While Los Angeles has been creating its own reputable art life for many years, there is no denying that New York was the first to achieve it. It was deemed the center of the art world after the surrealists flocked their after WWII and has continued to grow ever since, but a city that holds such high standards for art can often seem intimidating. Each district holds its own set of galleries with completely different genres, it’s hard to find one to begin with. When searching through the inner-workings of a powerful gallery scene, it is nice to come across something that reminds you that art is meant for enjoyment and mistakes are all part of the discovery process, for example coming across the clever blog Escape to New York.

Escape to New York is a blog written by a boyfriend/girlfriend team (mostly written by the girlfriend Jen) about the reality behind moving from a quaint college town, to the fast paced city in Manhattan. Jen is a painter and photographer, while her boyfriend, Hooper is a painter. The blog does a wonderful job of linking the reader to Hooper’s portfolio site, Hooper Turner, and Jen’s photo site, Jen Bandini. Jen writes about her daily activities, museum visits, recent gallery openings, and photos from her life. All of this is presented like a journal as if the readers are being invited to read her inner most thoughts. The blog seems to reflect the journey of a little girl navigating an art community that is so much bigger than her; while that sounds naive, the overall voice is that of an insider who is comfortable pointing out her knowledge as well as her unawareness. Jen does not attempt to know everything about the galleries she lives amongst, but rather emphasize that even a little art in one’s life is a good start.

An interesting post that points out Jen’s understanding of the art world comes from an exhibit from one of her friends. The post describes an installation, but rather than reviewing it, Jen chose to have the artist explain it first hand.

“Correspondence is an exercise in exchange, and in the ritualistic experience of letter writing. Both centered around the phenomenon of the birthday celebration, Per Annum and Correspondence seek to highlight individual traditions and experiences via our personal memories.” (Rachel Jobe, 1.09.08, escapetonewyork.net)

Rather than attempting to describe the show on her own, Jen found it more important to let the artist speak for herself. In the end the readers get a first hand explanation of the work and may feel more inclined to view the installation because they know exactly what to expect.
A review from a more recent post offered a criticism aspect to the blog. Jen reviewed the work of Takashi Murakami, at MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary, after a trip to Los Angeles. While this show was generally seen as a wonderful addition to L.A. and an artist as prominent as Murakami is intimidating for a new art critic to critique, Jen’s ability to stray from formal critique resulted in a more believable account. Her sarcastic yet knowledgeable review offered a light hearted aspect to the post, a voice that appears in many of the posts on this site.

“I am not willing to accept an art that fits so easily, one that is so clearly a huge marketing ploy disguised as irony. That “we” still buy into this is the ultimate irony, and Murakami – fully aware of this – still gets the last laugh because any argument against his work folds in against itself. That’s how perfectly constructed and intrinsic his defense is, and yet…” (Jen Bandini, 2.06.2008, escapetonewyork.net)

The voice is the best part of Escape to New York because it creates a more inviting post. While I loved Jen’s gallery reviews and art openings, her humor seemed the most endearing, as seen in her lengthy post about the joys of flying a hipster airline and the accompanying photo of her lunch on her Virgin America flight to Los Angeles. Pointing out that personality is what makes a scene, not necessarily how scholarly the people are within it.

This blog can help me choose what to post for my readers. Jen and her boyfriend try to show how things really are for the public in the art world. It is not made up of critics, in fact galleries and museums are made for the everyday viewer. Although they are not experts in their field, they still manage to obtain a little bit of fame, for example when Jen commented on her joy after being recognized at an opening. While The Art Underground is meant to inform those hoping to grasp the Los Angeles art scene, I also want to show that the people within this group are in the business of art in order to connect the viewer to the artist. It should always be about the sharing of art because if one person appreciates a piece, they should want to share it with someone else. My blog can show that the people who frequent the galleries are allowed to make mistakes and have trouble finding the artists they want to follow because in the end they will find where they want to got. If anything, the people one meets while visiting the galleries and museums are every bit as interesting as the art on the walls.