Weird and Wonderful Art

I know what wonderful art is, it’s what I want to buy--or wish I could buy. It is what I admire. 

I also know what weird and bad art looks like, and I don’t think I’m alone. Having a negative opinion on art is one of those dirty little secrets that some are afraid to say aloud. After all, you’re not an expert, so how would you know? Have you ever stood in a gallery, looking at a “whatever” and the person next to you is going on, and on, and on about the beautiful lines or the complex technique and the great color combinations, and you’re still trying to figure out why anyone would want to buy that piece of junk for $30,000? No, you’re not art ignorant–you just think it’s weird.

Picasso is/was admired by the world–right. Wrong. I don’t admire him. I think that Picasso was playing a huge joke on everyone. His work is horrible! He was a womanizer and made fun of the women he dated by painting odd, distorted pictures of them. He says it himself: “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth"- Pablo Picasso

One of my favorite artists is Klimt. He was a strange guy, but I love his “golden period” and he worked in mosaics! That puts him high on my list.

While we’re talking about strange … what is up with Dada? I just don’t get the “Dada Movement.” Here is an explanation from Wikipedia:  Dada is the groundwork to abstract art and sound poetry, a starting point for performance art, a prelude to postmodernism, an influence on pop art, a celebration of antiart to be later embraced for anarcho-political uses in the 1960s and the movement that lay the foundation for Surrealism.  - Marc Lowenthal.  I DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND THE SENTENCE EXPLAINING DADA! I’m a lost cause …

I enjoy art that tells a story. Something you can look at for a long time and never really see all that’s going on. If you’ve never seen the work of James Christensen, check him out. His work is interesting, beautiful and can be very funny: Weaving dreams, hopes, fears, and humor into the fabric of everyday life, Christensen has created many enchanting works of art. "My paintings are meant to excite the imagination and invite the viewer to become a participant in the creative process," says Christensen.

Finally, there are incredible artists in the world that you may never get to see, so let me introduce you to one of them. I had the privilege of meeting Mauro Tacconi in Florence in 2006. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner with a group of artists, where I discovered that he’s a very funny man. Italians love to talk politics and he told me, “Italian soldiers are so lazy, the only reason they are in the Iraq war is to make espresso for the Americans.” The next day, we visited his bottega (studio) where he does a type of mosaic called Pietre Dure (painting in stone). There were boxes of precious stones (lapis, jade, etc.) and some so ancient, they had no name. He showed us how he cuts the stones to make a seamless mosaic picture. I had no idea that this art form existed and now, I’ve spread the information on to you. I hope you find it wonderful.

There is weird art (don’t be afraid to say it aloud, but not if the artist is right there), there is wonderful art and there is yet-to-be-discovered art forms. Go with your gut feeling; don’t let the “experts” tell you what you like. You are the only art expert that matters.