A Definition of Art
Looking for that (ephemeral, impossible) definition of art…
I feel like this, La Reine Compta No Mort by Christophe Bany (album art for a second album by french group Duo Gallus), is a good contemporary depiction of art in its most primary and noble function.
It’s not high, HIGH art – that art so astronomically high that it’s unintelligible to those outside the establishment, which is a substantial failing of communication, art’s chief function – but as Jonathan Meades waxes metaphorically on the definition of art, "It speaks to the small of the back." It could be said that this piece above has only a fraction (a substantial fraction, but not entirely) the level of sophistication of gallery art like what Meades was referring to (see “On the Brandwagon” by Jonathan Meades on "Sir Thomas Aston at the deathbed of his wife by John Souch").
However, I think it’s unnecessary to compare the depiction of emotion in more traditional painting styles (non-20th Century styles, like the early 17th century Heraldic style or the 19th century Romantic style) with the modern sensibility of life with dulled senses in dystopian routines. Surely they purposefully contrast instead. If these depictions reflect the people of today, emotions do not play central roles in our lives. Color does not play like it did in the old painting styles. We do not look at things for their detail anymore. The figures and their relationships are the focus. Identities and presentments play central roles: image, social media, metaphor, metaverses, the cleverness of juxtapositions over phenomenology… This is why the figures are not human, only merely humanoid, and also why none of them are emoting. Besides, animals do not emote, and this reflects the sensation that we are all just various sorts of animals. Note that the undomesticated animals possess the affectations of multinational corporate culture, while the domesticated ones do not. Butterfly wings adorn all but the predator, the Wall Street wolf, and the narcissist rooster.
Relative to the masters of art, it could be only slightly more nuanced, more evocative, more gripping, more more more (cue gif of Kylo Ren in Star Wars IX)... which is what the establishment demands (mastery), even though minimalist art (which lacks the necessity of mastery) is still in fashion for galleries throughout the world. I find the unease of flawed virtuosity in character actually adds to its mystique. It feels just enough "outsider," raw, unperfected, unmastered, a reflection of the situations of the figures within the work itself. This is not an establishment insider who created this masterpiece. To me, this is supremely grand art. It deserves far more recognition than it may ever receive.
Image source: http://duogallus.fr/aidez-nous-a-financer-notre-deuxieme-album/
