Art and Artists

DISCLAIMER: I'm not an artist, in the normal sense of the word, nor have I studied art theory, art criticism, or art history, so the opinions expressed below are mine and mine alone. And that's the whole point.

I've been thinking a lot about art and artists, lately, particularly given the dichotomy of reaction to the last Harry Potter book. Example: for every person eagerly awaiting its release, there was another person ready to spoil the fun for the devoted fans in a sort of "schadenfreude", and yet a third person who was loud to shout down J.K Rowling's creation as yet another example of Sturgeon's Law ("90% of everything is crud") and unworthy of the accolades and attention those works have received. I commented on the latter phenomenon a few posts back, and I would like to comment briefly on the former, before moving on with the discussion.

To those who seek with sadistic glee to ruin the last book for the devoted fans, get over yourselves. We all have parts of our personality that others feel are silly. We all have activities or works or hobbies that others might (and probably do) believe to be ridiculous wastes of time. Yes, sometimes it might be fun or funny to belittle those part we see in others, but we all have them, and one day, someone will come along and crush YOUR "silly" personality traits or "ridiculous waste of time" activities, works, or hobbies. Does that make it right? No, not really, but what goes around comes around. For example, I believe that horror films are one of the most ridiculous wastes of time and energy and money mankind has ever created. Glorification of fear, gory violence, horror, and evil are a terrible example of our remaining animal nature and run counter to the human spirit, and I find no redeeming values or contributions whatsoever in them. I find it disturbing that there are people who can wallow that much in those base emotions and enjoy it. In fact, I feel that, unlike the Harry Potter series, there is no need to worry about hearing a spoiler for a horror movie because all horror films end exactly the same way: many die, single protagonist or very small group of protagonists manage to survive by wits or luck, but the evil itself never dies and will ALWAYS come back (can't ignore the possibility of that sequel...CHA-CHING!!!). Ho hum....

BUT...I would never taunt another person or deride them for their love of horror films, and I would never hold that against them. For one thing, it's far too trivial a thing to discuss, unless I were doing so in my own defense, i.e., I were forced to discuss why I do NOT like horror films (I HAVE had this discussion before, trust me...horror-flick folks are about as devoted as Trekkies, so again, it's best not to discuss it openly.)

That being said, to demonstrate that I'm not a complete Philistine, I would like to list my favorite artists (painters), with my opinion of each. They're not Earth-shattering; in fact, most true connoisseurs would probably consider my choices...well, rather pedestrian. But again, they are mine.

1. Norman Rockwell -- THE American Painter. It is highly unlikely that any American under 18 has not seen at least one work by this amazing artist. His art was not full of hidden meaning, or incredibly painted, although there are works of his that are so well-done and full of detail that they appear to be photographs, not paintings. Rockwell covered every part of the American Experience, from baseball to checkers to barbershops to children's innocent activities to growing up to freedom to the World War II effort to ending segregation to the Moon Landing. His works were done for such American institutions as Boys' Life, Life Magazine and of course, The Saturday Evening Post. If America is a religion, Rockwell was one of its chief priests. He did not paint America necessarily as it was, though there is in-your-face plausibility in every scene he painted; he painted America as we all want it to be, "as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen."

2. Salvador Dali -- Dali was an amazing personality and an amazing artist. His images were vivid, his tableaux bizarre, his ideas radical. He also did very detailed paintings, and his combination of vivid images and extreme detail are what endear his works to me. Everyone knows The Persistence of Memory, but he had so many more wonderful paintings. I admit that I am not always able to find all the meanings in his paintings, but every time I look at one, even if I've looked at it hundreds of times before, I usually find some new detail, image, or meaning I missed the other times. I've actually seen an original Dali in person (at the Art Institute of Chicago), and Dali is the only one on the list for whom that may be said. His work challenges at whatever level you like, whether you prefer to dig deep for hidden intellectual concepts, or you simply like the bizarre imagery.

3. M.C. Escher -- I love Escher because his works are immediately accessible and very, very cool. That's not to say I love every work he made; I don't like his geometric metamorphosis works as much, mainly because he made so many and they grow a bit tiresome after a while. But who loves every work of their favorite artist or musician? His works are very detailed (are you seeing a pattern yet?) and well thought-out. They don't necessarily have hidden meanings, which is fine by me. His use of geometry, optical illusion, and sharpness in his works, rather than the constant softness displayed in much of art, is refreshing and energizing to me and appeals greatly to the strong scientific part of my mind. My favorites by him are the well-known and widely-spoofed Relativity and Metamorphosis II.

That wraps it up. Thanks for reading along.