The Winthrop University Master of Fine Arts Department is putting together the “Works in Progress” Show and will be on Campus this week in the Lewendowski Gallery in the first floor of McClaurin Hall. I will have two pieces in the show viewable on Monday. I will post pictures of the show Monday as well for all to see who are too far to see the show in person.
Thank you to all who are able to make it out to the show and show your support. As of right now there is no official opening party, so it really is there for all to come at their own convenience during business hours of 9 am to 5 pm.
Thank you,
Stephen
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Dealing with terror in our society of insensitivity...
I am working on a series of paintings about human relationships. As one studies the paintings one would come to their own conclusions about what is happening between them, but one thing is sure, it isn’t pastel flowery.
I was recently reminded of the culture I live in. A culture saturated with the stench of desensitization from the entertainment and news media which constantly one-up the previous with greater intensity and special effects. John Stuart always has news broadcasters to laugh at for making the mundane and respectful extreme and outrageous. For instance, the snow storm of this past week in the DC area has been called “Snowmageddon”, “snowpocalipse”, and “The Snowtorious B.I.G.” Everything has to be the end of the world to be watched in this society. There is no room to filter the news and entertainment through a filter of reality.
This same necessity for the extreme exists in the art world. Be done with the old and create the new, the better, the “original”. To be original is difficult. In fact the majority of artists in the world are what is called derivative artists. These artists see something they like and say to themselves “I like that! I want to do something like that!” Whether it is known or not, this type of artist has the “glass ceiling” restricting their ability to become great because they never show the world anything they have never seen before. And as previously said, it is a requirement for a great number of interested viewers, let alone fans and buyers.
Back to my project, My portraits may be literally unique, but the idea behind them and the application of the paint isn’t entirely original and therefor are a part of the process for me, rather than the end product.
Please take a look at my pieces at my flickr.com account.
I was recently reminded of the culture I live in. A culture saturated with the stench of desensitization from the entertainment and news media which constantly one-up the previous with greater intensity and special effects. John Stuart always has news broadcasters to laugh at for making the mundane and respectful extreme and outrageous. For instance, the snow storm of this past week in the DC area has been called “Snowmageddon”, “snowpocalipse”, and “The Snowtorious B.I.G.” Everything has to be the end of the world to be watched in this society. There is no room to filter the news and entertainment through a filter of reality.
This same necessity for the extreme exists in the art world. Be done with the old and create the new, the better, the “original”. To be original is difficult. In fact the majority of artists in the world are what is called derivative artists. These artists see something they like and say to themselves “I like that! I want to do something like that!” Whether it is known or not, this type of artist has the “glass ceiling” restricting their ability to become great because they never show the world anything they have never seen before. And as previously said, it is a requirement for a great number of interested viewers, let alone fans and buyers.
Back to my project, My portraits may be literally unique, but the idea behind them and the application of the paint isn’t entirely original and therefor are a part of the process for me, rather than the end product.
Please take a look at my pieces at my flickr.com account.
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