Greenshead Slough
All Art starts out as Contemporary Art. Whether it lasts long enough to become classic, or is consigned to long term storage and forgotten about is a judgment only time will tell. As I wrote that, I wondered, is there a section in every museum warehouse filled with artwork that the curators are embarrassed to exhibit? Does MOMA have a secret cache of Thomas Kincade paintings they really don’t want anyone to know about? (Yes, they do – right between the originals of the Poker Playing dogs and velvet Elvis paintings. You read this on the internet, so you know it must be true.)
But I digress.
How do we decide what is going to “last” in terms of art? To me, what makes art timeless is the ability to transcend the current trendy topic and speak to the soul of humanity. Too often we see a contemporary problem or topic presented in a very specific situation. The artist’s point can be made and we can be manipulated to respond to the contemporary concern. Will the response last? Possibly, but I think the art that will make a long term impact addresses the contemporary problem in a timeless manner. Our subjects are contemporary, but the way we interpret the subject must be timeless. The present representation of the timeless questions that face humanity will last beyond this gallery season.
Interesting, Joe... and I agree with your points... And you accompany it with a very nice example!
Posted by: Harold | January 17, 2012 at 02:38 PM