Hi,
An email this week presented an economic subject a short way off the beaten path for most readers. It was a posting of SUPER REALISTIC PAINTINGS on BUILDINGS!!!!!!
Having a fine arts background, I have watched what was called the ART RENAISSANCE decline in recent years with great sadness. New York City for a short while was the FINE ART capital of the world until dear old commercial artist Andy Warhol diminished and helped ruin America's influence with his publicly directed TRASHY ART WORK AND his encouragement of a TRASHY LIFE STYLE. Although Andy W. claimed no political affiliation, he was whispered to be a CLOSET COMMIE with a very important purpose--TO HELP STOP THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN MODERN ART and the FREEDOM that the best of it represented.
WHY?????Because in all communist countries in the early days, artists in all fields were discouraged from making art because it often became SOCIAL STATEMENT. And if DISCOURAGEMENT of art didn't work then arrests became usual, OR trips to work farms, OR generally end of life scenarios!!!!!!!!!!!! Modern days called for a much more clever approach with all artists.
HEY, MOST ARTISTS MAY LOOK HUMBLE, MEEK, AND MILD but ask any TOTALITARIAN REGIME and they'll tell you WHAT A DANGEROUS LOT OF MAL-CONTENTS ARTISTS REPRESENT!!!!!!!!! They create things that point up the loss of freedoms; write things that point up the means of taking freedom away; write music that lifts the heart and demands freedom!!!!!!!!! All their art interferes with the orderly process of destroying the freedoms of citizens so that they can be replaced by what the "party","religion", or "dictator" KNOWS is correct for those citizens. The decline of fine art illustrates the decline in writing (books, magazines, newspapers); music and theater (composers, concerts, theatre, music studios and music artists) etc.
FINE ART CAN ONLY THRIVE FULLY IN FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!! OR IN A COUNTRY THAT TRULY UNDERSTANDS THE NEED FOR IT TO MAINTAIN FREEDOM.
Paris was the art world capitol and it returned to its original home where it's thriving in a way only the French can achieve (even with their version of Communism). There's no problem that FINE ART of the past will be stifled because the value of FINE ART in France is bred into their culture. I celebrate their knowledge, style, and classic approach to artistic values and although there is little NEW in art in France, at least the OLD is being preserved. But remember NEW ART has to happen or the current creative artist may be forced to paint on buildings!!!!!!!! to get your attention. Many times the fine old architecture can suffer when an artist is thwarted.
The loss to American artists, who stood for a short time on the brink of Art History, is immeasurable in terms of history and economics. Oh sure, there are still successful galleries and auction houses who boast high prices for certain artists but what once existed has simply disappeared and been replaced by MUCH NEW MEDIOCRITY. The true creativity left the city.
There was a genuine love for FINE ART (ART THAT TRANSCENDS TIME AND PLACE) and OLD MASTERS growing among the newly educated American buyers. A great number of galleries developed on the main streets of New York City. You could stroll along city streets and be enthralled with a marvelous art show in Gallery windows in the 1950s through the 70s. The erosion began to show up fully in the 1980s as sales dropped but costs and rents rose and drove most art galleries off the ground floors. It went downhill from there.
After that almost all the galleries were hidden away "upstairs" in tall buildings. It was almost like you needed a password to get a location and entrance to them. "HEY MOE, you know dat art place? G'me the secret word. I WANNA ART FIX!!!!!!!!"
Now, it's true AW did not and could not accomplish this without the assistance of the American public and he got it. Americans were new to the classics, to fine art, to fine music, etc. and much of their tastes in those fields had been taught in college classes. So, except for a group of savvy collectors, those tastes were not expanded and refined so either fell by the wayside or were corrupted with ignorance and uncertainty.
The super shopper type markets became flooded with a new era of prints in cheap frames around dull depictions of scenes known to ATTRACT the buyer. Suddenly seeing how simple scenes delighted buyers, a bevy of copycat artists sprang up across the land, echoing AW's propaganda, that everyone is an artist and deserves their short term of fame. People began to scoff at the Moderns, claiming anyone could do that!!!!!!!!Interestingly when ANYONE??? TRIED TO DO THAT, IT WAS USUALLY A DISMAL FAILURE. But never mind, the push was on. Next FINE ART was rejected by the newly affluent as OLD FASHIONED!!!!!!!!!!
PULEEEEEZE so's your ATTITUDE!!!!!!!!!!!
The short story is that the public tuned into AW's view that art is not an important part of living.
That ART is just more hype, more trash, more merchandise on which to spend money. Thus what AW cited as the ART MARKET became what Americans saw as art. ART that sold big MUST BE??????? A market that was being made by the likes of AW and his cohorts to CHEAPEN art and close the doors to fine and dedicated artists who now lacked THE POSSIBILITY OF reward for their hard work and vision. Any purchases by the now disillusioned MIDDLE and newly minted UPPER CLASS were based on "I know what I like" and not the real criteria for a fine work of art.
Currently, artists have reached a point where galleries cannot afford to take chances on something "NEW". There are also many FEWER GALLERIES in which to show good art work. REAL art (painting, sculpture, and genuine thoughtful and prescient expressions of the artist) by the buyer is being overlooked for purchases of what is commonly known among the knowledgeable as CRAP produced in quantity in printing mills to hang over or place next to the sofa. The "clean" look (without many artifacts) is praised so that the owner's home does not reek of either BAD taste or NO taste at all.
TV and the MEDIA sell "GARBAGE" constantly on home stations and even feature INSTANT artists to foster the current lack of meaning in the art that is produced. The campaign is about over!!!!!!!!!! The purpose accomplished!!!!!!!!!!!! SO what has happened to artists???????????
GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!! They are painting on BUILDINGS all over the world!!!!!!!! They are producing SCULPTURES that encompass or cover buildings. THEY ARE SHOUTING !!!!!!!!!! "HEY YOU CAN DIMINISH US BUT YOU CAN'T STOP US!!!!!!!!!!"
TRY LISTENING TO THE DEDICATED ARTISTS!!!!!!!!!!! They always have something to say that's pertinent. THE MANUFACTURED ART garbage ONLY SAYS ONE THING--I INTEND TO BE PRETTY-BUY ME!!!!
PRETTY IS NOT why art has been with us ALWAYS. ARTISTS IN ALL MEDIA have always seen what's happening IN SOCIETIES long BEFORE John Q. Citizen AND HAVE SHOWN IT IN THEIR WORKS. "Pretty is as pretty does" is an old expression. Pretty becomes beautiful when there is deeper meaning.
IT'S A CURSE NOT A BOAST that all dedicated artists are reflecting the deeper concerns of their society and often the SCREAMS OF THE SIGHTED are not heard by the unsighted. Thus, if you wonder what all that fuss is about artists being hard put upon and poverty stricken--well, think about it. WHAT IS more difficult than BEING SIGHTED IN A BLIND SOCIETY??????? What is sadder than A MESSAGE never delivered and only discovered WHEN IT IS TOO LATE????????? What is worse for a society than starving out those WHO CARE THE MOST??????????? As freedom and liberty erode so does the venue for free expression and different points of view.
Where is all this leading?????????? Future blogs will certainly cover that question more fully. However look to the net (formerly used for catching fish--gosh, it still is!!!!!!!!). It is scooping up the debris of the arts. Books are now E-books; music is downloaded on everything; research is net absorbed; photography is for sale in a myriad of ways; and art is shown in Google net programs in museums across the world. What does all this GOBBLE, GOBBLE TECHNOLOGY MEAN ECONOMICALLY AND PERSONALLY??????
What does the result of any one power (and make no mistake technology is the power of the future world) consuming every venue indicate??????? Take a long hard look down the road of REALITY. DO YOU SEE THE WORD "TYRANNY" WRITTEN IN LARGE LETTERS ON THE INTERNET?????????? Can we stop it? NO. This is the TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION!!!! Can we make it work for FREEDOM. YES!!!!!!! But it won't be easy.
CHEERS, CONNIE
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