“Visual artists should be leading the cultural revolutions for society instead of just reacting to them. In his book The End Of Art, Donald Kuspit promotes the idea that fear and ignorance of the unconscious have created a climate of creative superficiality in which artists are unwilling to break though the surface of their minds to the uncomfortable waters that lie beneath. Artists are scared of the inner truth about themselves, more particularly, about acknowledging psychic conflict and trauma as well as the primary creativity evidenced by fantasy (especially dreams). The End Of Art also covers the genealogy of the Post Art aesthetic, from Duchamp through Warhol’s commercialism to Hirst’s installations, drawing upon preoccupations with banal objects and everyday life situations. Whereas modern art consist of revolutionary experiments motivated by a desire to express aspects of the newly-discovered “unconscious mind,” Post Art, Kuspit argues, is shallow, unreflective and banality motivated by the desire to become institutionalized and famous.” -–Time Magazine -02 Jan 2011
This truth was never more evident than in this week’s elegant and elaborate and very upscale art opening of Sobey Art Awards 2012 at MOCCA and Edward Day Gallery.
As I made my way through the crowds which read like Who’s Who in the Canadian art world, brushing up against the leaders and decision makers of what art gets shown and who should be promoted, and looked at the famous winning art work pieces, I had to rub my eyes in disbelief. The art consisted of very badly done abstract photos, poured over with resin and mundane and down right meaningless and ugly installations that at first and last glance denoted …nothing; made up of banal kitchen sink objects slapped together. The whole show smacked of a desire to conceal anything artistic under a pile of “trash”. No good design, no excellent colour schemes, no meaning, no inner truths, no refection, no beauty, no feelings, allowed!
I can’t wait for Neo Post Art….or can I?
Maybe magical realism will make a comeback to transport us from this drab materialistic capitalistic existence that Post Art has catapulted us into. And hey, what would the taxpayers say if they learned that this kitchen sink piles of junk won $50,000 from our very esteemed colleagues and Art Foundations?
The cat is out of the bag, the emperor has no clothes….let’s see art that is promoted in Canada at the present, for what it is, dead.
It is time to display the art of artists that talk about inner truths, fantasy, magic of life and emotions; for a revolution in Canadian art, who is up for the challenge?
RSS Feed
