Today Judy and I met some friends at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (names and photos of friends here). One of the friends, Sara Jane Boyers, was in town to do some workshops related to the exhibit of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat. As you can probably guess just be looking at the example on the left, Basquiat's work has inspired some widely (and wildly) divergent opinions about his talent (or lack of it).
I found the exhibit fascinating, especially with Sara Jane there to make a few salient points. One telling thing was the guest book. I've never seen a guest book with comments quite like those in this one. Some people made drawings, and many people were clearly inspired by what they'd seen. My favorites: "Okay, I finally get it -- 43-year-old white woman." Beside it, in another hand, with an arrow pointing to it: "You'll never get it -- trust me." I'm not sure I got it, but I did enjoy it.
2 comments:
there is a vast difference between when what looks like a horrible painting is really a horrible painting and when what looks like a horrible painting is really a potent piece of communication. it's the difference between a jigsaw puzzle splashed from the box onto the table and the jigsaw puzzle assembled. except a horrible painting is worse than jumbled jigsaw puzzle pieces because the pieces can eventually be arranged and a horrible painting is horrible under all circumstances forever. and drugs do not an artist make. drugs are just drugs. the artist is always the artist, drugged or not.
Yes, and I'm still not sure whether the paintings are are or not.
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