A disagreement
(part two)
Now, I only speak for myself, and I might have a few feminist issues with a lot of the work that hangs in The National Gallery but I’m certainly not out to sabotage and suppress the work of the Old Masters. I think at worst, and correct me if I’m wrong, contemporary artists are generally disinterested in the work of Adolphe William Bouguereau and Michalangelo.
OK, so this young man and me have different favourite artists, it seemed to be a huge problem for him but for me… no. However, I found myself fiercely defending my corner against his statements that 1) How dare anyone who can’t draw like Leonardo teach art and 2) If you can’t draw correctly (correctly!!) how can you call yourself an artist? Well I certainly had something to say about that. Apart from being entirely ignorant to other forms of artistic expression, he seemed to be completely negating the fact that some people need to be artists. I feel I need to be an artist – for my health!
My thoughts cast back to my tutor at San Francisco Art Institute, Keith Boadwee who explained on the first day of class he set up the Conceptual Drawing course for people who wanted to draw but ‘couldn’t’, those who didn’t meet, and did not want to meet the technical standards of drawing encouraged at ‘Drawing level 1’, (a class that ran parallel to Boadwee’s that I quickly un-enrolled myself in after arriving at SFAI). Boadwee’s class had a profound impact on the way I addressed a blank piece of paper, his mantra of ‘if a drawing isn’t working, just scribble on it, take a risk’ really opened up drawing for me, and soon turned it into an important part of my practice.
When I told the young man that I used to draw like him – his sketch book was filled with bits and bobs of anatomy, statuesque faces, all drawn as accurately as he could manage – but now I draw like this; (I showed him my recent mono prints) he stared at me in disbelief! How could I be so stupid?! A child could do it!
So?
I personally think it sickly self-indulgent to draw with mirror like accuracy, I used to do it, shh people away but secret adore their coo’s and adulations that I was ‘so talented’. And I can only speak for myself again here, but when I drew like that I wasn’t exploring anything, it was a simple superficial exercise of ability. Now if I was to create a representational image I use my camera, I reserve my drawings for notions, suggestion and whispers. Stupid stupid stupid.
Ah I wasn’t getting anywhere with this conversation, after a couple of hours I called it a day and went out for a bite to eat. But is this the kind of discussion I am going to find myself embroiled in again and again here in Firenze? Can the Renaissance art share its cradle with a little contemporary art?
