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Sunday 29 July 2012

Emmanuel Church, Saltburn-by-the-Sea


Emmanuel Church, Saltburn-by-the-Sea
graphite

6 comments:

  1. James your work has such a dreamy look to it. It's very attractive. It looks like it was drawn years ago in another, more tranquil time. It made me think of the church down the road. You'd love it.

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  2. I just came back to take a second look. What brought me back was your quote on your left side bar:

    'When an artist is primarily concerned with words, he is no longer just a visual artist. He is probably a second-rate philosopher and a shit poet as well.

    'Art is by nature conceptual. Concept alone lacks Art.'


    James Morgan Williams

    With the first statement, you got yourself out of having to write anything for this blog, but you also insulted those of us who enjoy writing as well as painting and playing Beethoven (me)--those of us who are multitalented and like to take a little sidestep to exercise those talents to shake up whatever is brewing on the easel. All work and no play...

    Your second statement is quite correct. A conceptual idea is nothing till it takes form. Having been a designer producing, presenting and explaining my constructional concepts to clients for years via floor plans, elevations and perspective drawings a bit more detailed than your church, it did my heart proud when they couldn't take their hands off the drawings. Those were art as much as any of my paintings--and sold for a prettier penny.

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    Replies
    1. You misunderstand me. The statement serves not to excuse me from writing in this blog. Neither is it intended as an insult to writers. I myself write. In fact, I spent fifteen years of my life teaching English Language and English Literature. Prior to that I worked as a professional illustrator and a set designer. Words are deeply important to me.

      The statement reflects the fact that I sick to the teeth of visual art practitioners who exhibit poor-quality, shallow work and seek to justify it through reams of badly-written literature that attempts to associate it with concepts that it neither addresses nor deserves to be associated with. This does visual art a great disservice, as does the notion that figurative art is not conceptual.

      (I have been known to compose the odd piece of music too.) Apologies for any confusion.

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    2. Oh, and thank you for your previous kind comments! :)

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    3. Thank you for explaining.

      I totally agree. I've often thought--particularly with the minimalists and the conceptual artists-- all you need is a good story to get the art world to allow you to dump dirt on the museum floor. I think the heap might have been more meaningful if they exhibited one of Duchamp's "home made" shovels as well. The field painters too, who took ten years to paint a wall of canvas red and then punctuated it with a white dot. What the hell was Barnett thinking? What was he doing the rest of the time?
      The art world is a lot of Show Biz. Get yourself shot in front of a disco and bam! Movie star silkscreens are hot stuff. But Warhol was funny. His factory was a joke on the American gallery scene. I do believe all of this is the fault of the gallery owners eager for the latest, the hottest, the newest. But those days are over. Now we get to sit and ponder videos of an empty NY loft filled with chairs. It was this kind of stuff that turned me off of painting years ago. The art business was full of hot air.

      I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. I did keep thinking about that first statement and needed more.

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    4. I think we feel similarly. And don't worry; I'm not offended at all. :)

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