The quote of the week is 'Contemporary art reflects contemporary issues' Diarmuid McAuliffe.
Today when I went into the class that I was assigned to teach,there were pictures of famous artists. These iincluded Gustav Klimpt and Van Gogh. I wondered if their art reflected their contemporary issues.
Last night I heard another interesting statement. Diarmuid had asked secondary school art teachers to only teach using modern female artists, and this significantly changed the output of the classes.
Then I realised that I was a female artist ( who was not dead) and I felt very empowered.
So when I saw the art on the wall, mass produced, popularised and far from its time and context, and the meaning cheapened, and emotion diluted and lost in the churn of modern culture, and the life of the artist just... lost.
So the dilemma is - do we keep our artistic antenna tuned into the past, or do we encourage useful creativity in everyday life to enhance the lives of others?
Or maybe art will continue to eat itself and gestate a new generation of backward looking forward thinking creatives?
I think we should celebrate the creation of art as a way to uplift the artist and the beholder. Rather than art being a medium to an end.
Children in a class imitating Starry Night, crayons on paper.
Or children drawing their own art - what do I see at night?
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