I read many artists’ blog entries that suggest ways to get ahead and be recognized by trying to break away from the pack. Be different. Be daring. Stand out from the crowd. I find that these statements might just be at the root of the trouble with art in general today. Artists hope that what they are currently painting IS daring and different. After all we don’t see OUR work in the work of others. Or do we? It takes years of painting and living to find a your true voice. And some never find it no matter what they do.
I don’t believe there is a genre that has not been painted almost to death. Landscapes for instance. If you take the time and make the effort and separate your ego from the process, you’d find nothing new or different is being painted in landscapes today. I know that if anyone reads this they will certainly disagree. I also know this sounds negative and not supportive of landscape painters, but think about it, every one is trying to paint what sells and in so doing is virtually painting the same scenes. Some use the traditional approach, some tonalism, some impressionism or whatever. But if you were to set these paintings next to one another, my guess is you wouldn’t see much difference. Sure they would show some individuality of some sort, color differences, angle or point of view, composition. But overall, it would be a sea of empty landscapes with redundant scenes of trees, rivers, lakes and mountains at various times of the day. Now this isn’t to say that  one cannot paint a startling landscape. I’m sure it can be done because it has been done in the past. The problem for me is that everyone painting landscapes today is painting the same landscape in my opinion. The painter travels to some remote spot or vista and records what he or she sees, some with more or less skill than the other. What is the purpose? If shear beauty is the motive, probably real life is better. In some cases we’ve probably traveled to some of these spots ourselves and have seen it first hand. And we can’t forget photography. So why paint another landscape if not to render something about it or interpret it through our individual ability and say something different. What that something is, is very individual and not as easy as it may first seem.
The other genre is still life. I know flowers and teapots and grapes and bowls lend themselves to still life, but can anyone be creative enough to use something other than these sophomoric, banal items? Everything laying before us in life is a potential still life. Can’t we take a risk and paint these things without regard to the perceived beauty inherent in the object?
The other genre is portrait painting. I haven’t seen a great portrait painting except for John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase. Portraits seem stiff, unnatural. The sitter out of place, uneasy. Generally in a costume they pulled out for the painter to paint but would hardly ever wear in life. What I like to see is personality not just a pretty image. There are some artists doing some fine portraits today, but overall the same portrait is being painted again and again. This subject may be harder to find nuance. Personality is a very elusive thing to paint and difficult to elicit from a sitter much less capture on canvas. Add to the mix the artist has to please the sitter, we can’t always paint what we see or think. Can we re-think the whole genre? Find a new way to say an old thing. Isn’t this our true goal as artists? Artists need to stand up and not paint the same ole’ same ole’ paintings. We need to stop copying what works and push the envelope. Our purpose is to create art first and sell second. And if we were to create something wonderful it would move beyond the same old artwork being produced again and again. Artists are pigeonholed by the “market” and as such produce mediocre work that only rises to that market level. It doesn’t move art up out and over the top to new heights. Every work we create- or should I say show, should be better than the last. In content. When an artist finds his/her niche, that artist is as good as done. The work will be the same over and over. The curse to any artist is success. Success is a dead knell to a true artist. If anyone reads this and wants to debate it so be it. We are awash in mediocrity and we all need to raise the bar and the customers will follow us as opposed to us pandering to a market. This market is starved for something new and different and better than what we offer. We have to challenge ourselves and raise the level of the market. After all the market is taking what we give it. If we give it better innovative art it will demand better innovative art. Think about it the next time you start to paint. Think about your work making a statement. Be profound. Be daring. Stand out in this way.