Saturday, September 15, 2007

Comments On Dana Schutz

I recently made the following entry on the Blog, EYE LEVEL:
Dana Schutz is somewhat of an enigma to me. The reason I'm even looking at her work and discussing it in any way, is that I was amazed at her rapid rise to stardom. Despite her prolific brush strokes and color, I can't help to think of the bevy of other artists whose artistic prowess is undeniable yet they have achieved no semblance of the same success that Dana has. Indeed, what's more disturbing is that someone chose to compare her in any way, shape, or form, to Rembrandt. Who are we trying to kid?
If she submitted some of her work to local juried shows, either she would not get accepted or the work would be indistinguishable or not as astonishing as other less known artists. She appears to be a byproduct of being in the right place at the right time and good old fashion marketing.

I subsequently read an article in Art News about this artist. Although I still maintain that her rapid rise to stardom was strongly influenced by being in the right place at the right time, I did try to find something worthwhile in her work. I began to examine her choice of colors and her more recent use of intense saturation. I soon realized that she too faced a dilemma similar to my own. The fear of incorporating intense color in a painting. Indeed, with this revelation I felt a sense of relief and began to increase both the saturation and Key of my paintings My next Blog entry will showcase my new work incorporating this new direction in color choice.

Ideas For New Work

I recently began to experiment with more saturated colors. Previously, my work consisted of bright colors, but without the full effects of saturation. By this I mean that I used white and intense blending in all my images. The effects are ethereal, but lack the type of commitment I wish to portray. Moreover, I would like to experiment with the effects of bright colors in contrast to a dark background. Besides the popping effect of the images, it will create a somewhat mystical, fantastic environment. The next painting will incorporate these elements. I hope it is successful.