Going underground

 What is art?

It always amuses me when people are exercised by a work of art. I suppose art should challenge and be challenged, so from that point of view it’s good that they are. People are funny when they are affronted by something they basically can’t comprehend. Unable to shed their blinkers. And so it would seem that an ad that David Hockney has designed is causing people to become agitated because it disturbs their narrow idea of what art should be. 

‘Brilliant’ or Totally Phoned In? is the headline on Artnet News. People seem afraid of it because they don’t know which way to swing, and so they go with a gut reaction. Do you know what? I DON’T FUCKING CARE! 

Art is art. There are no rules. Stop trying to be fashionable. Relax. If you like it you like it. If you don’t, you don’t. Stop trying to pre-judge the pretentious zeitgeist. Stop trying to understand art. Wake up and get over yourself. 

Art is not something that trend setters/influencers prescribe. Art is what you want it to be. 

What is art?

If you don't know the answer, this pdf pamphlet might be able to help you. If you think you know the answer, think again. 

Hockney rhyming slang

Yesterday we went to Tate Britain to see the current Hockney exhibition. It was muchly enjoyable.

I think Hockney is perfect at dispelling the myth that there is such a thing as good and bad art. What he does mostly anyone can do? Having said that his draughtsmanship is excellent; and whilst to be an artist need to be a draughts person it's certainly a skill that helps. And then there's the photography. What he does with a camera is so inventive. Photographs should not be restricted by their typical borders.

At exhibitions, especially busy ones, I dart around. Where gaps appear in the crowd I'm there. I never gawp in any particular order. Free space is everything.

Hockney's liberal use of vibrant colours is so exciting; the strong oranges, blues and purples delight the observer. They assault the eyes in a most pleasurable way. Sometimes his colours are almost fluorescent.

He's both primitive and sophisticated. He is the distilled essence of what art should be.