Dead Art by Dead Artists

[CreamyLady]

Thanks, everybody.

I imagine the instructor and I will be going rings round on this subject until I leave the school. He won't be changing his mind, and I won't be changing mine. He also teaches sculpture; I cannot WAIT until I get into that class. I'm going to find the catalog that has the neon numbers and the alligators, and report on that.

The glass was beautiful, and the fact that it has survived this long is a testament to the maker's skill. Well, that and the shipwreck.

My last word on the subject: Support Arts Education!!! Don't let school districts chisel away at it anymore. Find ways for kids to create, make glorious messes and express themselves. Play with them. An afternoon with construction paper, scissors and glue is a lot of fun.

It's okay to run with the glue. NOT the scissors.

 

[Guest]

he told me not to waste my time on dead art by dead artists. I told him that if a piece still says something to the viewer, it can't be dead art, even though the artist might be dust.

Let me guess what class this putz teaches. Spraypaint 101? He sounds like a frustrated artist who pumps out volumes of trendy abstracts but can't make ends meet so he's forced to teach, which he hates, because he thinks he should be above the "rabble" and no one really appreciates his genius.

The truth of the art world is that an artist is rarely alive to get the monetary reward from his work. Maybe this teacher was trying to emphasize the need to support living artists for art's sake. I think that there has always been a group in the art community that try to influence people into "loving" works that are simple and quick just to generate money.

I viewed a show of beautiful watercolors where the artist tried to embrace the truth in his sales pitch. He had a sign that read something like:

"Art is an investment. A painting's value increases with time. When the artist dies his work becomes more valuable because the source is gone and no more will be produced. I haven't been feeling well lately."

 

[Guest]

Re: Art lives on!

Miss Creamy .. my father was an artist .. he is dead now .. but he still communicates with me everytime i look at one of his paintings ..

Dead artists? yes.

Dead art???? inconceivable!

My condolences on the loss of your father Isabella. No greater tribute could be given to an artist than what you've expressed. No greater reward could be given to a father than living on in his childs memory as a positive influence.

 

[RonG]

Dead Art? No way . . . Each time I see that bulldog passing that ace to the Boston Terrier under the table, I feel more connected to the world.

Truthfully, art is timeless. Your instructor is hung up on available technology and technique over inspiration. Sure, popularity ebbs and flows. But genius is genius and whether it is Tintoretto, Monet, Dali, or Louis Comfort Tiffany, the art is the idea and the execution, not just the latter.