Why think? Adding to my collection of statements about art that say absolutely nothing, my new idea is to gather enough so that readers can string them together and make their own press releases and artist’s statements (students, listen up!), thereby avoiding unnecessary brain strain. Here’s an example from a current press release that could work for almost any kind of art. Just insert your name and medium in the blanks:
_______ is working within a familiar lexicon but the process of _______ pushes the imagery out of the realm of objectivity. _______sees this step toward abstraction as not necessarily in opposition to representation, rather as an abstraction of ideas. The iconography in these _______(s) relates sometimes directly and sometimes quite obliquely to the iconography of the world in which we live. By creating a parallel universe in which the artist investigates these themes, he/she is able to open the work to the viewer for further exploration.
Dear Carol,
ReplyDeleteOne of the artists who makes prints with Bud at Shark's Ink, Enrique Chagoya, uses 'artspeak' in his work...check it out at sharksink.com. Enrique uses a book called Art Criticism 101 by Harold Pepperell, ( available, perhaps, from SFMoMA), to fill the thought bubbles in his print codices.
Thanks for the thoughtful posts.
Barbara Shark
How pleased I am to see and read your comment about my husband, Harold Pepperell's" little red book. He had such fun gathering 101 art-speak statements.... He is now dead but his humor lives on...the book is also available from MOMA (NYC), and MCA (Chicago)
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