most people art -- paintings of stuff

Do ordinary people care about art? It’s possible they might be curious about art and artists, could be interested in representational painting, and would like to see more, although painting in general doesn’t warrant much regard these days. Social elites don’t like painting unless it’s bona fide master class, price-tag prominent trophy collectible. Contemporary culture mavens agree, give us social relevance, make puns that amuse us and make us feel smart, and we’ll support you using other people’s money, museum purchases, international exhibitions, all such as that. The truly rich have rising stars, black-tie galas, and sip cocktails around large, refuge assembled, hugely forgettable art -- they move on. Not surprising most people across the land find themselves disengaged, unmoved, and just can’t be bothered to play along, thereby officially qualifying as dullards, cretins, sports fans destined to live with department store prints on the wall. They have no taste -- close the door, leave them out.

Bye and large, sorry to say, big art is a racket. The civil servant emeritus winks, the uptown merchant proffers the plumped pedigree, and the newly rich, desperate seekers after inclusion and social status, are their easy marks. At least, that’s how it looks from the outside, where most people are. This thing about art is simple, really. People like painting, an art form they can own and see on their walls every day. The annual ‘nude‘ show, mentioned a couple of posts back, was quite popular the first few years, and as a fact was the single yearly well-attended event that begat the modern art league, paid positions and copy machines. It gradually morphed as the years went by, becoming each year more conceptual, and the public, even the art league, eventually lost interest.

Was it the titillating notion of undress that drew the crowds initially? The public, some significant portion, seem to be just interested in painting, and a thematic show on a subject they know well proved an excellent opportunity to learn, not about nakedness, but about the art of painting, itself, along with the opportunity to compare and assess the skill level and vision of artists from across the territory. From this experience, along with others, it seems perfectly plausible a significant portion of the public has an interest in, even an appetite for an art that’s both accessible and obtainable. Oh sure, there are international accolades for the quasi-literary reference to injustice in the abstract, gender, race, and workplace issues, and it’s bound to trickle down, but beyond the art establishment’s velvet rope tribalism, with their hyped, visually impotent superstars, who cares? Not most people.