Dan Ragland answers.....
What is your definition of art?
I don't have one.
How would you describe your artwork?
I try not to.
What influences your art?
Everything.
Who are your favorite artists?
Eva Hesse, Picasso, Bacon, Soutine, Bernini, Michangelo, Nevelson, Arbus, Witkin, Friedlander, Morandi, Monet, Matisse, Ryder, Hoch, the Starns (how much time do I have....)
What is your favorite artwork by another artist?
Silly question.
If you could have dinner with any artist, living or dead, who would it be? What one question would you ask?
Francis Bacon. Can I have a painting?
Describe one challenge you constantly face in your practice?
Repetition.
How do you know when an artwork is complete?
Define complete.
What is one discovery you have made while working?
That I'm incapable of being neat.
What is the role of the artist in today's society?
TBD
What is the strangest comment someone has said about your work?
I'd never have THAT in MY house!
What else are you interested in besides art?
Books.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Having enough hope to think it hasn't happened yet.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Fear.
Which living person do you most admire? Dead person?
Auntie Mame. For both.
What or who is the greatest love of your live?
Danny C Thompson
When and where were you the happiest?
Interesting that the question is were, not are.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd have rich parents.
Where would you like to live?
Rome.
Who are your heroes in real life?
I can't even begin to get my brain around that one.
What is your motto?
Stop thinking about it.
TRUISMS (Mine not Yours) Part 1 - with apologies to Jenny Holzer
2. In Colorado, it takes about $15-20,000 per month to keep the doors open on a gallery. At a 50% commission, you need to sell $40,000 per month to break even. $480,000 per year. No gallery stays open solely on the sale of art.
3. When a gallery is open everyone keeps asking 'how are you doing?' (as if you are ready to close). When you close, everyone asks 'when are you going to open again'? None of these people ever buy art.
4. A gallery is a commercial venture. A commercial venture is supposed to make a profit. A gallery is open to the public for free. If a gallery doesn't make a profit it is a non-profit organization. Non-profit organizations are supported by the public.
5. There are five exponents in the art world: the artist, the critic, the museum, the collector and the gallery. None of these fields requires an advance degree in an art discipline.
