Hello and welcome to the Truth About Art. Truth, as it turns out, is all a blur these days, so one must “act as if and it will be”. As an artist, I always thought the law of attraction hokey, but what if I tell the truth and something good happens? Pablo Picasso stated “We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” Bombarded with spectacular images, echo chambers and never ending cataclysmic events, we have become hardened to the truth.
Go to a hill on a clear night, far away from city lights and look at the visible universe. The truth is we are very small. Good art makes us think, maybe even consider where we came from, where we are going. I was trained in photography, that’s why I prefer abstraction. The image in the mirror is not who we are.
There are many philosophies concerning the Truth About Art. Encyclopedia.com, for instance, provides one of many in depth discussions about Truth in Art theories: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/art-truth If truth is knowledge, there is no evidence of knowledge in art. “Artists study their craft and the materials that comprise their art form. Painters learn perspective, poets master prosody, musicians scales, and so on. Their expertise is with the tools of their trade. They are not psychologists or political scientists or sociologists. They have no special expertise that entitles them to float generalizations about human life”.
That’s why artist statements are hilarious. The best we can hope for in art are narrative fictions. My personal hypothesis is that Artists and fine art, in general, are carnal – artists are a shiny reflection of “man” in his flesh and blood state on earth and art manifests collective ego – both of the artist and the viewer. On a practical level, the fine art world and support structures in force today have been highly monetized, same as Hollywood, sports and music. Fine art is the bottom rung, but it’s the same pyramid scheme.
End of the day, we can only laugh at the striving, the heart ache, the ego. When is the last time you physically looked at art, spoke with an artist in person? Sure, Covid hasn’t helped but it’s been trending that way long before the pandemic – why bother when its so easy and satisfying to voyeur on your mobile phone. Art is a tough racket, always has been, its complicated. And that is why I love it. It itches the itch, it’s a delicious puzzle that never gets solved, dream the impossible dream, Hooah!
Artists may find these memoirs more interesting than, lets say, an art lover. Artists, they are a confused lot, they need encouragement and they love tricks of the trade. Lovers will love the secrets bared, voyeurs will catch a glimpse of the artist’s lair, posers can snub their pointy noses. All in all, it’s a fair trade.