Eva Antonel
Recently, I took part in a conversation
about the definition of good art. As most
conversations do, it had arguments from very
different perspectives. The point of
contention seemed to focus on the question
of whether an artist's talent should be judged
by how closely he or she can replicate the
scene before their eyes.
Some argued that it takes real talent to
reproduce a scene in such detail that it barely
differs from the real thing. The implication
was that those that do not, must not be able
to. Those that choose to express themselves
through abstract art are, therefore, least
talented of all.
We spoke about beauty being in the eye
of the beholder, about how different types of
images appeal to different people. We spoke
about reality and perception, technique and
skill. But the hardest thing to define was that
intangible quality that separates one piece
from another, one artist from the next, art
from pseudo art.
I was given the example of a well-known
painter who reproduced the glow of street
lights in a rain-soaked city scene. They lit the
street with a quality reminiscent of many
such scenes. The lights of passing cars shone
in just the right way and reflected from store
windows just as you would expect them to. I
had to agree that the image was clearly a
representation of what the artist was seeing,
but so is an architectural drawing, or a
blueprint for that matter.
It is one thing to be technically good at
following principles of design; it is another to
be able to have a work of art speak to our
soul. It takes an artist to see the pathos
In memory of
Mary Walzak
Atkinson
January 26, 1939 June 19, 2015
behind the image and to be able to show it to
us. As hard as it is to technically replicate an
image, it takes talent to convey a feeling
through that representation. That is what
differentiates the technician from the artist.
I may not be an art critic but I know that
my breath catches and my eyes well up when
I see something that speaks to me beyond
what my eyes can communicate. Fiction,
someone recently observed is "the great lie
that tells the truth." The same can be said of
all art forms. Good art is so much more than
skill and technique. It's that intangible way
that all the elements come together and allow
us to recognize the familiar and at the same
time to see the world in a new way.
Like a kindred spirit, it makes us feel a
part of a whole while broadening our
horizons and taking us places we'd never
considered before. Best of all, it changes who
we are by the experience, making all future
experiences new and familiar all over again.
The talent lies in showing us what is and also
what could be, making the world a much
more vibrant place.
How do you support local artists?
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July 2015 - The HUB 9