"Reminisence" by Fred Fraser FRESH PICKS V1E8

Vantage Art Projects is completely romanced by our new Fresh Pick limited edition. The image has the nostalgic and melancholy aura of a Marilyn Monroe or a Brigit Bardot film still from classic cinema. Almost voyeuristic, for us at Vantage, "Reminisence" is an iconic image of modern beauty.

The method by which Fred created this image is timely and poignant. It is the end of an era in film photography. Polaroid has stopped producing it's instant film, and although Fuji will continue making a type of instant film, it was Polaroid that was synonymous with the medium. More to the point, each type of film stock has always had it's own distinct quality, and it's own champions for that very reason. "Pola, au revoir mon vielle ami".

Fred discovered an old stash of 3"x4" film in his supply cabinet, long out-dated, most unusable. Massaging a few of the packets back to life, approximately a dozen frames were salvaged. An impromptu photo shoot with a willing studio assistant as a model allowed Fred to achieve the goal of simply making an image, instead of capturing a moment. The shoot was entirely for Fred's own enjoyment as a "shooter" and to go back to using the outdated film on a large format camera simply for the pleasure of photography. Fred says "it's difficult to say what the picture is about and I think the picture is it's own best description. When I shoot for pleasure - my pleasure - I shoot what I feel, or what I see. Sometimes the photo is narrative, sometimes it's interpretive or just a selective rendering that draws attention to some color or shape. Often my photos are little visual jokes or puns and usually I am the only person that gets the joke; and that's ok."

Fred Fraser is a Vancouver-based photographer with a successful commercial career. Fred got his education in photography as a result of being a failed piano player. Essentially self-taught, the artists that inspire Fred are more often writers and musicians then other photographers due to how he connects best to the passions of other people. More of Fred's work can be seen at: www.fredfraser.com.

Buy "Reminisence" from Fresh Picks now, starting at $45.00.

FRESH PICKS! OWN THE FRESHEST THING IN CONTEMPORARY ART TODAY.

VANTAGE EXHIBITIONS - "Let Them Eat Cake" at Gallery Atsui (Feb. 6 to 28/09)

Join us for "cake" at the opening reception Friday, Feb. 6/09 from 8-10 pm.

Open Call for Artist Submissions - Paul Butler Curated, Exhibition in Print

Vantage Art Projects is super, duper excited to announce our first ever call for submissions for a VANTAGE POINT EXHIBITION-IN-PRINT curated by PAUL BUTLER.

OPENING DATE: Monday, January 26/09
CLOSING DATE: Saturday, March 21/09 (midnight)

30 selected artists will have their work published in a new art book along with a selection of Paul's own work and his collaborations with other artists.

Paul is currently attending “The Mountain School”, an alternative art school in Los Angeles, and will be in term from January to March 2009. All this alternative learning has us thinking about going off-the-grid with our education, doing some home schooling and then some re-tooling. As a result, we're grooving on ideas related to self-taught modes of reading, writing and arithmetic, and maybe even repeating Foundation year just for fun (not).

Luckily, much of Paul's practice involves collaborative activities and, quote unquote, an interest in multidisciplinary, social and alternative pedagogical practices. Artists are invited to submit up to 3 works for consideration in response to the concept: “Community and Collaboration as a Form of Pedagogy”.

What we mean by community and collaboration (and pedagogy) is collective methods of learning and creating. We're thinking this encompasses peer pressure, dating, father-daughter days, Rotarians, elder worship and good old fashioned “keeping up with the Joneses”.

Some other stuff you should know up front:

1) Your entries will be juried blind which is going to level the playing field - Paul won't see any names or resumes when he is selecting the work.

2) There is a small administrative fee to submit which allows us to make this project happen ($40). This is submitted through Pay Pal.

3) Submissions are preferred in electronic format. Our submissions process and rules are clearly outlined on the website.

Although we are accepting entries up to midnight on Saturday, March 21/09, we highly recommend that you try to submit as early as you can. This will ensure that all the technology stuff happens smoothly (full in-boxes and all that). We won't be extending the deadlines because Paul has a plane to catch!

Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Sherri, Luisa, Jen and Paul.

Click Here to Submit NOW!

"Redbeard Rides a House Grave of Green and Yellow" by Sandra Lopuch & Ben Edmiston FRESH PICKS V1E7

Fresh Picks is pleased to release our first edition of a collaborative work. Sandra Lopuch and Benjamin Edmiston's "Redbeard Rides a House Grave of Green and Yellow" is a brand new, unique, mixed media work following on the theme of Redbeard launched at Gallery Atsui in Vancouver in their "No Strings Attached "exhibition in 2008. The edition will be released on Sunday, January 18, 2009.

Canadian West Coast-based Sandra Lopuch, trained at ECIAD, the Carl Malmsten Institute for Wood Technology and Design in Stockholm, Sweden. Sandra is trained as an industrial designer and completed some impressive design internships before teaming up with New York based illustrator Benjamin Edmiston (Ben). Sandra refers to her textile stitchery work as "painting with string".

Ben is originally from Bethlehem, PA. he attended the Tyler School of Art and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He creates imagined civilizations of vibrant, decorated and often moustached characters. Ben's latest group of drawings derives from his interest in seeing the face as an endless template to navigate formal issues. Totem poles, birthday hats, and masked thieves are reoccurring images inhabiting his work.

"Redbeard Rides a House Grave of Green and Yellow", is an original illustration by Ben, embroidered in string by Sandra. The result is a colourful, tactile, multi-layered work.

Fresh Picks is Vantage Art Projects' series of affordable limited edition fine art prints. The series allows art lovers to own work that is current and representative of the contemporary artscape. It is an unprecedented way for artists to share their work with collectors and art lovers across the world. Released twice a month, the artist and work is first announced to our mailing list and is sold exclusively through the Vantage Art Projects website.

Fresh Picks is a unique opportunity to collect an image from Sandra Lopuch and Benjamin Edmiston that is an exclusive release from their collaboration. It is only available through the Vantage website. Buy "Redbeard Rides a Grave House" now.

For information on the artists, please contact sandralopuch@gmail.com.

For more information and media queries about Vantage Art Projects, please visit www.vantageartprojects or e-mail luisa@vantageartprojects.com.

"Manifestation" by Yechel Gagnon FRESH PICKS V1E6

Vantage Art Projects is excited to announce "Manifestation" by Yechel Gagnon as the sixth edition in the first FRESH PICKS volume!

Yechel Gagnon is an honors graduate in drawing and painting from the Ontario College of Art and Design and holds a MA in Fine Arts, Studio Art from Concordia. A multi-disciplinary artist, Gagnon explores both the pictoral and the sculptural, using plywood as her primary medium. Her museum installations take up entire gallery rooms and create an alternative environment where one is immersed in the palimpsest of her deconstructed/reconstructed materials that are both industrial and organic, manufactured and deliberately hand-made, all at the same time.

"Manifestation" is a digital work that was created during a residency at the National Research for the Contemporary Digital Art in Quebec, and developed as an edition especially for FRESH PICKS. About this edition, Gagnon states:

"The image is a digital work that I created during a residency at the National Research for the Contemporary Digital Art in Quebec. This work is significant because it incorporates all the different facets of my work, by creating a dialogue between my bas-reliefs, the drawings and prints but within the digital realm. This image consists of images of nature, integrated with my carved plywood textures and then I've digitally drawn over the images. This digital work becomes an extension to my practice and is the only one that exists of this series and has never been exhibited, except on my website."

For information on Yechel Gagnon, please visit www.yechelgagnon.com. The artist is represented by the Newzones Contemporary Art Gallery in Calgary and the Moore Gallery in Toronto.

"Manifestation" is a unique opportunity to collect an image from Yechel Gagnon that is an exclusive release from her archive.

Click here to BUY NOW from Fresh Picks by Vantage Art Projects.

FRESH PICKS LIMITED EDITIONS - Exhibition Quality, Archival Digital Prints

Philip Taffe Kabinet Exhibition @ Art Basel Miami 2008
Archival Ink Jet edition released with I.C. Editions in Nov. 2007.

David Hockney Digital Archival Inkjet Prints @ Richard Grey Gallery
Art Basel Miami 2008

Digital printing technology has evolved dramatically over the past years, and both the quality and the options for fine art prints have evolved along with these advancements.

Blue-chip artists such as David Hockney (a pioneer in using digital painting and printing methods), and ABMB '08 Kabinet-featured artist Philip Taffe have recently released, highly-covetable, limited-editions using the same materials and methods as the Fresh Picks editions. At the recent Art Basel Miami 2008, a sell-out series of digital prints by David Hockney were flying off the walls at $9,500.00 per print.

In 2007, Taffe released an archival inkjet print portfolio in an edition of 35 with I.C. Editions. ($3,000.00 USD for a portfolio of three, or $1,200.00 USD per single print.). New York-based I.C. Editions was established by Susan Inglett in 1991 to publish the work of both young and mid-career artists. To date she has published prints and multiples with artists including: Claes Oldenburg, Catherine Opie, Richard Prince, Terry Winters and Andrea Zittel.

Our Fresh Picks editions utilize all the advantages of digital fine art inkjet technology to create beautiful, textural, colour-saturated, archival prints. Our edition volume of 200 at the 10" x 12" size allows us to offer these prints at an amazing price for established and aspiring collectors. Both the fine-art paper and the inks used by Vantage have tested archival properties akin to other print-making methods. Estimates have the archival life span of both the pigments and papers tested for between 75-100 years. Of course, UV protection of any art work on paper further extends the life span of any print or drawing.

Our Fresh Picks editions currently use a high-end Roland professional fine art printer, Sunset heavy-pound archival paper and archival pigment inks. We are further privileged to work with fine art printer and a company that has over 30-years experience in the fine art market, including both digital printing, silkscreen and lithograph printing. (Thank-you Paul, Terry and Alicia for all of your diligence and support!)

Quite simply, our Fresh Picks editions are the most beautiful prints we can make for you with our goal of creating affordable and accessible contemporary art prints.

As technology advances, so do the opportunities for artists to expand their library of tools and materials. What's up next for Fresh Picks? Research into Epson's new revolution in solvent-based printing. Once just for commercial, outdoor applications, this instant drying, solvent-based printing technology is now entering the realm of fine art archival properties . The papers look and feel like chemical photographic medium. As a result, solvent printing seems on the verge of becoming an amazing medium for totally indelible and brilliantly saturated photographic prints.

New technology often raises comments and questions...so let's get the dialogue going...and I'll post some testimonials from our artists about how amazing our Fresh Picks prints really are!

- Jennifer (the resident technology geek)

Miami Slice

Jen & I are scouting out Art Basel Miami and the adjacent and coinciding art fairs which have been dubbed the Cannes Film Festival of the art world. Miami is certainly hosting her fair share of celebrities this year including Grace Jones, Faye Dunaway, Beyoncé Knowles, and for all you art fans, Jay Joplin, Julian Schnabel, Rachel Feinstein and John Currin, to name a few.

It’s a world where contemporary art meets design meets fashion. Despite gloom and doom in the daily national news, and while everyone acknowledges the crazy hey days (or should that be daze?) of art buying have past, there is still an encouragingly brisk trade happening on the trade fair floors.

Canadian artists are holding their own. While not all claim Canada as home any longer, spotted in International galleries were excellent examples of Rodney Graham, Jeff Wall, Graham Gilmore, Peter Doig, Jessica Stockholder, Steven Shearer, Jillian McDonald, Keer Tanchak, Mike Swaney and Kelly Mark.

We haven’t even made it yet to the Canadian galleries beyond Katherine Mulherin at Aqua and Trepanier Baer at Scope, but hey, we’ve only been on the circuit for 2 days and have the sore feet and swollen eyeballs to prove it.

Some of my favourite pieces so far have been sculptural. A yellow polar bear made entirely of yellow feathers by Paola Pivi (above), a contrasting trio of spotted fiberglass/resin dogs by Yayoi Kusama and a copper maquette of work slated for Canada’s National Gallery by Steven Shearer. Heartening for us at Vantage Art Projects with our Fresh Picks, was to see was the proliferation of quality digital ink jet prints selling well in an envious price range!

This is the land o beautiful people surrounded by a tropical sea where dinner customarily starts at 10pm and revelry for revelry sake ends at dawn. It’s refreshing to see that at Art Basel & friends, painting is definitely not dead, nor is art collecting!