Comment on Some crimes are unforgivable
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I think Bob Ross is a perfect illustration of the big divorce between the art world and the public that happened during the 20th century.
Regular people love Bob Ross because he created paintings that make people feel good. You can find these types of paintings at affordable art markets all over the place as well as on jigsaw puzzles.
The art world decided to turn its nose up at this kind of popular art and pivot toward controversial, shocking, and lazy (looking) art intended to provoke all kinds of responses (many negative). This continues to drive a perception in the public of an artist community that is increasingly elitist and out of touch.
People forget that it wasn’t always this way. Look at masterpieces like the Sistine Chapel frescoes which were intended to inspire awe and reverence in the public, not scorn. Yes, Michelangelo’s technique and artistry was far in excess of Bob Ross’s, but his art was made to be loved by everyone, not just his wealthy patrons. In that respect, Bob Ross is more like Michelangelo than modern artists.
LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Wow, what a bunch of didn’t happen.
Art has always valued technical skills, however some artists do not need to be particularly technical to convey artistic meaning.
Banksy is a technical artist who also uses creative meanings on his art itself.
Jono (charcoal artist) is HIGHLY technical, has art pieces that are probably more detailed than a literal photograph.
Thomas Schaller, Colin Thompson, and many many many more famous artists with excellent technical skills, all very favored.
Bob Ross teaches beginner’s level technical skills. That means that we can all make our own paintings. It means that it isn’t often expensive to buy those pieces because we can make them. He was teaching people how to paint, that still makes him completely relevant to the art world. It’s just not exactly mentally stimulating once you already know how to paint all those pieces - often artists do things called studies, and then they move on to the next study.
Btw the entire point of those churches and paintings was so the common person felt overwhelmed and unworthy. It wasn’t made for love per se, it was made to give an image of power and divine right.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 4 days ago
None of what you said is convincing whatsoever because you cherry picked your examples. How about you try steelmanning Duchamp’s Fountain, Serrano’s Piss Christ, Newman’s Onement VI, or Cattelan’s Comedian? These are all pieces which set the art world on fire with reverence just as they provoked bafflement, bemusement, or exasperation from the public.
You’re also wrong about the Sistine Chapel frescoes. That was the purpose their patron Pope Julius II hoped to achieve. It was defied by Michelangelo (who didn’t like the pope at all), particularly with the anatomical imagery hidden within The Birth of Adam which seems to suggest that God emerged from the human mind. Now his subtle irony may have been lost on almost everyone from his time but it’s not hard to imagine that he hid this Easter egg for future educated citizens to find.
LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I didn’t cherry pick, I attacked your premise with examples that break it.
Those are fine too, but my point was artists who create technical pieces of things that are beautiful, that beautiful pieces indeed are still appreciated today and I wouldn’t call the previously listed artist’s works any of what you described previously.
The entire Catholic mass was told in Latin at that time specifically to reduce accessibility and increase reverence. I think you underestimate Catholic cuntiness. They were putting people in their place with all of that. If you don’t understand how Catholicism was used by Rome and then later the world to keep slaves in line and convince poor people to fight wars, then you are missing a lot of info on the world. Most Abrahamic religions are meant for that, that’s what the legend of Abraham is about.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 4 days ago
My premise wasn’t that “all art today is about elitism”, it was about the art world. One of Banksy’s works actually went up in value after it was shredded!
Who gives a shit about “Catholic cuntiness”? I was talking about Michelangelo whose patron was the pope but who had no love for the pope himself (and may not have liked the church either). Michelangelo the artist made his work for billions to love and enjoy for all time. Banksy’s shredded painting is funny as a middle finger to the rich guy who bought it but it backfired when the painting went up in value after that.