Donald Morgan came to my Art 111 class this week and presented his work. His work is very reminiscent of the 1960’s artwork. The first work that he started doing was inspired by Per Kirkeby during his undergraduate work. He described how he was interested in the quality of the work that someone does. It’s not the content of the painting that makes it good, it’s the materials itself; the quality of a line (the thickness or thinness of it). After school he went to work for Mary Heilmann and I believe that it was in New York where he worked for her. He describes his work as straightforward and that there usually isn’t any underlying meanings or personal anecdotes. There did seem to be a few pieces that reflected his childhood and the place in which he grew up. Most of his work is sensitive to the space around him. He dealt a lot with nature and the different colors and shapes and silhouettes that it makes.
His work was interesting to me because it seemed like some of it was compelling but some of it wasn’t. His process of making work seemed so simple and it had a simple look to it but it wasn’t simple! The actual materials and detail of his work looked complicated. That is really very interesting to me because it takes a lot of hard work to make something look so simple! He had to do a lot of exacto-knife cutting to make positive and negative space and all of the wood he used to make his sculptures. Oh yeah, why does he call himself a painter? It seemed like most of the work that he did was sculpture work. I understand that he also painted the sculptures but it seemed interesting that ‘painting’ was the profession he chose to define himself in. I guess it doesn’t really matter which one he wants to be called. Anyway, whatever he does, his work would fit in well with the 1960’s.
You know, like the Leo Castelli crowd? He would fit right in! His work and Lichenstein’s work seemed a lot alike. They both did sculptures but also a lot of painting and drawing. And the simplicity of both of their designs went well together. It seems like Morgan might be stuck in that time frame because his work was brilliantly reminiscent of it. In the thick of it all though, all of these people seem to be, ultimately, painters at heart. The discovery of Castelli’s crowd seemed to be obvious to Castelli. He knew that the artists he had chosen were innovative. And about the art world today? Castelli says that the change in social and political interest is because that were are searching for the next best thing still. I guess the next best thing hasn’t arrived then…
Castelli talked to the author of our class reading material, Suzi Gablik. He said that “art is struggling again to do something meaningful” (472). Which, I guess I don’t know enough about the art world to have that great of an opinion. But it’s hard for me to take advice from a guy who grew up in the institution of galleries. I mean, it’s good that he’s trying to stay connected with what is going on in the art world, in his old age and all. I do trust him because of how old he is though, that means he has tons of experience and has important opinions. I do believe that the people he discovered became famous because they were amazing artists. I wish that more artists became as well-known as Andy Warhol because then I might be able to actually know more about the art world!
I think it’s interesting because during the 60’s there was a lot of controversy happening. Times were starting to change then, especially with the Vietnam War and the artists work didn’t reflect any of that. Nowadays, artist’s works are hugely reflective of the changing times and the “end of the world” scare. I can’t say that it’s a bad change because I’m sure there are artists out there now who are just as talented and innovative as Castelli’s crew. And, in a way, Castelli is right about the struggling art world. It almost seems like the art world is in a state of change and can’t keep fighting to push out of that. It’s a difficult struggle and I say that whichever direction it is headed, must be the right way.
No comments:
Post a Comment