The naive, the bad and the amateur.

 I am disconcerted by the term "bad art", and paranoid that I may come under it.  Is it simply a matter of being in or out of fashion and current opinions.  The Museum of Bad Art  aims to bring the worst of art to the widest audience.  Art ahead of it's time is often viewed as bad, before it is accepted and appreciated.  In Van Gogh's case, not even in the artist's own lifetime.  It can take a showman who believes in his own art to convince us to believe also.  Sometimes, merely a high price can command credence.

 Abstract art is criticised with comments such as, "A child could do that."  A recent psychology study explored whether a painting could be identified as being by a professional, a child or a monkey: How to tell a masterpiece from a painting by a monkey.  Overall it seems that we can identify the mind behind the art.  I admire the confidence of abstract artists, capturing suggestions from intangibles.  I painted the abstracts above as studies for a background of a future figurative piece.

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain. 1917.

 So what is Contemporary art?.  Isn't all art made now, contemporary, regardless of it's classical or modern influence.  Artists were creating conceptual art long before the "Conceptual" artists were born. Originating in the 1860's Modern Art could now technically be seen as old.  Duchamp's original urinal, "Fountain" would be 93 years old, which could be considered antique.  In 2004, it was chosen as the most influential work of modern art, by 500 experts. The beginning of conceptual art, it highlighted the creative process as the art rather than the work itself.  The artist as "thinker".

John Baldessari

Everything is purged from this painting but art,no ideas have entered this work

Acrylic on canvas, 1966 - 1968

  Just as music ranges from punk to classical, this is an exciting time for all types of art irrespective of manual labour.  We have rich treasures to draw from and a multitude of combinations of craftsmanship with original ideas.  As Duchamp said, " It is the spectators who make the pictures", and it is also us that keep a work modern.  A constant stream of new people seeing a work of art for the first time.

Rodin, The Thinker. 1902.

 The word amateur seems loaded with derogatory and inferior connotations.  In fact it originates from the Latin,"to love".  Is not art created for the love of it, equal value to art churned out to meet it's market.  It must be the case that all professionals begin as amateurs before another is prepared to pay for what they produced.  For your work to be what you love is one of the greatest privileges to aspire to.  The tragedy would be if the artist loses their love and authenticity in their effort to make art their profession and source of income.  May art forever wrestle against soulless consumerism and never become a slave to interior design.
  Naive Art sounds even worse. Is this the term used for artists who for whatever reason have not received a Western art school education.

   "What is Art School really? Well, it's a bit of time you are given. A bit of time in which to learn things." ~ Maggi Hambling

  One of my favourite artists,  Séraphine de Senlis, is considered naive.  I discovered a film about her on Twitter via @Deanthepainter.           
 

 I have not had time or opportunity to learn the crafts of the old masters, and to some extent I think this is a liberation.  I am not confined by what you can and can't do, according to the current consensus on art.  Having had chance to develop and mature before the influence of the art world, any skills I do learn will hopefully enhance my ability to express myself rather than obscure.  If during the course of my fine art degree I turn into an art snob, please let me know.  I hope I can retain a degree of objectivity.  Too much specialism can distance you from the actual art.  Nigel Kennedy is undeniably a fantastic violinist, but trapped in his classical training he has not been able to fully embrace and create his own individual music.   Like the beauty of a rose, pulled apart in an attempt to analyse it's beauty.