eve & adam 2, art, spirituality

the creation of adam and eve (own work, 2005, mixed media on paper)

i'm still neglecting this blog, for which i apologize (especially now that the blog attracts well over a 100 visitors a day). however, my other blog pitfalls of spirituality deals with about 16 subjects [19 pitfalls as of may 2009], of which i have now covered more than half. so in due time i should be back here with full attention.

actually, this split attention touches on the question what one can perceive as the role of art, and of artists, in society. my other blog deals with pitfalls of spirituality (see previous post for a link). but i find that out of this blog, images are coming to me, drawings, sculptural ideas, which perhaps carry a much directer message. which is critical in nature, just as the blog.

on the other hand, a lot of what i think of as `positive' spirituality has been playing a large role in my work ever since i started out as an artist, over 25 years ago.

and i would like to think that art can play a role in our uplifting. both emotionally, by providing beauty, solace,... and spiritually, by appealing to the level where we feel connected to other human beings.

therefore, art confronting us with suffering or abuse of people, might touch us in a way that a written report cannot. also,as another example, art showing the loving equality between woman and man might give some counterweight to all the stereotyping which we are confronted with from advertising and other outer-wrapping oriented endeavours.

this is my hope. i also believe it to be (and to have been) the hope of many other artists whose work can be classified as `spiritual' or `drawing on spiritual values'.


pablo picasso, boy watching woman (details unknown to me)

eve & adam, man & woman

eve & adam dancing with the animals (own work, 2008, mixed media on paper)

i've been neglecting this blog a bit, since my other blog pitfalls of spirituality is taking up more time than i intended. but one of the posts there has reminded me of a rather constant theme in art, and also in my own art: eve & adam, man & woman.

i would like to do a series of posts here, ranging widely, around this theme. although sexuality has some role, my intent is more of a spiritual nature. (as an important side note: although in my own work homosexuality doesn't feature very prominently, please don't think that i have anything against it. it's just that many of my works come from my subconscious, and it is only in retrospect that i notice they are mostly of a man-woman nature. in fact i think it would be good if spiritual same-sex love would be portrayed more often in art, as to form some counterbalance against the widespread discrimination of homosexuality.)

in the above drawing, i am probably as surprised as you to find eve and adam half dressed, with only the top half covered. have they already left paradise? one would think so, but they seem to rejoice nonetheless. and amongst the animals the snake is there too...

chuck close: more than realism?

what struck me with some of chuck close's works was the intensity of some of the portraits. an intensity which, in retrothinking, i would ascribe to a combination of ` harsh' realism (non-prettified i mean) with an extra layer of (is this a word?) deconstruction of reality [oh oh i'm starting to sound like ralf kwaaknijd here...].

by ` deconstruction' i mean his pixel-like approach, where each pixel is just a small abstract element. but in the best works it seems to me he added to this also extra abstract expression in these pixels. and freedom with respect to the size and placement of the `pixels'.

and then suddenly, the work for me starts to shimmer, vibrate, i don't know. it's an effect which i do not experience with the small reproductions on internet. i think you must go and see the work for real.



chuck close, maggie (photo by ellen page wilson, courtesy of PaceWildenstein, new york, ©chuck close [and i hope ellen and chuck don't mind]

but in other works i did not get much vibes beyond the realism. i wonder where chuck close will take his work in years to come!

chuck close: a portrait in progress

ok, something more serious now.

saw a wonderful short documentary `chuck close - a portrait in progress' by marion cajori, it seems there is now a feature-length version.

also saw a show of chuck close's work, last year in aachen. was glad i went, there were some very interesting and beautiful works (amongst works that i liked far less, to be honest and complete).

here is a video from youtube:



i will come back to this in the next post.

dutch visual artist ralf kwaaknijd: the purpose of art is controversy & the hidden in plain sight series 2

the reason that kwaaknijd is being sued by citizens rights' organizations such as the french citoyens contre la contresurveillance is that his unobtrusive hidden-in-plain-sight works are actually being monitored and filmed on a 24/7 basis. the (digital) videorecordings reveal amongst others the general public's reaction to the discovery -for instance- that the object they just sat on is ART. But also the general public's nondiscovery of the object as a work of art.

kwaaknijd uses the footages in a synthesis apotheosis of his hidden-in-plain-sight series, to confront both art experts and the general public with the increasing cryptogenetic content and appearance of modern art, where only the text tags on the wall tell us what is art and what not.

however, for obvious reasons, the videoregistration of the using of the toilets in his carefully painted and designed pub(l)ic art space / hidden in plain sight xxiii is a privacy violation in the eyes of citoyens contre la contresurveillance (cccs).



but cccs also fights the enregistration of say, people trying to clean up the debris in rectangular spatial composition with debris / hidden in plain sight xlvii , and then finding out the debris won't budge (since it is glued to the floor) and then noticing the small sign on the wall saying: don't sit on the artwork, do not touch - above the attributal tag with title and artist.



kwaaknijd has repeatedly stated that he is glad with the law suits, since he considers the purpose of art to be to create controversy. art to kwaaknijd is only worthwile as

`anything to shake up the rusted beliefs and mindsets of the public and the art world in particular. we must continuously create new synapses in the brains, faster than our forebears, or we will end up like our forebears and mess up our world. forget esthetics, forget beauty, forget understanding. we must act art, to disrupt and regroup'.

dutch visual artist ralf kwaaknijd: the purpose of art is controversy & the hidden in plain sight series

i've been trying to reach the infamous dutch artist ralf kwaaknijd for comments on the controversy over his work, but it seems he is very busy working on his new installation series, which is taking him around the world to leading museums of modern art.

one of his best known series hidden in plain sight still is surrounded with controversy and even law suits from concerned citizens' rights organizations.

let me reproduce some of these `hidden in plain sight' works here, first without commentary.



ralf kwaaknijd, rectangular spatial composition / hidden in plain sight ix (2006, stedelijk museum amsterdam)



ralf kwaaknijd, pub(l)ic art space / hidden in plain sight xxiii (2001, louvre paris)



ralf kwaaknijd, reflectionary interactive surface composition / hidden in plain sight xxix (2006, stedelijk museum amsterdam)



ralf kwaaknijd, rectangular spatial-flat composition with brick background / hidden in plain sight xiv (2004, bonnefantenmuseum, maastricht)



ralf kwaaknijd rectangular spatial composition with debris / hidden in plain sight xlvii (2008, louvre, paris)

the one below is perhaps a forgery, as stated in an earlier post:



ralf kwaaknijd, paradise snake / hidden in plain sight xxxiv (2005, centre pompidou paris)

the purpose of art? a purpose of art? artificial porpoise?

so, alain badiou considers art a domain where important truths arise.

perhaps he agrees with my perception of a purpose of (my) art: deconstruction of existing clichés. a more positive way of saying this would be: the creation of images beyond what is solidified-as-cliché, in order to express and touch inner/outer Reality.

... lighten up! a little humor could work like a torch to dry cinder, i hope.

purpose of art? purpose of life? purpose of love? truth is, i haven't got the foggiest. you?



self portrait as unorthodox thinker (2005, mixed media on paper)