1, 2, .....3?
Vonnegut's been eulogized by just about everyone and their mother on LJ here... Possibly because he's a writer, too... But I want to bring your attention to another artistic soul who recently passed away: Sol LeWitt, on April 8.
The last Sol LeWitt show I saw was a retrospective of "his" wall paintings and drawings at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. I put "his" in quotes because the artwork in question is more of the design rather than the actual implementation, which is carried out by a number of volunteers trained in precision geometric drawing. No, the extent of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings were one-or-two page descriptions of what to draw and in what proportions. When one bought one of Sol LeWitt's drawings, you bought this description, and the description only. You then went home, painted/drew it on your dining room wall. If you "loaned" your work of art out to a museum, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, you were supposed to destroy your drawing/painting until the work was "returned" to you... How screwed up is that?
I once had the idea that I'd create a contemporary art show of my own, where all the works in it were "stolen" from similar instructions that artists have "sold"... Sol LeWitt was not the last to utilize the concept of selling the idea, and not the work. At the time I had the idea, I was a part of Around the Coyote, the (at the time)largest open studio event in the U.S. that took place in Chicago's Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood; and the Director of the event, an Art Institute of Chicago graduate and student of the Assistant Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, whom I also knew, just stared at me like I was a complete loon and didn't get the "joke". Honestly, some people in art take it waaaaaayyyyy too seriously!
Nonetheless, Sol LeWitt made a huge name for himself among contemporary art critics, galleries, museums and collectors. -- His wall drawings and paintings made him his fame, but like most contemporary artists, branched off into many other areas as well.
I personally don't care much for 75% of contemporary art and artists. I think most of them are charlatans selling snake oil. Sol LeWitt, to me, was somewhere in between. There was art in his work, it's his choice of distribution (for the wall paintings and drawings) that I disagreed with... Though it certainly makes the curator's job much easier... Imagine if Leonardo's "Last Supper" was simply a set of instructions published and duplicated the world over (well, which it pretty much is, anyway, isn't it)?
Anyway, that makes 2 art world celebs. Who'll be the third?
The last Sol LeWitt show I saw was a retrospective of "his" wall paintings and drawings at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. I put "his" in quotes because the artwork in question is more of the design rather than the actual implementation, which is carried out by a number of volunteers trained in precision geometric drawing. No, the extent of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings were one-or-two page descriptions of what to draw and in what proportions. When one bought one of Sol LeWitt's drawings, you bought this description, and the description only. You then went home, painted/drew it on your dining room wall. If you "loaned" your work of art out to a museum, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, you were supposed to destroy your drawing/painting until the work was "returned" to you... How screwed up is that?
I once had the idea that I'd create a contemporary art show of my own, where all the works in it were "stolen" from similar instructions that artists have "sold"... Sol LeWitt was not the last to utilize the concept of selling the idea, and not the work. At the time I had the idea, I was a part of Around the Coyote, the (at the time)largest open studio event in the U.S. that took place in Chicago's Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood; and the Director of the event, an Art Institute of Chicago graduate and student of the Assistant Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, whom I also knew, just stared at me like I was a complete loon and didn't get the "joke". Honestly, some people in art take it waaaaaayyyyy too seriously!
Nonetheless, Sol LeWitt made a huge name for himself among contemporary art critics, galleries, museums and collectors. -- His wall drawings and paintings made him his fame, but like most contemporary artists, branched off into many other areas as well.
I personally don't care much for 75% of contemporary art and artists. I think most of them are charlatans selling snake oil. Sol LeWitt, to me, was somewhere in between. There was art in his work, it's his choice of distribution (for the wall paintings and drawings) that I disagreed with... Though it certainly makes the curator's job much easier... Imagine if Leonardo's "Last Supper" was simply a set of instructions published and duplicated the world over (well, which it pretty much is, anyway, isn't it)?
Anyway, that makes 2 art world celebs. Who'll be the third?