Interview with Jon Beinart, Beinart Collective: “Anomalies” Opens October 13 at Copro

Jon Beinart has just curated “Anomalies,” an exhibit at CoproGallery,  opening on October 13th

When will the Beinart Collective radically take over the mainstream art world?

As much as the suppressed megalomaniac inside me would love this, I don’t think it would be healthy for me, or the mainstream art world.. I just hope the collective will help open doors for the artists and will contribute positively towards the growing acceptance and appreciation of imaginative representational art in the art world.

How long did it take to go from spamming people’s emails to get them to visit the site to becoming a trendsetter?

I launched the site in 2006, so 6 years I suppose.

What’s been your weirdest find in the world of strange and surreal art?

This is a difficult one as there are so many weird and wonderful artworks out there. I guess my own favourite brand of weird is the fleshy and deformed variety. I’d have to name the following sculptors: Berlinde Debruyckere & Mark Prent. I also love a lot of contemporary taxidermy artists, like: Tessa Farmer & Iris Schieferstein.

How do you build your Toddlerpede sculptures?

With a mountain of doll parts, a thick wire armature (welded together) and a good dose of sleep deprivation and delirium. On my latest sculpture. Toddlerpede 2.0, I also used a two part epoxy sculpt to fill the gaps in-between the doll parts and to build up some of the surfaces (ie. to create rounder bellies and bums) and I painted the surface with acrylics.

What country will have the next big art wave?

Hopefully Australia. Then I’ll actually be able to see more exciting art in person. That said, I have no idea.

What’s the drug of choice for most of the artists in the collective?

If I was to guess, I’d say caffeine!

What’s been the most random email you or a collective member has received?

There have been way too many to choose one, but I must say, some of these questions are pretty random.

What are your favorite sources for discovering emerging artists?

I really like the Hi-Fructose website and blog. I have discovered a lot of artists on the following blogs: Wurzeltod, Monster Brains, Crappy Taxidermy & Beautiful Decay. I’ve also randomly stumbled across a lot of great artists on Facebook.

If you had a unlimited budget what would you create?

For many years now I’ve fantasised about converting a cathedral into a museum of sorts with strange creatures (sculptures) lurking in every corner, crawling up walls and peeking through and emerging from cracks. I’d also commission a stained glass artist to create windows with perverse Hieronymus Bosch like imagery and deck the walls out with paintings and drawings by some of my favourite artists. Ideally, I’d also like to have a huge sculpture garden surrounding the museum. I could go on and on. One can only dream.

How do you keep yourself from having nightmares after spending hours looking at spooky pieces of art?

I don’t find art spooky. I’m much more disturbed by reality!

What’s the best fantasy film to have playing in the background while you’re working on the website?

Do I have to choose a fantasy film? I’d prefer to play Being John Malkovich or something equally absurd.