oil on panel, 24" x 24"
I'm considering posting images in Art Weekly without my accompanying comments. I was told in art school to leave the writing to the critics and historians. It wasn't that I was bad at writing; it came up in a different context. It was about the way visual art usually originates pre-verbally, and many artists aren't very articulate except in terms of their medium. Often there is a lot more to the art than what artists say, and sometimes the comments can be tangential. During school and after I found writing to be a way to get to know the artwork that I made. The teacher in me enjoys offering a way in, but to artists, what I do is very legible. It is all academic, not avant guarde. Those unused to minimalism might feel a wall crashing down at so few elements, the "anyone can do that" attitude, or else that there must be more but they aren't "getting it".
The above painting is academic in that its form of color and simple shapes was once new and now is not. I don't think anything new in terms of form in a big conceptual way can happen anymore in painting. That is why a lot of people say it is dead and move on to performance, installation, video, computer art, etc. I still find meaning in it and need to have it be a part of my life on a regular basis, no substitutions. I think of it like the orchestra. Many composers have abandoned the classical orchestra or have experimented with it to push its limits. It does have a particular sound even though the range is incredible. But that is the thing. The orchestra, like painting, can be a vehicle for communicating very specific things in wondrous, pleasurable, thought-provoking, beautiful ways. They are both very plastic (stretchable, malleable). They both also have a history, particular elements that make them what they are, and other certain "givens".
White Circle, Blue is a peaceful, meditative image. The central circle and the balanced square provide a feeling of equilibrium. The way the paint is applied, the gestures of the strokes, makes the image the opposite of something mechanically done. It has soul, evidence of the touch we all need. The thickness of the paint gives the painting substance, body, and skin. It is filled with light.
