Artblog.net

Tonight I discovered an amazing art blog logically located at Artblog.net. Artblog focuses the visual arts, arts writing, design, art criticism, the artist's life, exhibition and book reviews, rants, and quotes. Artblog is written by Franklin Einspruch, who is an artist himself. In his own words, Einspruch describes what Artblog is all about:

I'm Franklin Einspruch, an artist and writer. I started blogging about art back in 2002 and put up Artblog.net in May 2003. What began as a rant into the digital aether about art has turned into a long conversation with people all over the world about art and how we experience it. I believe that art's main power is to encapsulate human experience in an aesthetic, intuitive, non-verbal way. Art that has other agendas tends to arouse my suspicion, but I'll give it a shot. For more information, see the Third-Person About.

In the aforementioned Third-Person About, Einspruch goes on to say:

Personal, contrarian, subjective, independent, spirited, and consitutionally indifferent to the art "scene," as people call it, Artblog.net seeks to apply clear looking, clear thinking, and clear writing to visual art. It posts exhibition reviews, art book reviews, reports on comics and illustration, essays on a broad range of concerns within visual art, special publications, and a weekly roundup of hyperlinks to art-related stories selected by the author on the basis of importance, humor, or oddball virtue. Artblog.net publishes each weekday.

According the blog's traffic page or "peastat", it approximates 61 hits per hour--this number is based on recent hits and is therefore subject to change frequently. The blog has also been featured in various art magazines.

One recent post on Artblog.net shows us the work by artist John Link. John Link's abstract artwork is really something. Although Artblog featured several of his paintings, this one is my favorite:

John Link: Battled Ground, 2008.

For more art by John Link, visit johnlink.org.

Another great post on Artblog was a post on New Modernism. Since I have been studying modernism (and postmodernism) in art for the past four years, I got really excited about this post. The post quotes what Walter Darby Bannard has to say about new modernism, and then analyzes it.

Though I've only mentioned two of Artblog's posts, the blog has so much to offer anyone interested in art. While the blog is very professional and scholarly, it often presents its material in a fun and more interesting way. Whether you're an artist, art historian, or just an art lover, the variety of posts (some long, some short and sweet) will deserve your undivided attention.

Overall, I think that Artblog makes for a great quick read or reference, and I look forward to visiting it again and again! And although I intend for my blog to focus a little more on how technology affects art, Artblog.net will definitely make a great reference for my blog in the future!