Finishing Touches: One Still-Life at a Time

 As I am wading into Cezanne and his painting I am finding what he accomplished quite amazing. He, along with others, have been called the Father of Modernism. The length and breadth of the impact of Modernism across European society and beyond is breathtaking. I find it funny that a man could sit in his studio and paint fruit and wine bottles and that this would lead to a world-wide movement. But that was the power of art, thought and ideas back then. 

Modernism is the rejection of that which was the established norm in society, including art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy, social organization, activities of daily life, and the sciences. There was a sense among the educated and common people that these institutions had become empty or unsuitable in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world. Modernism started slowly in the mid to late 19th Century and came into its mature state between the World Wars and after. 

 Cezanne was early in the development of Modernism, rejecting the realistic painting of the government-sanctioned art academies of the mid-19th Century. He literally changed the perspective of several generations by changing perspective. It was his playing around with the elements of a painting (color, line, shape and perspective) that harmonized with other transformational Modernist developments in the burgeoning industrial cities of Europe. He did this without running for elected office, without sending out a single email blast or sharing a fake news post on Facebook. He did it by being in his studio painting still-lifes.. 

And now we find ourselves in a similar situation. The Industrial Revolution is being eclipsed by the Technology Revolution. People are finding the institutions; economic, political, and religious to be ill-fitted to a new way of living out our daily tasks and activities. Again, the powerful and the wealthy have corrupted these institutions to support their power and to become propaganda-esque – championing what should be seen as the “norm” in our society. 

But the change will come. The leaders will be swept away and new systems will be set up that cater more directly to the individual and protect the earth. The last transition killed millions of people world-wide with the lessons of industrialization being applied to war in order to protect power and wealth. Can the new transition happen without massive destruction? Perhaps there is an artist in her studio, right now, applying paint to a canvas or editing a film or changing her dance movements in a manner that will propel this transition forward in a peaceful manner - protecting all forms of life. I like to think that I am at least trying.

Art - It Makes you Happier, Smarter and More Attractive

On my Facebook Page, over the years, I have been sharing articles about how art improves life – it makes you happier, smarter, more attractive, etc. In my last newsletter I mentioned that I process my life experience while painting. So, I thought I would elaborate on that statement and how art improves my life.

I feel that art is a form of cognitive therapy that helps me to make life decisions. The act of painting is an endless series of decisions: should it be yellower or greener, warm or cool, straighter or more curved, etc. Every action is a decision based on previous decisions. This decision-making process is focused and in the moment.

I, like most people, have two tracks in their brain. One track is focused on a task in the moment while another track is open for ideas and such to flit through. For example, this is like when you are folding your laundry but thinking about something else. At times, activities need full attention but much of the time, as when doing simple tasks like folding laundry, the other track is free to wander and bring disparate things into consciousness.

When I paint, I deliberately am open to this second track. There are several reasons for this: the second track freely responds to my art and guides me, it allows me to connect disparate ideas, and it helps me to reflect on life experiences.

As an artist, I want my colors and imagery to trigger a response in the viewer. Art works best when people bring their own responses and their own meanings to the work. While my first track is focused on making straight lines, consistent paint handling and the like, my second track is subjectively viewing the work. If a paint stroke, color or object triggers a response in me I am pretty sure that it will trigger a response in other viewers. I can’t control their response, but I can make sure my art is something that creates a response. I am focused on the craft, but it is the second track that helps my work become art that effects the viewer.

I am open to my second track for its associations and pattern recognition. As part of my brain is planning and painting, my second track is making associations about the imagery and the paint handling. These ideas and connections float through freely. If one particularly strikes me, it will influence my painting. I don’t judge the associations they are all born of my life experiences and these connections are made for a reason. Sometimes it takes time to figure out why something popped in my brain, but its okay if I don’t understand at first. It is the second track that makes those creative leaps that give particular paintings a twist in perspective and, again, create a response in the viewer.

This is the process I use to create art that has a strong underpinning and that will get a response from the viewer. It is a process of holding both the reasoned objective view of craft and the felt subjective response to the making as equal – in tandem.

So, how does this process make one happier, smarter and more attractive? When painting, my second track is already primed to be figuring out patterns and responding to input in my art. It is rather easy for it to flip over to looking for patterns and responding to life situations. When the painting I am creating doesn’t require as much attention, my second track just continues its process, applying it to whatever else is going through my head. It is here that my brain will make those leaps to new evaluations of what had happened previously in my life and new realizations for the future. Through this process I do become happier, smarter and...well.

I find that having a practice of painting leads to a practice of self-evaluation because both are based on recognizing patterns, energy and flow while responding to what is happening in the moment.

Finishing Touches - The Seinfeld Effect

There is so much to write about these days - so many thoughts going through the old noggin about recent events. It seems that inside and outside the art world there is a tsunami of intolerance. I previously have mentioned Dana Shutz's painting of Emmett Till's casket, titled Open Casket, that created such a controversy at the Whitney Biennial.

The image she painted was created from a photograph of a young African-American boy who was beaten to death. This image had its own life and symbolism in the African-American community and Ms. Shutz, a white artist, was told that she could not use the image, even if she, as a mother, could identified with the pain in the image. 

Fast forward a couple of months, and the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston announced that they will have a show of Ms. Shutz's work. People protested that the show should be cancelled because of Ms. Shutz's insensitivity to African-Americans even though Open Casket would not be in the show in Boston. None of her other work is considered derogatory towards African-Americans. Also, the show was set up prior to the controversy at the Whitney and announced after consulting with local arts leaders.

A few weeks ago, there was a Neo-Nazi march in Virginia that resulted in a woman protester being killed. There is little need to say much more about Nazi's than that the very definition is intolerance. They have been responsible for the murder of millions of people simply because they were not white or considered white. They are often oppressive and violent toward women simply because they are not men. Everyone other than the white male is considered inferior.

 

This is all scary and heavy. Everyone has their hair on end and have a trigger ready to be pulled if something is not acceptable. My observing and inquisitive nature makes me wonder how we got here. People can say Trump is the reason, but this started long before him. Others will go back to Reagan and the ending of the Fairness Act, which allowed hate radio to rise, leading to a misinformed and manipulated citizenry. But I can't help but think this goes back even further. I see the manipulation of the wealth of this country in the late 1800's that ultimately led to the Great Depression. I read about the history of immigration and how each new wave of immigrants became the rung on which the last wave rose. Each immigrant class is given some status as long as there is a newer class to be pushed down and prejudiced against. And then there is slavery. 

This country has always been about pitting people against each other. We have a myth that the ruling elite, the current supposed oligarchy, is unified in dividing and oppressing the rest of us. Yet, when you see one of the wealthiest persons become the President of the United States, he starts to turn on those around him, even those he has chosen to lead with him. Those around him start fighting for their own territory and throw anyone else under the bus, gladly.

I think of Seinfeld, the show that best captured the innocent version of this inability to be happy, to accept that life is good, to accept that we are good. There was always something wrong with every girlfriend, with every restaurant, every dish served, etc. In America, there is always something wrong with the other. In America, one mistake leads to a lifetime of opportunity for condemnation. Why are we so vicious and mean to each other? We return hate with anger, we return misunderstanding with shame, we return hurt with fists.

When do we help each other heal? Have computers so taken over our lives that we no longer know how to look into each other and see ourselves, to have empathy? Has the need to be unhappy, to see ourselves as a victim, made it impossible to truly see and understand others?

I am toying with the idea of a class about art and meditation and relation. Art can be a way to open up one's self to others, to share what is inside and to see what is inside others. There are many art forms that are meant to be meditative/contemplative. Could engaging in these art forms help bring about a change in ourselves? Could communal forms of this art bring about a change in our community? It is a question worth exploring.