When one thinks about taboo subjects in art one usually thinks about sex. Sex is a great subject and I’ll write about it someday. I may even write about it in the context of art since this is an art column. So, is there a subject more taboo than sex you ask ”? Oh, yeah...like, way…
I’m talking about the secret life of the artist…behind the scenes, the stuff we all keep our mouths closed about. Yeah, baby I’m talking about the real dirt...artists’ dirty little secrets (fetishes aside and trust me I’ve got a few). Artists crack me up. They even try to hide their secrets from one another. That’s just silly. It can’t be done. We’re already onto “it”. We all do “it”. I think artists should drink lots of beer and have boisterous conversations about how we made our art come to life! Let’s spit it out already…
I’m speaking about the unspeakable. Ready? Artists use “tricks. Or, as David Hockney calls it in his glorious book dedicated to the subject, ” SECRET KNOWLEDGE.” Mr. Hockney writes about seemingly dry topic and makes it vivid and alive. It’s worth the read if you want history and “proof”. Artists use the knowledge of others. We use devices of all kinds: lens, scanners, projectors, transfer processes, grid and tracing papers, digital and electronic devices galore, disappearing ink, tiny pins, clear drying glues, 2-sided tape, power tools, apprentices, mirrors, copying the masters and using others work for inspiration. Oh, the list is endless.
My painting of Einstein (www.nirisstudio.com) was done directly from an old photo I found in a book at the library. The Beaches Branch Library to be exact. (I LOVE the Beaches Branch Library.) Well, he’s freekin dead so how else could I do his portrait? Gimme a break!
Once I created a fabulous painting inspired from a piece of scrap advertising I found in a trashcan at a store. I liked the subject matter a lot but it was photo shopped. How could I tell? It was the same picture done in many colors flipped from side to side. Duh. I thought the art was kinda flimsy but felt I could paint something fabulous if I did my own version of it. Oh, and fabulous it is if I do say so myself. It took an entire year and five renditions to finish. I’d show it to you but cannot because some wacko wanna be human being tried to blackmail me with the work I found in the trashcan. It’s actually in writing no less. Uh-huh, for real! (You just wouldn’t believe some of the high drama that goes on in the art world.) What did I do after the attempted blackmail? I researched the work and was surprised to find out that the advertising was a reproduction of someone’s painting. Then I contacted the artist who happens to be alive and living in another state. I sent him a photo of me holding my painting and a long letter explaining how the picture had inspired me. He wrote me back a couple of times but never answered my letter asking if he had objections to my reproducing my piece. So I gave it to someone as a gift and never sold any reproductions. Too much drama for me!
Where do I personally draw the line__________? (Yuk, yuk). When people paint over an image and call it an original. Am I speaking about manipulating an image in Photoshop or by hand? No. Hand tinting or the use of enhancement of all kinds? NO! I am talking about taking a picture digitally, with film (or taking a reproduction found from a store etc.) and painting right over it. This process is done exactly like paint by numbers… color by color, line by line, stroke by stroke. Then the person frames the “art ”, signs their name and calls it their own and sells it to YOU as an original. Hey, it’s my column and my opinion.
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