Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/08/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]...Ted will remember this...
A number of years back the National Gallery of Canada bought a VERY BIG
painting by Barnett Newman called "Voice of Fire". (someone please correct
me if I got that wrong)
It was very big (did I mention this?) and consisted of a vertical red stripe
between two blue vertical stripes and the Gallery paid a couple of million
dollars for it.
The Conservatives and anti intellectuals went ballistic. They were howling
at the moon and foaming at the mouth.
But the funny thing was that the vertical red/blue stripe "motif" started
showing up on barns, trucks, houses all across Canada in some kind mass
public satire. Definitely, life imitating art in this case.
Yeah, everyone could have done it...and many did, but Barnett did it first
and did it with all the art history, education and artistic vision and
reasoning behind him and this is what makes his work so valued ...and not
Farmer John's chicken coup with the very unique red and blue striped paint
job.
Life is funny...but art is funnier !
Greg Locke
St. John's, Newfoundland
http://blog.greglocke.com
--TRINITY Photographic Workshops--
September 3 -5, 2004
at The Artisan Inn, Trinity
www.straylight.ca/trinityworkshop