"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, through their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun."-Pablo Picasso
"The aim of every artist is not to conform to the history of art, but to release himself from it in order to replace it with his own history."-Harold Rosenberg
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I do love this. It is almost frightening to think how much power we could have right?
ReplyDeleteHey Rob, I was curious about Rosenberg's statement, which you posted.
ReplyDelete"The aim of every artist is not to conform to the history of art, but to release himself from it..."
Conformity and Nonconformity for artists...as it relates to art history...
This evokes an interesting discussion.
I agree with Rosenberg's statement. At the same instance, I believe there are many artists whom may feel trapped or almost forced into conforming to a style that is already well, well - founded. Questions arise...
When does adding onto a movement w/ repetitious works of art- become overkill?
Overkill on a style or even a process?
We can become desensitized to it after a while. Well, some can look at Pop Art and say it was a glorification of overkill (on consumer culture).
Curious, what do you think?
I think this question is THE QUESTION for us as emerging artists. How do we make what we love to do (especially if it has been done before) fresh? Does it have to be fresh? From what I have gathered it does. We cannot attempt to be successful by just conquering technique or by making art that is photorealistic, abstract expressionistic, etc. etc. for the sake of itself. Everything we choose to do, every mark we make on our work must be carefully considered. I have to now ask myself why I am painting in the style I am. What does it mean when I try to warp the figure or make this look extremely life like. Art is no longer for arts sake. I cannot make art just because I like the act of painting this thing this way. It is always asked why. What are you saying about what you are painting by painting it the way you are? Making art for any recognition is such.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading what I have just written, I feel like I do not consider each thing I do to my canvases. I often think, every work of art can be critiqued and described in many ways. For example pure primary colors used in a work may be described as a comment of foundation, simplification or contamination and become famous as such when in reality, the artist just liked the way red and blue play off each other. Perhaps the artist chose red for objects in the foreground and blue in the background. Maybe that’s all the paint the artist could afford. It can almost be interpreted, as… the artist doesn’t make his work famous, the critics do by assigning their own meaning to the work.
These are all just my ramblings. Yet, I find this kind of informal conversation is easily carried on. What do you think?
I think reaching as far as you can is the best beginning. Even if you see influences or your work seems derivative what is important is your intent.
ReplyDelete