(He’s passionate & cares about his craft).
The last blog post. Treat alert! What’s even more of a treat? only the fact that this weeks readings and lecture guest were hands down my absolute favorite. Perfect way to end the Artist Experience.
At first I was actually extremely concerned when Donal Morgan started speaking. Judging purely on appearance, he seemed rather dull (no offense, but he did show up holding a coffee mug and a tucked in shirt). I was also slightly confused when he started his slide show, it didn’t register right away that he was showing his influences and not his own work at first. But after about 10 minutes, I realized this was the most legit (too legit to quit) artist I’ve heard in this class. I could directly relate to what he was articulating. My favorite thing, besides his actual work, was the fact that I could directly connect his work to what he showed for his influences.
I hadn’t realized until this class that I really, really hate hidden meanings. I like to able to make the connection, without a load of background information and critical thinking. By all means, we need that kind of work in the world...I just don’t like it. Personal choice.
Also, his sense of humor was right along the lines of what mine is. So that helped. Plus, his work was extra interesting because it dealt with Oregon and nature... and what kind of Oregonian doesn’t love nature? There isn’t an Oregonian that doesn’t love nature. They simply don’t exist.
The readings dealt with Leo Castelli, a famous ‘enlightened’ art dealer. He was m favorite, hands down, cards on the table. He was so real, so down to earth. He was talking about the Whitney show in 1993 and said ““..but most of them had absolutely no aesthetic qualities--which a work of art must, after all, have. It can’t just be purely based on some kind of idea that the artist may have about the present times and world”
Bingo! Bango! Bongo! He said what I’ve been feeling this whole term. With much of the art we looked at, or just art I’ve seen recently, I feel like it’s almost trying too hard. Its trying to convey too many political opinions or personal feelings. Leo Castelli, has a very real view on the art world. He spoke about the art world moving through trends and seamlessly flowing from one movement to the other. He finally realized that he was falling out of the trends, art was being taken out of museums and into the community and into the streets. Also, a new movement of artists emerged, they where more interested in the fame and becoming celebrities than the actual craft. But he continues to live and work with CONFIDENCE. Confidence is key!
My last thoughts on Leo were his thoughts on the direction art is headed in now, “and now we are, i think, out of it, and art is struggling again to do something meaningful”...
For my visual response was a piece Andy Warhol did of Leo, I thought it was fitting.