Me too. I still need to do some scanning from my big Siqueiros book...
Art and social importance. A discussion that lasts for decades here.
I loved "committed" art many years ago. Now I just like art, committed or not.
The muralists' art was meant to "educate the masses", unaccustomed to read.
Diego's mural in the National Palace is a Marxist wannabe history of Mexico. But you really need to have some basic artistic culture not to get lost in it.
Same with others.
But then I remember the words of one of my mentors, who was then the Mexican representative in the Food and Agriculture Organization in the UN: "In Chapingo (Agricultural University), I learned more from the murals than from my teachers".
Thank you for the link fbaezer, I look forward
to investigating it!
art
Me too, FB. By the way, all. Here are some links to Latin American art in general. I hope they're still in operation. I have to be off now so I am submitting them without checking to see if they're current.
www.artelatina.com
www.arslatino.com
The middle two worked, didn't look except to check that, but liked #3 best just getting started...
#1 and #4 dudded.
JL, fbaezer gives an personal description of the 1985 Mexico (city) earthquake on the Earthquake thread....
no link at hand, but it's probably under general..
Love, love, love the murals. My favorite Mexican American artist is Luis Jimenz. He is from Tejas but now live in NM. Any one who has been to the new airport iDenver has seen his sculpture there.
I first met Luis at the American Gallery of art in 1980 during a show showcasing American artists. At that time I only saw him through his paintings, drawings, and sculputure. But right away I knew he was my guy.
The next time we hooked up was when he gave a gallery tour of the Museum in 1993 or 94 for his show, Man On Fire. He was wonderful and had many great stories to tell about his early years in NYC and the rejection of his Southwertern are in the South West.
At the end of the tour one of the group asked a question about the meaning of one of his scuptures, an oxen pulling a cart between two rail road tracks. His answere, "how should I what it means. If you want to know the meaning go ask an art historian". Most of the people were chagrined at his glibness but I laughed and laughed. He really meant it seriousl he said as he did not like to describe his art it was just for looking at.
However, he has taught Art at UT and is at this time a visiting professor, I will check it out this weekend in Austin.
art
Joanne, didn't Picasso also once say the same thing, that he leaves the meaning of (some) of his work to the critics (the authoratative interpreters).
Osso, I got the same result, so I deleted numbers 1 and 4 from the post. They used to work.
Gosh I don't know JLN but but it fits. It seems a useless task to try too fight the art historians and critics.
In addition, in my experience, artists are not that interested in telling people about their art. They are mostly interested producing art.
That's about right, Joanne. Except perhaps for people who are the most verbal artists and then...is there a change in the art? I don't know, just posing the question.
art
Osso and Joanne, yes, I think those artists who are most articulate and up on art history and artspeak are most likely to want to explain their work. I remember reading somewhere that the very intellectual and articulate Robert Motherwell said that "Beauty is in the meaning." This was, I suspect because his series of Elegies paintings, while beautiful and sensuously aesthetic, were also packed with meaning, a kind of homage to the Spanish Civil War and the death of the Bull fighter, Ignacio Sanchez Mejias on the horns of the bull, Granadino (one of my abstractions takes its justification from this event). He died at five in the afternoon, and the poem by Federico Garcia Lorca--a las cinco de la tarde--dramatically commemorates this event. The more or less FIVE major juxtaposed shapes in Motherwells elegies connote the sound of the bells tolling this time of day (I think that's right). With all this meaning, the beauty of the paintings seems to be augmented. But, I would argue, they could also stand on their own aesthetically. I loved this series well before I knew what they represented.
Off to Austin for the Texas gather with camera to sent pics back and sketch book hoping for inspiration as I drive closer to the heart of Texas and the Hill Country.
See you all on Tuesday,
Your description is pure poetry JL......
huh?
I think I went on and on about Goya on some threads last year, as has farmerman, if I remember. We've talked about the Capricios and about the painting.. and related paintings, somewhere! But Goya was from Spain..
...oops, I posted on the wrong thread..this
was meant to be on the one about political
art......Somewhat related, anyhow.....
JLN I must have missed you post on Motherwell as I prepared for my trip to Austin way back when.
Now I am intrigued by Motherwell a painter I have always thought of as anti female but you have turned those thoughts around. I will spend more time today investigating his work.
Great link fbaezer - thank you.
this is fascinating - most of these artists i have never heard of, nor would I without A2K and this group of interesting people here
