Hi everyone:
Blogging music today: Def Jam's 10th Anniversary Box Set. This is one of only a couple of box sets I own, and I never get tired of it. Arguably the best collection of rap music ever compiled, by the world's most influential rap label. Public Enemy, LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys - the list goes on and on.
Well, the title of this post gives away the topic of today's blog entry. As many of you probably already know, Andrew Wyeth died on January 16th. Being from PA, the news made it to many of the media outlets, and I happened to catch an interview this week on NPR with the art critic for the New Yorker and an independent curator who worked on one of Wyeth's last shows. A debate ensued - one that has been going for a long time regarding his work, and I began to see a lot of parallels between his work and mine.
Admittedly, Wyeth wasn't one of those artists that I studied heavily during my career. I don't remember touching on him at all in art school and I never really gave him much of a thought. But then, I saw "Christina's World" in person, and I was completely blown away. The haunting nature of the work, the longing, the elongated limbs and exaggerated perspective - it is truly a remarkable piece - in my view, one of the greatest non-abstract paintings by an American artist of the 20th century.
The debate on Wyeth apparently has always been about how he shamelessly promoted himself and catered to his established audience with his familiar themes of rural living and the tough, hard-fought life of "ordinary" middle-class, working Americans. He was oftentimes viewed as conservative when anti-establishment was all the rage, and even voted Republican on occasion, much to the chagrin of other more liberal artists.
Seems to me that what people fail to realize is that he really was more "anti-establishment" than many of his contemporaries. He engaged in what many other folks though of as "realism", but his work could hardly be considered realistic in the traditional sense. In "Christina's World", he manipulated the landscape, figure, mood - breaking the conventions of realism to create a deliberate, personalized interpretation. He was his own man, not allowing himself to be swept up in trends he didn't find meaningful or attractive.
The part of the interview that really struck me was when a contemporary painter called in and basically said that Wyeth did nothing to advance the history of art. He wasn't on the forefront of anything, was arguably antiquated, and because he didn't work with contemporary, cutting- edge themes, he shouldn't be revered. In other words, it was a rant from a contemporary artist who hasn't gotten the attention he thinks he deserves and believes that only work readily identifiable as "cutting edge" (presumably in terms of thematics and medium) is worthy of mention.
The independent curator responded that while he may not have been addressing "sexy" contemporary ideas, all of his work was heavily influenced by themes with which we can all identify. Family, relationships, loss - crucial concepts to our very being. He kept kept returning to Maine and to PA for his inspiration and content - not because he was stuck in a rut his whole life, but because the connection he had with these places and the people in them is what energized his work.
For those of you who know my work, this probably sounds a little familiar to you. I definitely wouldn't call my work "realism", but I work with many of the same themes that Wyeth did. Loss, family, personal relationships and how they are connected to certain places, scenes and objects is at the core of my work. And let me tell you - I consider myself a contemporary artist and I think these themes will ALWAYS be valid. To me, the best of Wyeth's work accomplishes the rare feat of feeling both personal and universal at the same time.
So, Mr. Caller, if you're reading this, maybe you should try accomplishing that in YOUR studio. You may have a better shot at that fame you so desperately crave.
More to come next week...have a great weekend everyone!
-Marc
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