Is it good or bad art?
We've all had the experience of walking into an art gallery and feeling a sense of uncertainty about whether we like the work or not. Perhaps what we see looks unfamiliar or, perhaps it doesn't fit into what we consider aesthetically pleasing. Our first inclination might be to dismiss the work and carry on to the next venue.
I had this experience recently when I visited the Kohn Gallery in Hollywood, Calif., and looked at the work of the LA artist Tom LaDuke. At first glance, the large scale paintings look good in the large new gallery space, but after spending time with each piece, I found something visually jarring about all the work on exhibit. Rather than decide immediately whether I liked it or not, I shifted my thoughts to the idea that art can tell us a lot about the times we are living in, and maybe these works are one artist's way of depicting the world as he sees it right now, right in front of him. Our world is both beautiful and messy; complex and dark, funny and absurd, and these contradictory concepts come across loud and clear in LaDuke's work.
LaDuke's work also addresses our desire for immediate results by creating pieces that are the opposite; despite appearing thrown together, his work is extremely time- and labour-intensive. The backgrounds look like out-of-focus photographs, but the artist has meticulously painted them with what looks like an air brush technique, giving the illusion of a photographic surface. The work is layered and complex; strange and disjointed representational and abstract elements collide. Dripping paint and glitter ribbons interweave with atomic structures and cartoon-like characters. Virginia Broersma in the Huffington Post discusses the complexity of LaDuke's process with him in his studio. His method of working challenges the viewer to decide what is real and what is only perceived as real.
Christopher Knight in the LA Times describes LaDuke's work as being "dark, joyful and sometimes ugly or serene, but nearly always it's engaging." Maybe the question isn't whether the work is good or not, or whether you like it or don't, but rather what does the work tell us about the world or the art world at large? More important, does the work ultimately engage our attention? And if so, good or bad, it is worthy of our consideration.
|
We are pleased to present Three in a Room, the graduating exhibition by students completing the Independent Studio Program at VISA. Opening Friday, May 8, 6pm-8pm.
|
|
Upcoming NEW courses at VISA
Learn many techniques to transform your photographs into dynamic and poignant images to be used as is, or as part of another artwork.
For sample images:
Create fantastical worlds by setting up "tableaus" or constructed scenes for the subject of your photographs.
For sample images:
Learn to explore and understand the potential of watercolour as a fluid medium with a life of its own.
For sample images:
Expressive Watercolour
To register
Outsider Art Fridays 10am-1pm, May 22-Jun 26
Outsider art refers to people who make art and are untrained and/or not part of the mainstream art world. Their unselfconscious creations are often fantastical and many artists look to the work of "outsider" artists for inspiration because of the intense imagination the work reveals.
For sample images:
Outsider Art
To register
|
|
UVIC MFA Exhibition, Visual Arts Building
is open Monday-Friday May 4-8, 10am-4pm
|
|
Artist Talk: Arnold Koroshegyi
UVic , Tuesday May 5, 4pm
Working in photography, intermedia and installation, Arnold Koroshegyi is an award-winning artist who has exhibited across Canada, the United States and in Europe. Koroshegyi's practice and research interests involve the intersection of various media and the impermanence of place in our shifting social and physical landscapes.
VISUAL ARTS BUILDING - A 107
Free and open to the public.
|
OPUS OUTDOOR PAINTING COMPETITION
Seasoned plein air painters and novice artists who love the great outdoors. Groups looking for a creative activity and families celebrating Mother's Day with a painting picnic. You are all invited to the Opus Outdoor Painting Challenge on Sunday, May 10, 2015!
Each Opus store has $1000 in Opus Gift Card prizes plus thousands more in Draw Prizes to be won, too.
Sign up on the Opus website or in person at your local Opus, to be part of the day!
Online registration for the Outdoor Painting Competition is available until Wednesday, May 6, 4pm.
If you wish to register after that time, please contact the Opus location you wish to participate at directly.
Image above: John Hoffman, Judges 1st Place Selection in the Adult (19+) Category, Opus Victoria, OPC 2014
|
For more information contact Melissa in the office |
