Recently I reread John Berger’s 1976 essay, The Primitive and the Professional in which he offers three sources of the primitive in art. The first is art made by artists working prior to Raphael. Second is the art derived from the “colonies,” that is, art from Africa, the Caribbean or the South Pacific. Finally there [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Painting'
Drawing Conclusions
December 24th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Art, Design and Communication, Editorial, Images, media, Politics and Social Issues, Uncategorized
Tags:Art·Artist·dissent·dissent decree·dissentdecree·John Berger·Painting·perception·politics·primitive art·primitivism·Tim
Captioning the Photograph
June 15th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Art, Design and Communication, photography, Tony and Carmina, Uncategorized
Carmina and Tony Discuss Captions To caption, or not to caption: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler to suffer the outrageous comments of ignorant viewers, Or to arm them against a sea of error and prejudice, And by gently explaining lead them to greater knowledge and joy? “Oh what to do—what to do?” Tony [...]
Tags:Art·Artist·carmina·dissent·dissent decree·dissentdecree·Painting·perception·photograph·photography·Tony
Carmina and Tony Find Meaning
April 11th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Art, photography, Tony and Carmina
It was another Thursday, this one an unseasonably warm and beautiful March day, but Tony West hadn’t noticed. He was preoccupied when he arrived at the Supreme Bean. His friend, Carmina Sfumato had already claimed a table for them near the center of the seating area. After hugs, Carmina said she would treat. She went [...]
Tags:carmina·dissent·dissentdecree·Meaning·Painting·photography·Supreme Bean·Tony
Carmina and Tony Elucidate the Ineffable
April 4th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Art, photography, Tony and Carmina
“Why should I explain it? It’s art and if it’s any good it doesn’t need explanation. I’m a painter. My pictures speak for themselves. Words can’t explain the ineffable.” Said Carmina, her voice replete with protest and doubt. On this day Anthony (Tony) West, a photographer, and his friend Carmina Sfumato, a painter, sat in [...]
Tags:art theory·Artist·carmina·digital photography·dissent·dissent decree·dissentdecree·Painting·photograph·Robert Adams·Tony·Walker Evans
On the Surface
March 29th, 2009 · 5 Comments · Images, Uncategorized
Whether it is a patina born of weather and age or the result of intentional scarring, scumbling, scratching, and dragging by the painter’s brush, etcher’s scribe or limner’s silver rod, all we ever see, with our unassisted eyes, is the surface. It is the gift and curse that reveals itself fully only to those prepared [...]
Tags:abstract art·abstraction·aesthetics·Art·contemporary art·observation·opinion·Painting·perception·surface·White Sands
