My friend Andrew Kurland just asked me what I thought of the painting above, which is by artist J. Siegan, a friend of Andrew's father. My own personal aesthetic aside, I noted the interesting juxtaposition between the Asian inspired feeling of the work, with its quick and minimal black brushstrokes, and the very western subject matter. 
"It's a dude on a skateboard, what could be more western than that?" I said.
"That's interesting," he said, "because I see a guy in a full lotus position, meditating, crying."
I see what Andrew's saying, but I'm not convinced given that Siegan is influenced by both the Zen school and the city of Chicago. However, Siegan also cites Robert Motherwell as an influence, and while I certainly don't see that in the painting above, I do see it in the painting to the left, which I, unlike Andrew, much prefer...
And there you have it - that's what makes horse races...
Or perhaps more appropriately, given the theme of this blog - nothing better than space for interpretation and individual opinion...
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1. Jerry Siegan, #60.
2. Jerry Siegan, Yearning for the Past.
I see mandrake
ReplyDeleteI can't help but compare how valuing multiple interpretations is as important in religion as it is in art and yet authorities be they art critics or religious leaders too often presume definitive interpretations. If art and religion are both meaning making activities then actually their power/sacredness lies not in works of art or religious wisdom having one meaning but in having inexhaustible meaning. A classic then is specifically something that has "infinite" meanings which is just the opposite of the way our art and religious authorities see things. We viewers of art and users of religious/spiritual resources need to be empowered and to feel permitted to trust ourselves in revealing the meanings and then sharing what we see/feel with each other uncovering truths about ourselves and our world. Perhaps the new connecting technologies which democratize our inheritances and enable us to bypass experts in sharing our perspectives will unleash new interest and understandings of art and religion.
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