Art critic, Brian Sewell, recently reviewed the Tracey Emin retrospective at the Hayward Gallery, London. With reference to his criticism, read here… this is how I see the problem:
The academic dogma today is that tradition belongs to the past, and we must forget the past otherwise we can’t be original. It goes on – you don’t need to draw, that’s old-fashioned. You don’t need to be able to represent anything. Just take the actual objects of real life and, if necessary, rework them, which you can do by sending your concept to an engineer or factory workshop. Art schools teach you how to do this through ’presentation skills’ and this is what is now called conceptual art.
Well, you do need real skills to express yourself. You learn skill by studying tradition, trying to copy the techniques of great artists; only by doing this have you the means to express what you want to say. Art has to be representative. A representation is an epitome of a point of view, an overview.
I believe that an idea is formed, and it is in the very process of applying his particular skill – all those extraordinary decisions, the decisions of a lifetime – that the artist discovers his idea; the simplification must be spontaneous, a matter of the artist’s spirit transmitted to the work.
By illusion, creating an illusion through representation, the true artist achieves a totality – a world which the art lover can enter. The conceptual artist makes an arbitrary selection from the real world. He discovers nothing, nor can the art lover. His work is sterile.*
- Titian – Diana and Actaeon 1556-1559
In answer to Tracey Emin’s question, “What’s it all about?” Brian Sewell ends his review by answering, “You, dear Miss Emin, you – but you have never been enough.” No artist was ever enough, not Titian, not anyone (not that they tried to be). Self deception is lies. It was what they did – the skill that formed the means of their vision – that was enough.
*My friend, Feargus, sent me a letter which I’ll talk about in more detail later. I thought his comments on conceptual art were particularly relevant to this subject and should be included here:
Yet today we are faced with unmade beds, cut up sharks and Big Brother. There is supposed to be a genre of realism in all of this, but in fact it is as about unrealistic as it gets. If there is any reality in it, it is only to expose how truly far our society has slipped into a cultural vacuum, leaving us with nothing to analyse, no statement as to how the world is, nothing to evoke a vision of the future, designed only to shock and provoke baseless and meaningless conversations. What good does that serve as art, when its effect is to contribute to the debasement of what culture is. It is as though the norms of culture are being shifted and that somehow or another this is what those in the know now call culture when in fact all that we learn from it is maybe something about what the artist was feeling.
So what about the Young British Artists movement in general?
I personally believe there is a lack of conceptual and deeper understanding within their own work. Tracey Emin for one, doesn’t actually seem to have any form of educational answers to questions aimed at her, .. a poignant part of that article read:
“Are any of us now really shocked by “my cunt is wet with fear”, a neon sign that can only have meaning over the door of a brothel, or by “a rose is a cunt is a rose” (a play on cunt by any other name), a carefully posed photograph of Miss Emin enthralling us with legs wide apart stuffing banknotes into her vagina? For this there is a classical precedent in that Danaë, consequently mother of Perseus, was seduced by Zeus metamorphosed into a shower of gold – a not uncommon subject in Renaissance painting, an allegory of prostitution and an opportunity for mild pornography tinged with wry male humour – but, as Miss Emin shows no evidence of education, it is to be doubted that she knows of it and the kinship of imagery is mere coincidence”
- Just those last few lines sum it up. She doesn’t actually know what she’s conveying through her art.
Even at the age of 19, in Art School I tell others: “Don’t go delving into work you know nothing about” Because at the end of the day, it may look great to do a piece of work on “Schizophrenia” , or “Shakespearian characters” – if you aren’t educated within that area – don’t do it. It’s simple. When questioned about your work you will then look a fool.
If you were a dentist, trained within dentistry, you wouldn’t decide one day, to do brain surgery would you? A ridiculous comparison I know, but I agree with what Brian Sewell is saying here.
The world of modern art does seem to thrive on shock. Constantly, in my opinion, trying way too hard to surprise us all with something controversial and unheard of, rather than really focusing on honing and developing talent. Isn’t this what art is all about? Surely it’s not about just getting naked. Anybody could get naked and call it art. Are they really artists? Or just ‘wannabes’?
It seems to me that as a generation it would be impossible to create art like the works of Michaelangelo, Rembrandt or others similar. Neither do we seem to have the skill or the inclination. As said in the manifesto
‘Throw the baby out with the bathwater’
I think this may be what Tracey Emin did. She tried so hard to get rid of what was commonplace in art she ended up getting rid of all that was good in it. This is what modern art seems to do. It doesn’t really represent any more than that the artist is desperate to try something new, regardless of whether it is any good or not. I realise that the right to judge art relies with the individual Art Lover. But is nakedness, profanity and shock really art? Or is it just art for art’s sake?
Once again a wonderful post Vivienne, I hope you enjoy your trip to Africa and look forward to your replies soon.
Sincerely,
James Emmett
Vivienne,
While on the subject of modern art and “artists” who shamelessly promote themselves more than anything else, what is your opinion of someone like Lady Gaga? I have always felt that manufactured people like herself are better left ignored because they are not worth wasting the time to talk about! I am curious to hear your thoughts on this subject when you return from your trip.
Best Regards,
Jeffrey Jordan
Lady Gaga is not manufactured in the slightest! So called pop stars like Britney Spears and Kesha are manufactured. Lady Gaga is a hard worker who has worked incredibly hard to get to where she is. Talent like she has can’t be manufactured. It’s too pure. She is incredibly individual and does exactly what she wants to do with her life. She takes an active role in politics and uses her position in the spotlight to talk about important issues like the rights of homosexuals in the US Military and the deportation of immigrants from the US who have lived and contributed to their society for 20 years. Much like Vivienne is using her position as a world renowned fashion designer to help raise awareness of Global Warming and Climate change, the biggest problems we face today.
There is nothing about Lady Gaga that is manufactured in the slightest.
Understanding and appreciating art is a very difficult task. I finally began to truly grasp it after having read A Brief History of Time and The Grand Design, both written by Stephen Hawking. This stunning author only writes about modern physics. Yet he is fundamental to understanding the whole process. According to him, millions of universes and realities exist — all very different and could possibly seem uncouth to us. Time as we feel it does not at all exist. We train our minds to the contrary.
Thus, one must be very open to all kinds of possibilities and experiences in art. They contain many universes, many visions and comprehensions of what we denominate art. It follows that an overview of it should be devoid of moral judgement.
It would then seemTracey Emin’s controversial view in art (as many artists usually do) easily finds its place in the art of the 20th century. A singular instance of a larger reality.
As far as I was aware, contemporary/conceptual artists research and respond to ideas that they have an interest in. Starting with the most obvious, the self. Why cant Tracey Emin work with what interests her without being constantly questioned and ridiculed? Past experiences, feelings and thoughts are the starting point for many contemporary artists work, myself included. Did Tracey actually set out to offend or did she just need to create. It is society that is making the huge fuss, Emin, Gaga even Britney Spears – they are all artists, surviving through their art. We argue Freedom of Speech – lets practice what we preach, and in the end we all have the freedom to look at something else and listen to different music.