| | Malcom,
Years ago, my ex-husband and I were wandering through a small gallery looking for pieces for his new office. There were a group of paintings there done by a local artist that I took a great deal of interest in: lots of bright color, tall, breezy figures that seemed to exude pride, etc. The subject was clearly a market place, packed with well stocked vendors, and buzzing activity. The paintings expressed a whole lot of productive energy to me, and I liked them.
The artist who created them also happened to be there and was delighted to explain his techniques. When I asked about the subject matter, he said that they were scenes from a foreign market place in an urban "slum."
He had meant for the overall effect to be more or less depressing, and was sure he'd accomplished just that, but he was wrong. I told him I found nothing "depressing" about them, they were far too bright, and the figures displayed a notable "tallness," as with pride, and the negative things, like garbage cans and litter, were so small in comparison, that it was pretty clear to me how unimportant they were to him.
Anyway, he was a very nice guy, and I realized right then that sometimes it's impossible for an artist to create the terrible world they're convinced we all live in. Impossible because it's not true.
Hacks have no problem creating garbage. Good artists have a tougher time creating junk.
I normally don't care about an artist's ideas off the canvas or block. His/her work will at times have the opposite effect of what they intended. That's my take on it, anyway.
Teresa
|
|
Otherworld
