The successful painting doesn’t recede into the background, and won’t become unnoticed no matter how many times it’s seen during a day. Historical allegory, fruit in a bowl, total abstraction, doesn’t matter -- that’s not part of the test. As a fact, the significant work of art becomes more present, and its influence permeates the interior it occupies more completely, the longer it’s lived with. It’s the way, in the long run, you can tell.
Visual art has gimmicks galore that fool the eye, cloud the mind, and its salesmen manage to change the subject most of the time. Novelty provides a jolt, celebrity porn vamps sensation, and the ‘relics’ of famous artists have fan appeal, but it don’t mean a thing if it doesn’t engage the eye and mind on an ongoing basis. All artists are driven by this one goal, to draw the attention of the viewer, sometimes only for a few seconds, designing logos and fast food menus, movie posters and fine art. Mostly they clomp along together, travel in a pack, all seeking to impinge at the apex of group awareness at the moment, because that’s where the money is.
Our reality these days flashes by minute to minute, but art lasts a long time. The museum has fresh, just-painted looking works from five hundred years ago. Far from being obsolete, the enduring quality of a work of art will become more dear as lives dissolve in digital, that universal solvent melting and merging humanity into an ant farm with barracks for drones, I digress. A standard for quality in visual art becomes important, and how to recognize significance will become a practical matter.
If you’ve never cried in front of a work of art, you may have to take my word for it. Let me explain. When a visual artist manages to touch a place inside that you didn’t know was there, tears come to your eyes. Doesn’t happen very often, can be totally unpredictable and it has nothing to do with being sad. It’s more like a reflex, the automatic response to a tickle deep down, and not totally unpleasant when it happens. Short of that, try visiting a museum after a ten year absence. It can be like meeting old friends, reviving old memories, and a couple the paintings will be glad to see you, welcome back. This experience also requires personal verification.
The object of these essays is to suggest these time-binding qualities can also be found in paintings from the neighborhood, and to acknowledge sincere attempts at self-expression made without the ambition of stardom and fame, or perhaps even the hope of earning a living until conditions improve. When visual art becomes visible to enough of us, earns its attention and respect, there’ll be peace in the valley -- better be soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment