“Art is the only thing people buy that doesn’t have a purpose. I suppose if art does have a purpose, it’s probably just to cover the walls.” This was a comment a painting professor I had at Pratt Institute would loved to espouse during class. My professor would usually go on and say that painting throughout history was used to document people and places, however with the advent of photography to document our daily lives, art in modern times is simply left to be decoration.
If art’s main purpose pre-photography was simply to document life, than I would get as much love out of looking at Rembradt’s self-portrait as I would looking at my own drivers license photo. There is also plenty of art, like the sculptures on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which are universally charming even thought they aren’t realistic in representing human proportions. Art obviously brings more joy to people than just being accurate depictions of people and things. My professor’s last argument was that art is decoration, and by implication, marginal in its power. For me, decorations are the details that make an artwork whole: the inlay on a building’s arch, a pattern on a dress and so on. So I’m not even sure how you could have decoration but not art. Perhaps my professor is in need of a fresh perspective about art.
For me the purpose of art is to give people a fresh perspective on an emotional level. I got the sense that the reason why we were all at art school, my professor included, was because we were not the most emotionally well rounded group of people. We were sensitive, unbalanced and in need of new perspectives that could give us the ability to be ourselves in the world. This need for new perspectives is why I think we all became artists. By being an artist you can communicate your own life experience, how you’d like life to be, or what you think is most important.
My inner-self needs to be let out.
When you consider that I live in Brooklyn, am a bit anxious and take spiritual refuge in nature, you can see why I enjoy painting landscapes which are naturally relaxing and point to the importance of nature. For me, art is not unlike medicine or religion. Art is there as an antidote to whatever plagues my mind.
Painting landscapes is a reminder to myself and others of the importance of nature and it’s calming effects.
I work at the Museum of Modern Art which sits right next to Saint Thomas Church and in many ways I think both institutions do similar things: they are both there to shift our focus away from everyday problems and to larger and different perspectives that make us feel more connected with our own lives, emotions and thoughts. For me, art and museums very much serve as my religion and church.
We all know we like art, but I think we as a society would be better off if we were able to understand why we like art. If we could more clearly articulate art’s value in uplifting people’s lives than we might not need to be so afraid of it. Art’s power is also clearly evident by how eager people are to use it as a form of oppression, by controlling how and what art is seen and by using art to signal a sense of superiority in wealth or status.
Art can do little for us if it doesn’t represent who we are, how we feel and what our concerns are. It’s been nice for me to see museums here in New York expanding a bit beyond showing work made by affluent white men from US and European cities. The way we currently exhibit, sell and fetishize art casts a long shadow on the potential it has in improving people’s lives. That shadow of course ostracizes many people. I hope my old professor, along with the art world continue to find new perspectives on what the power of art can be.
Be sure to join me for my upcoming Instagram Live spring sale this Sunday, March 21st, at 6PM! You can learn more here: