He knows all about art, but he doesn’t know what he likes.
–James Thurber
I am fully immersed in work for my June show at the Principle Gallery right now. I need to get to a large piece on the easel that is waiting for its final touches which has me chomping at the bit to get to work this morning. In the name of expediency, I would like to share a post from a few years back about trusting yourself when looking at art. There are a lot of people who won’t go into galleries or museums or even comment on a painting because they think they don’t know anything about art and feel intimidated. That’s a shame because you don’t need to know anything about art except how you react to it. This was a Quote-of-the-Week post from back in 2015 when that was still a thing. Take a look:
This may not technically qualify as a quote but who cares? The message in this cartoon from the great James Thurber is simply put and true and that’s what I am looking for in a good quote.
And art.
That’s what I like.
In the past I’ve talked about how many people are intimidated by the idea of art, feeling that they don’t know anything about art. This leaves them not trusting their own eyes and their own reactions to any given piece of art. It often keeps them from even looking at art.
And that is a pity because art is mainly about the reaction to and interaction with art. Art is a reactive agent, reaching out and stirring something in the viewer. All the praise for or all the knowledge in the world about a piece of art cannot make you like that piece of work if it doesn’t first strike that chord that raises some sort of emotional response within you.
And I think most of us know within a few moments whether a work of art speaks to us or leaves us cold. The trick comes in recognizing this realization and trusting your own reaction. And feeling okay with that.
I’ll admit that there are many celebrated works of art out there that do absolutely nothing for me. They may have critical praise, historical importance, or great craftsmanship in them, but they simply don’t raise any emotional response within me.
I might be able to appreciate them, to understand why it has the respect or acclaim attached to it. But the bottom line is that I don’t like them, plain and simple. They just don’t speak to me. That doesn’t mean I’m right or wrong.
It just means I know what I like.
And I accept that criteria from anybody, even with my own work. While it would be nice to think that it speaks to everyone, I know this is an impossibility. Nobody’s work does that. I’ve had people tell me that they didn’t like my work– in polite and respectful terms, thankfully– and I can respect their honesty and the fact that they trust their own eyes and their own reaction.
And at least they are looking.
They know what they like. And that’s good enough for me.
Redtree Times 