Growing up on the west coast of the U.S. gave me the sense of importance which the pioneer spirit plays in art. I am not at all sure that a translation or explanation of this attitude is posssible. But it is what made the art of San Francisco dramatically different from that of New York. May be it was because it was somewhat free at that time from the market forces in the big art world of the East Coast and, of course, the rest of the world. At least that was the case 40 or 50 years ago. Critical thinking was unemcumbered.
The Pioneer Spirit of Art
February 28th, 2010More on Teaching Art
January 30th, 2010Or, better put in an earlier title: “Can Art be taught? “. For me writing for this blog has contradicted my way of doing things. I’ve never had any use whatsoever for keeping a journal or a diary. I any case, I remember having written an article titled “Can Art be taught?” What did I write? I do not remember and do not have the inclination to reread it. Perhaps a better question and title would have been “Can Art be understood today?” All joking aside, it will, I fear, be a most serious question for some time. And the fear of the matter is that although having spent a lifetime attempting to think clearly about difficult matters the issue becomes more and more obscure. Kant as well as Descartes clearly located the universal with the individual: not with the social/cultural setting the individual lived in! And yet, in these interesting days in which we find ourselves, is it not politically incorrect to discuss philosophical issues? Where does this leave Art?
Published in french as Plus sur l’enseignement de l’Art
The Artist as Degenerate Outcast
December 16th, 2009These days, in fact for a long time now you need a thick skin if you are to follow an artistic painter path. Since being relegated to the status of worker only as a producer he or she been valued. That is, up until just recently. Of course, there are still the selected few always hungry to enjoy these fruits.
Social and Oil Painting Connection
November 30th, 2009In these writings I have focused on the connections and relationships primarily between the artist and the visual experience, and as well on the cultural/social connection with painting given its place today in the arts. Historical and political influences have to a lesser degree been touched upon. Given today’s social/political climate these considerations become difficult to approach, added with the fact that later nineteenth century intellectuals bypassed an analysis of social history and its relevancy to art. With few exceptions they were content with offering an analysis of the “masterpiece” as social history. The context of social history itself was dismissed.