As some of you may have noticed, it looks like I have a bit of a regional bias in my choices for “Under the Radar” on the site. All three subjects in these first few weeks hail from Santa Fe, NM. There’s good reason for this: I live in Taos, about 75 miles to the north, and I don’t like to write about artists I can’t visit in person and work I can’t see in the studio. I will be in New York for about ten days, and so can throw some new names into the mix in the new year, and I hope to get to Los Angeles at some point in the very near future. So be patient as I travel around and visit as many members as possible.

You may also notice that I have no firm prejudices when it comes to art. Whether it’s painting or sculpture or installation, I care only that it is well made, shows conviction, and evinces a unique “voice” (I’m afraid I don’t get to take in much performance art, but it’s by no means a closed door for me.)

I was astonished, during the course of the Indiegogo campaign launched early in the summer, at the spectrum of extraordinary work that came in from contributors (subsequently posted in “Updates”). Wonderful artists I had never heard of, work I’d never seen, poured in as contributors signed on. Every day was like Christmas (or, okay, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa). Now it is true that I was not getting the in-person experience, but even the pixellated images showed how much talent is out there, in all corners of the globe, almost all of it worthy of notice. (Just to take one example, I offer at the top of this post Lisa Breslow’s painting Snowy Day, with some slight bias because it seems so appropriate to the season.)

One of my aims in starting Vasari21 was to offer a showcase for people who aren’t getting much attention in the art or mainstream press. And it’s the fun part of my job to make new discoveries over and over. I intend to continue to shine a spotlight on members as 2016 unfolds, and to that end I wish you all a joyous and inspired new year.