Is Painting Dead?

I was listening to the most recent Pharmakast last night. One of the participants -- I think it was Vonn Sumner -- said that painting is dead, but it doesn't really matter, because painting is alive for him. Most people couldn't care less about art. They don't go to galleries, they don't go to museums, and they wouldn't pay $20 for a painting on eBay. Painting isn't relevant to most people's lives. And yet painting is relevant to me. Painting is what gets me up in the morning, and I can't imagine a life without it. Does it matter that it's not relevant to 99.9% of the population? Perhaps only when it comes to sales! It would be nice to have a larger audience for art, and not to have to store so much of it.

Process versus Product

I was listening to Natalie Goldberg read from Thunder and Lightening, one of her books on writing. She was talking about the popularity of books about writing, and how people are now more interested in the process of writing than in the end product. Her books about how to write have sold really well -- much better than her novels.

I wonder if the same thing is happening with other forms of art -- that the process is more interesting than the end product. Would people rather try their hand at painting, for the experience of it and for what it reveals about themselves, than own paintings?

Pharmakast

I highly recommend the Pharmakast art roundtable podcasts about the art world, produced by members of Pharmaka, a group of painters here in Los Angeles. The first one is just a very brief introduction, and in the second, they discuss how Pharmaka got started and their feelings, as artists, about the art world. It resonates strongly with my own experiences. Painters, you need to check this out. You can listen directly, without an iPod, by clicking on the direct download option.

The Meaning of Art

I've been questioning art and why I do it lately, and then I read this section in the book, Art and Fear:

If art is about self, the widely accepted corollary is that making art is about self-expression. And it is -- but that is not necessarily all it is. It may only be a passing feature of our times that validating the sense of who-you-are is held up as the major source of the need to make art. What gets lost in that interpretation is an older sense that art is something you do out in the world, or something you do about the world, or even something you do for the world. The need to make art may not stem solely from the need to express who you are, but from a need to complete a relationship with something outside yourself. As a maker of art you are custodian of issues larger than self.

Some people who make art are driven by inspiration, others by provocation, still others by desperation. Artmaking grants access to worlds that may be dangerous, sacred, forbidden, seductive, or all of the above. It grants access to worlds you may otherwise never fully engage. It may in fact be the engagement -- not the art -- that you seek. The difference is that making art allows, indeed guarantees, that you declare yourself. Art is contact, and your work necessarily reveals the nature of that contact. In making art you declare what is important.

I'm not sure what direction to go with my art. I'm becoming more and more interested in things that I know most people won't appreciate, and yet I want to sell work. I don't know if I can afford to go in that direction. But can I afford not to?

Internalized Misogyny

I'm part of an artist discussion group, and we've begun to talk about internalized misogyny and how it affects our art. What would my work look like if 1) I wasn't concerned about selling it, 2) I didn't care what other people think, and 3) women's work was valued? I can't even imagine what that would be like, which is precisely the reason for the group's discussion.

Direction

My licensing agent sent me a link to the Ballard Designs website, noting that they sell a lot of prints. The painting below is on their website, and it's by Adele Kaars-Sypesteyn, titled "Underline."



He suggested that I have a look at the artwork on the site, so I could see what's selling, and get ideas for current colors and subjects. Have you ever tried to paint according to specs? I find it somewhat difficult. My mind starts racing off in all sorts of different directions. If I'm supposed to be painting Earth colors, all I can visualize is vivid purples and magentas. If the paintings are supposed to be quiet and evoke a sense of calm, I feel a sudden need to be wild. I always manage to come through in the end, but it takes a lot of discipline to control my rebellious nature.

Accidental Art

Why are the plastic bowls I use to hold my paint more beautiful than my paintings?