COPY ART  

When I first read an article in last week's Guardian about an illustrator who makes 'original copies' of masters my immediate response was annoyance. However, I have always been a fan of the oxymoron so I read on trying to figure out what this meant both on in terms of artmaking and on philosophical level.

Susie Ray copies famous paintings upon request from her clients and while this does seem a bit lame in terms of creativity and original thought, the interesting thing about the process is that is does takes a very special kind of attentiveness and mindfullness to copy something exactly as you see it. Ray even copies the frame (which was often not the original choice of the artist but rather the purchaser or collector) to such an exact degree that it seems the only difference between her work and a 'forgery' is that she declares it to be a 'copy'. I think this tradition of making copies (and forgeries for that matter) says a lot more about the inflated prices of the art market and people's desire to own something that is considered prestigious or a status symbol, than it does about society's appreciation or understanding of the power and presence of an authentic work of art.

I find it interesting that this kind of copying is acceptable in the visual arts world to the point of calling the people who do it 'copyists'. Yet if one were to think about the music world or literary world the terms are different. If you 'copy' another person's song, you would be doing 'a cover version' of that song or an 'interpretation' of a musical composition; or in the case of writing, if you copied another writer's writing, you would be accused of plagiarism. So while I do think the art of copying can be a fulfilling experience for the person doing it (art students have copied the masters throughout the centuries as a way of learning) and a satisfying experience for the person receiving the art, I am much more interested in more imaginative and creative interpretations of works of art. An immediate example that comes to mind is Manet's 1865 Olympia which is an early modernist interpretation of Ingres' 1814 La Grande Odalesque which in turn, is considered to be an interpretation of Titian's 1538 Venus of Urbino.

My favourite example of a contemporary artist interpreting the old masters is Pat Steir's The Brueghel Series (Vanitas of Style). A more detailed description of this work appears in this 1984 New York Times article: Pat Steir's Brueghel Series. In these paintings Steir takes a still life with flowers by Brueghel (image above) and interprets the work through the styles of many 20th century artists (see image below). It is fascinating how Steir takes so many diverse styles and is able to unify them as a whole based on a simple central composition. Flowers in a Blue Vase (above) was also the subject of a performance piece by Wietske Maas & Nikolaus Gansterer.

And then there are artists who copy themselves as a way of understanding the spontaneous or not-so-spontaneous gesture. The most famous example of this is probably Robert Rauschenberg's Factum I and Factum II where one painting is a copy of the other. Another contemporary artist Bernard Piffaretti makes copying his own work part of his practice. Both these artists use the tool of copying to make a point about the idea of spontaneity and deliberation and also as a way of dissecting or understanding their own process. For this reason alone I always recommend to students to try and copy their own work. Usually this is impossible to do because as soon as you try, the new work immediately starts to take on a life of its own. Try this and see for yourself.

To make things more confusing, there are artists who 'appropriate' other artists works such as Sherry Levine and her photographic series After Walker Evans or Richard Pettibone who makes miniature versions of artists work from the pop art era. All of these examples being much more conceptually interesting than a person who is presenting copies of master works to the world.

At the of the day I would much rather have people buying original work made by the artists themselves and for that reason I appreciated the story in this month's issue of Modern Painters about people who are buying and collecting contemporary art (despite its dubious title): The 50 Most Exciting Art Collectors Under 50.

Come check out the delightful cornucopia or art and goods at this Pop Up Emporium.

There is large selection of original drawings and paintings of all shapes and sizes by artist and VISA graduate Jenn Wilson.

There is also an eclectic collection of books and CDs where everyone can find something to intrigue and interest them.

Everything is available by donation and all proceeds go to Jenn's tuition for University of Gloucestershire, UK September 2013-April 2014

 

Hours: 

Friday, July 25 10-4pm and Saturday and Sunday, July 27 and July 28, noon-4pm