How often do you see the words “challenging” used by art reviewers and critics when referring to works exhibited in shows or featured in reviews and books? “Challenging” always irritates me as so often it is about pieces which shock, outrage, disturb, offend or fool people into believing that they actually qualify as art involving new levels of acceptance and credibility. Such works may include blatant pornography, abuse, extreme violence, obscenity and degradation or exclude any evidence of physical activity or effort in making it, signifying that in art there should be no constraints or censorship as anything goes. The advocates of this kind of thinking tell us that because it’s “art” you can’t set limits or boundaries as it is “challenging”. Whilst I applaud the wonderful imagination, originality and creativity which can be found in many contemporary works my view is that we are also constantly bombarded with absurd rubbish which purports to be worth our attention. We should make up our own minds as to what we want to see in shows, on paper or in audio-visual form. We are our own arbiters of taste and what consitutes ‘ art’ is very much a personal choice.
I have just been watching Grayson Perry’s excellent television series “All Man” on masculinity were he explores the subject of “macho” men through cage fighting in the former mining communities of north east England, street gangs in Skelmersdale and, still to come, the competitive world of the male dominated UK banking system. The fascinating stories of individuals caught up in these environments has so far been emotionally very powerful and moving, dealing with sensitive issues such as suicide, violent crime and a range of complex social issues. In each programme his findings have been converted into artworks which visually deal with the fundamental problems uncovered. I look forward to Perry’s analysis of the banking sector mindset! This experience has been challenging for me as here is a brilliant, articulate and thoughtful artist who sets a benchmark for others like me to produce something which is carefully considered and skilfully dealt with involving, research, time, decision making, effort and genuine talent.
Thus for me, “challenging” has a completely different meaning both as a viewer of art and someone who strives to paint. “Challenging” is not an absurd concept referring to some crazy installation or painting based on a whim or idea designed to attract major publicity for purely commercial greed and promoting art that has no merit whatsoever. The real challenge for someone aspiring to be an artist and or simply viewing art is to walk through a major gallery trying to understand how great painters of the past such as Botticelli, Arnolfini, Durer, Leonardo, Valesquez, Rembrandt and so many more old masters achieved what they did, at the time they lived, with the knowledge, techniques and materials available to them. Equally some of the painting talent around today, some of which I have been studying at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition, is astounding and I never fail to ask myself “how on earth did he/she manage to do that so well?” The same criteria should apply to all forms of visual art. A challenge is something that requires a positive response and as long as I have the ability to hold a paintbrush I will continue to try to do better. My first attempt to produce something this month was to paint a scene of tranquillity which I had noted down in my earliest sketchbook and never attempted!
“Gentle Waves” (unfinished)
So far May has given me a chance to spend some time in my tiny studio so I’ve seized the opportunity to work on several small paintings at once and although they are not all included in this blog they will eventually appear on the website. Very often I find that taking photographs at various stages in the process helps to show where weak areas are and highlights mistakes that have been made. I shall now go away and correct the various faults that I have already spotted in the current works!