[vannrox]

Happy fourth of July.

[vannrox]

[Crolis]

Thanks for the article Vannrox. It's nice to take a break from news copy for a few minutes and think along a different direction.

Happy Independence Day to everyone on FR as well!

[King Prout]

simultaneously boring and interesting.

[King Prout]

this might be of interest to you

[RightWhale]

The American landscapes of the 1800s could be considered abstract, and ideological at the same time. No doubt the artists were excellent draftsman and capable of in-your-face aesthetics in the true American spirit. The style of paintings so popular now on calendars of tight American natural scenes with nearly invisible wolves and Indians blended with the crystal creek water and perfect birch trees is a direct descendant. The message is not subtle, and is carried by pure aesthetics. Subtlety is unAmerican, aesthetics is everything in our Madison Avenue world.

[Republicanprofessor]

One last weekend art ping.

Let Sam Cree or me know if you want on or off this ping list.

This article is really dense, and I wonder if it is not as dense and theoretical (and self-justifying) as some post-modernist theory.

The last two paragraphs have the meat of the article. However, I think artists should just be free to express themselves in whatever mode they wish: realism, illustration, abstraction or anywhere in between. Then let others say if they succeed or not. Luckily, in this budding age of the internet, there can be a much wider audience of appreciation than just the NYC critics, curators and dealers.

Perhaps we should start a new art ping list or series. Post images of your favorite "unknown" artists, and let's see what's out there. Let's discuss them. Maybe we can all learn something. What are your favorite on-line galleries?

BTW, I am doing a presentation in the fall on contemporary American art and what the American influence in art has been across the country and around the world. So I really am interested in new art out there, especially the unknown artists (and, for this paper, those artists in the West or so inspired by the West.)

[PianoMan]

bump for later reading

[x]

Most "art" of whatever school is wretched. It takes skill, talent, and effort to produce something of lasting value. Not every artist can do it. It's easy now to take shots at abstract or "modern" or conceptual artists and their worthlessness.

If we didn't have them around, people would still be sniping at untalented and unimaginative academic artists as they were a century ago. Kudos to artists who go back to the old ways and media, but that's no panacea, either.

[fish hawk]

I bought an Abs-tract recently and I've lost 10 pounds and went down a waist size. Abs-tract is a good thing.