After my recent solo show at Newman University ended, the gallery director told me that the students particularly enjoyed my exhibit because it was "political". I had never thought of my work that way, but there were some pieces in it that definitely had a political point of view, particularly Dispensed, Awarded and Segregated (shown here). These were the works that the students remembered, even though there were many more that were not political in nature. What made these pieces particularly memorable?
I have always been up front about the fact that I do not have any formal art education. A few months ago, I heard the word "narrative" being applied to art for the first time, even though that concept is probably taught in Art 101. It was quite an eye opener and I began to think about the narrative within my own art. Does it speak to people? Does it tell a story of some kind? Do I put sufficient meaning into my work to make the viewer think about what I am saying to them? If not, is my work forgettable, inconsequential or merely pretty?
When I was a junior at Hofstra University, I was required to take a course called Philosophy of Education. It was taught by Dr. Ignacio Gotz, who retired a few years ago with the reputation of being one of the greatest philosophers in the education field. For every class, we had to write an essay that addressed such seemingly simple questions as "What is education?" or "What is teaching?". Being the very literal-minded person that I am, I would often respond with the dictionary definition of the word. He never let me get away with that, of course. I recently realized that I was doing the same thing with much of the artwork in my Definitions series. Once again, I was presenting a very literal version of the word and not much more.
At the sculpture conference I attended last week, the keynote speaker was Jaume Plensa. I was very impressed with the depth of thought and heart he put into each artwork, whether it was immediately obvious to the viewer or not. This idea really resonated with me and I realized that I needed to do this, too. For me, this is what separates the truly great artists from those who merely make stuff. I have several pieces that are partially completed and need to be finished, but I believe that any new work I start after that will come from a lot deeper in my soul. The narrative will be there, to draw in the viewers and hopefully stay with them long after they have walked away from my exhibit.
The mark of a great teacher is that you are still learning from them years later. The mark of a great artist should be the same. Perhaps, to be a memorable artist, you really need to be a philosopher first.
