Thursday, July 27, 2017

On Painting

ON PAINTING
  Painting is an art that reached it's peak during the renaissance. Since then, applying paint to a surface has been experimented with in almost every way. Painting has often been declared dead. So in an era when painting is seldom considered on the cutting edge of contemporary art, why pursue it? 
When talking about Lucian Freud after his death an art critic from England said in effect that we talk about the stars of conceptual art but it's paintings that we love.
 In my work I use elements of abstraction and various degrees of realism to achieve a desired affect that varies from piece to piece. Inspiration in much of my recent work is taken from popular culture, especially the transient nature of things, like fame and fashion, the persona we create in our minds about famous people we know only by the songs they sing, the parts they play and what we read in magazines. We come to love or hate people we have never met by the fables invented about them. By extension we may also create persona for ourselves and play out the parts based on these illusions. I also like to riff on art, like a jazz musician quoting passages or giving it a new spin, in a continuum of traditional themes, especially imagery that has entered popular culture. Some works are more lyrical and others more narrative. I love art and the varying creative processes. I brush spray splatter drip and stencil the paint, whatever it takes. I have always created because I enjoy it. While art can make one think, and the best art does. I believe the main motivation should be the joy of doing it. It has been said that van Gogh suffered for his art. Perhaps his art eased his suffering.