thoughts, works and occasional videos

Sticking to one style or not…that is the question…or….an ever changing landscape of an artist’s life/nothing is static

Hello again.  As they say, when it rains it pours.  I have been neglect in blogging and now, all of a sudden, you are being bombarded with posts.  What the heck?  Well, either it is that pent up thoughts are washing over me like a flood causing me to write or I left my paints at home and while I am traveling I don’t want to return to the pen when my brain is thinking color.   Yes, of course I brought with me mini watercolors but for some reason I want the dense and dirty stuff…oils, lol.

So, I walked into ‘Ma vlast’ (‘My Homeland’) exhibit at the Prague Castle Riding School Manes Union’s Diamant Gallery 3 days ago (Yes, I know, incredibly lucky me) and was floored by the colors of the paintings of the Czech Impressionists.  My jaw dropped in awe and with my heart beating a bit faster, I was in second heaven.  Imagine, me, finding colors that made mine look dull.  I just oogled my way from one luscious painting to another.  In all honesty, I don’t think Monet had anything over these artists.  

My husband bought a book, as he is inclined to do, but to my dismay the reproductions were weak.  In fact, that is putting it mildly.  Less diplomatically speaking, they were like looking through the dust that layers from eons of attic storage or a soot coated window.  I considered doing a blog about the art but with no photos taken (not permitted), I would prefer to sit with my glorious mental memories than look through the book or over-talk the colors away.  

Anyway, the next day I entered another museum, the Veletrzni Palace, and was able to find a couple of works by some of the artists, just not their ‘betters’, such as I had seen the day before.  But, more interestingly, while fewer artists were represented in this museum, I found a very wide range of work from one particular artist, František Kupka.  What a display it was and that is what provided the fodder for this blog.

The selections of Kupka’s works and examples of his series below span approximately 40+ years and provides a fabulous glimpse into a single artist’s process.  Check out see the incredible changes that took place.  Thumbs up to those who say ‘keep your work consistent’ or ‘thumbs down’.  I will take neither side of that debate. I will just say, ‘Enjoy what you see of his process and for yourself, let it flow and enjoy the ride’.

The first works of Kupka’s at the museum were representational, since the earliest shown harkens to when he was about 30 years old, I surmise his previous works were even more traditional and perhaps, in art lingo ,’tight’.   By the way, check out Thomas Weswick’s “Paint On” Facebook group.  He has a great little blurb (unlike mine) on the painting process which I think he just posted.  Thomas alludes to this process in his statement about the evolution of learning to paint.  

Looking along Kupka’s works you can see how both the art movements of the world were impacting his work as well as his own intellectual curiosity and growth.  ‘The Family’ (the 4th image) brings me into the colors of the Blue Rider Group (The Fauves) and others in the expressionist movement.  Checking out the dates of his pieces shown you can note that while working with such intense colors he simultaneously engages in the more intellectual (the 5th image ‘Lines, Planes and Depth’), though does not fully realize those pieces until years later.  But, point of note, he surely dips into those pools of uncertainly and fresh waters.  His work is anything but stagnant!

Progressing along we see Kupka reflecting the impact of the industrial revolution and the predominance of science and math in every day lives as he explores cubism and constructivism.  We can see the interests of time and his involvement with the ‘Futurists’ until he delves into the world of pure abstraction, akin to that of Mondrian, and those concepts that further cemented the change of aesthetics in Western art.

The sum total of my showing his work is basically to say:

1.  We can not elude the era in which we live
2.  We can not stop exploring if we want to grow
3.  We can not grow if all remains the same

We can’t help but grow if we let go of preconceived notions of what art is and should be.   Yes, I am guilty to a degree. I am not judgement-free; but I consciously aim for some degree of open-mindedness.  I like aesthetics and moan and groan over repeated piles of crap stuck on the floor in some galleries or some rod leaning against a wall that many oh and ah over when I can see architecture by the likes of Brunelleschi, Gaudi or Frank Gehry. I am impatient with intellectual gobbly-gook that has downed our sense of aesthetics to the basement floor and proclaimed that craft or skill is of no relevance’ but rather ‘individual ego-centric proclamations’ are what matters.  I know, it is an ever-changing aesthetic; but I do draw the line.

Yes, some may say even I intellectualize too much, particularly since I don’t exactly paint traditionally myself. But, I paint what I need to in my own process.  I still want to color this world with some beauty or something of relevance.  The first is of course in the eye of the beholder but is still driven by my belief that aesthetics can help elevate the spirit/soul, something our world is in need of; and the latter is a path I hope to someday travel because once again, the world would benefit from people thinking beyond just themselves.

Anyway, in closing, for those who need rules and guidelines, there are plenty to be found. For those that prefer to track by intuition, go for it.  No one formula works for all people!  Enjoy your process.  Allow it to take it’s course, for it will end up leading you where you need to go.