He Said She Said: Artistic Reaction

The great artists who we speak about and praise are those who took the status quo and said "but, wait! look over here! look what I found!", went with it, whether people followed or not (most didn't), and rode it to their deathbeds.

They were of the same creative line and thinking as other artists, as most fellow artists are, yet slightly askew. And because their ideas were new it took time for them to define exactly what they were trying to achieve.

So when they found it, they had PASSION for it.

Figure 1

The original bad boys of art had the hardest time convincing the already establish art world that their new ways were just as, if not more, beautiful and acceptable than what was being regularly shown. They saw the world in a way that wasn't represented in the arts, and had the balls to share what they saw, how they saw it.

They were inspired by a lack of something in the art world, and the rule-breaking artists who followed were inspired by them. Impressionists were inspired by natural colors and capturing life en plein air (Figure 1) rather than precise figurative art that featured mythical and religious scenes. The post-impressionists used impreciseness of figure to achieve a precise feeling, and some even used their imaginations (!) rather than striving to capture what they literally saw en plein air. While others wanted to infuse Impressionism with discipline through scientific color theory and, dare I say, sketches (Figure 2).
And so on...

Figure 2

Cut to today and we're in a mish-mosh of "What the fuck IS art?". The difference between seemingly "rule breaking" artists today and the original ones (Figure 3) is perception and education.

It's in artists' nature to think differently and break the mold, but, unlike many of the great modern artists, most contemporary artists haven't a fucking clue what's going, and has gone on, in the arts. How can great artists be inspired by a lack of what's being presented in the art world if they don't know what's there? How can they react and create respectively without having an understanding of what's come before them? History tells us, that what makes art great is relative newness with an intelligent and educated twist.

Figure 3

Conclusion
Recently, a friend of mine who has been deeply involved in the art world for over 40 years came back from touring an artist collective space in Brooklyn. When she came back, her first response was "I saw the same thing 20 times. It was all lips, tits and dicks."

Without appreciating what others are creating and have created, we look to societal norms to rebel and think "creatively" against. Yet, society is supposed to look to art for inspiration. This is fucked up. As a young art community, we need to look within ourselves — our person and our world —, stop worrying about getting a repost on tumblr or empty reactions (see, lips, tits and dicks) and start collaborating on ideas by sharing them and having a sincere interest in what others are creating.

I say this as a newcomer, but maybe it takes a wide-eyed newly educated perspective to notice something's wrong... or needs a good artistic rebelling against.

My take on water lilies.