Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.
—Pablo Picasso
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Many of my favorite artists worked and produced their greatest works in times where the world was under great stress. World wars and– in the case of Picasso’s painting, Guernica, shown above– Civil Wars. The Great Depression. Times of social transformation. Even when the work didn’t overtly deal with the events of the day, much of the work reflected on the collective consciousness of that time.
I think that is so because art is, just as Picasso so succinctly states, a lie that makes us realize the truth.
Artists fabricate, often creating work that is on its surface pure fantasy with little relation to the world as others might observe it. But their fabrication is made up from everything that impacts them– their knowledge, their observations, their opinions and emotions. Artists take in the world and create something that seems like a pure fabrication.
A lie.
But what seems the lie often proves to be built of ultimate truths, just constructed in a manner that allows others to see this truth clearly.
I don’t know that we artists always succeed. I certainly don’t feel that I do as often as I would like. But so long as we feel deeply and create our lies, we will at some point reveal a truth.
Got to get to work now…
Redtree Times 