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OT: (job) role of the artist
the artist Philip Guston had some quote that I will paraphrase:
"the only thing the artist has is freedom"
for him he was speaking about breaking out of the stylistic trappings of the visual language of abstract expressionism (he was part of that group, had been childhood friends w/ jackson pollock)...in the late 60's he moved away from the non-objective work he was doing and began painting crude-style cartoons, lumpy feet and hands and later big bulbous eyeballs. he did this work the last 12 yrs of his life from 1968-80. the work was mostly overlooked when he was alive, but is supposed to be one of the early precursors to the movement of "neo-expressionism" that was all the rage in the 1980s & beyond...he also wanted to deal w/ the political and cultural upheaval of the time: the vietnam war and the race riots, his main theme was dealing w/ the idea of evil.
i think about that idea a lot, and the question was always posed to us in grad school as
artists: are you really free? the barriers around you and that guide your life...
s---
