘painting’.” and that inquiry seemingly had stakes within culture at large. (i keep thinking about jackson pollock on the cover of Time magazine thinking how ridiculous it would be in 2025 to put a contemporary artist on the cover of ANYTHING.)

something that’s hard for me rn is that art feels so detached from popular culture. it feels like it’s in this (very wealthy, very privileged) bubble that has nothing to do with “the real world.” not even like, the frivolous parts of the “real world.” painting in particular is just irrelevant to 99% of people.

idk how to ask questions about painting when the world is on fire. yet i know, historically, some of the best art was made during (or in the aftermath) of absolute world-wide catastrophe and collapse. it feels like art was once the connective tissue for human experience and now it’s just phone. phone and war.

i haven’t made a painting in three years.

[juliaribeirostudio]

“studio” june 9, 2023

[juliaribeirostudio]

making art RIGHT NOW!!!!

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praying for a comeback in 2023

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wip: 08.20.22

[juliaribeirostudio]

studio vibes

[juliaribeirostudio]

i put paint to canvas for the first time in four years

[juliaribeirostudio]

in kiki’s delivery service she says “you fly with your spirit.” and if you haven’t seen the film, flying is a metaphor for like, ~art~. (sorta, whatever)

in yuyu hakusho the whole concept of the spirit egg is that it feeds off of your energy. it becomes whatever you put into it and you’re helpless to the result.

and first i was thinking about like, my work/process. and how only recently did i realize i was painting voids because i felt empty inside. i really had no conscious thought about that but only now is it becoming so real. when i say empty i mean, so disconnected from myself, my desires, my needs. like a total lack of self. an inner emptiness so vast i was blind to it my whole like, life?

i’ve been really going through it the past couple months, like. facing the dragon, or something? 

and like, one thing that came to mind to give me the will to live is that my paintings sorta predicted the future? or should i say, my paintings know me better than myself? or should i say, my mind knew something it couldn’t put language to and it came out as a painting and only years later did i learn how to read it?

that’s flying with your spirit. 

i gotta say, the last few years out of school, in general, in life, in art—it’s rough out here. and i’ve beat myself up about “not making real art anymore” or whatever for so long but when i think about ^^^ that it makes me believe in painting again. something. 

but then i was thinking about like, people living with my paintings. and how they’d have it hanging somewhere in their house. sometimes they’d look at it but most of the time it’s just there in the background. in the reflection of the TV. behind your friend’s head in a conversation. a place for their eyes to rest during an argument. the thing they were looking at when they got a certain phone call. 

they fill the void with themselves, you know? quietly over time. like a bond. 

if you’ve ever lived with art, maybe you know what i mean. at one point the painting belonged to “the artist.” but after years of it quietly existing in your life, lugging it around from apartment to apartment. figuring out where to hang it, how to hang it. figuring out a time of day where you think the light hits it just right. well now it’s “your’s.”

but it’s really both. it’s me and you in a slow embrace. 

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ol drippy

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what’s happening

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i do this now.

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remember this?

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driving

[juliaribeirostudio]

I have read thousands of press releases from Whatever Gallery. Whatever Artist  (pronouns Whatever) from Whatever Land with stuff to say about Whatever. Whatever Artist’s work is (always) subverting Whatever and the more we read, we realize how much we should care before locating free Whatever Beverage (Donation Whatever) and scanning the room for Whatever People to avoid making Whatever with.  

The press release has words like “Post-Whatever.” “Late Stage Whatever.” “Whatever Supremacist.” “Anti-Whatever.” “Whatever-ism” and definitely “Whatever-ist.” Oh, and the price list; which appears, at first, as a relief cuz less words but then you see the numbers.

Do you experience “Whatever?” — Then YOU might have ADHD.

Is it possible for Whatever Artist to truly be a radical Whatever? Maybe it’s just my Whatever talking, but I don’t see how selling Whatever for $Whatever through Gallery Whatever in the most expensive part of Whatever City is anything other than winning the rat race.

Is it possible to win and still be Punk Rock?

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believe it or not, i am still trying.

[juliaribeirostudio]