This is so subjective, but many consider themselves superior as far as taste is concerned. Am I a person like that? I think I am. Only that I think that majority of us consider ourselves to represent and appreciate the good taste, this is our subjective judgment. After all the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I know all of that and yet when I pass a new “art” shop in my suburb I feel offended by the “art” generously displayed in the panoramic windows. There is a lot to be seen. Half-naked pretty girls of various races, dotted paintings pretending to an aboriginal art. Scoters, boats, and cars for those who happen to have them as their personal interest. All in bright colours that are difficult to pass by and not notice. I must confess that passing the display I look masochistically and somewhat greedily at the pictures feeding my disgust and checking who may be buying the “art”.
As I have already said, I consider myself to have a good taste in art and maybe not only art, so each time I pass the shop and I have to do it every day, I disapprove of what I see. I may even awake the feeling of superiority in myself and this made me stop and think about the subject. This is a cheap way to gain a positive feeling about myself.
Live and let live I believe and yet I am disturbed by the display and think that this is almost unlawful to allow such a shop in a respectable suburb. How the council could allow that?? When I write these words, I sense that I am very wrong and intolerant writing the words. I can stop expressing what I feel, but I will feel that anyhow. I think I got myself into a tangle and wonder what I wanted to achieve choosing the shop with bad paintings as a subject for my post. It could be that I am still searching for a worthwhile subject to write about and this came to mind or that I simply needed to let the steam off. And as I have done it already I will stop now.
My technical abilities are average but my impatience to solve problems is above average so I have not managed yet to copy the photos of the paintings from my iPhone to the PC. I will win one of those days when my patience improves. It is important to illustrate my point.
P.S. Looks that I have to apologize for writing such negative comments. The gallery is does not display things which I would hang in my place, but the people who paint them are considered as artists and have mentions on internet and one of them is currently being auctioned at Lawsons at a sizable price. If this a real bid and sensible prize or not, difficult to say, but he is together in the catalog with David Boyd, Elliot Grunner and Will Ashon. None of them is or has been a top artist but they are known and have decent reputation. Above is one of the paintings by David Bromley, a very prolific artist. I consider it cheap, but this is may judgement only and I will be more careful in my critiques of art. After all, I only love art and going to galleries and museums, but do not have qualification to judge art beyond what appeals to me or not.
P.S. Looks that I have to apologize for writing such negative comments. The gallery is does not display things which I would hang in my place, but the people who paint them are considered as artists and have mentions on internet and one of them is currently being auctioned at Lawsons at a sizable price. If this a real bid and sensible prize or not, difficult to say, but he is together in the catalog with David Boyd, Elliot Grunner and Will Ashon. None of them is or has been a top artist but they are known and have decent reputation. Above is one of the paintings by David Bromley, a very prolific artist. I consider it cheap, but this is may judgement only and I will be more careful in my critiques of art. After all, I only love art and going to galleries and museums, but do not have qualification to judge art beyond what appeals to me or not.
My late wife was a fairly renown artist and her works are still in some important collections. I tried to understand what it was all about without much success. She used to tell me that if I liked something it was good and if I didn't it was not good. Simple. As you have pointed out, it is a highly subjective state of mind.
ReplyDeleteBeing in agreement with what your wife used to say I would add a little qualification: if I didn't it was not good to me.
DeleteI am reading the book Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton. The author who is a philosopher has some specific ideas about art and its uses. For him art is not all that subjective. If I manage to read the book to the end I may write some more, but this is a difficult book to read. Very interesting though.
Good taste, bad taste. What does it mean in a free-market world?
ReplyDeleteLaws to maintain character of respectable suburb. Similar - the main (only) issue is the conversion rate of this character into real estate value.
Some 30 years ago I reached conclusion, that my system of tastes and values is just my and nobody in the word bothers about it. Luckily I can still find some enclaves, like concert halls, where I can mix for a limited time with people who share interests similar to mine - the rest, is silence.
And I fully agree with your conclusion. I am not worried about the house value. What came to my mind is that the people around me may not be that fancy as they consider themselves to be. My suburb has this reputation of being superior. This also irritates me, perhaps more than the shop. I even say from time to time - I live here but I am not a Mosman lady. Some understand what I mean, some raise their brows in disapproval.
DeleteAnd I chose the subject in lack of more interesting ideas.