Monday, August 29, 2011

Life Imitates Art


OR

Art Imitates Life

Caught In The Split
20"x16"
$600

Mimesis is a critical and philosophical term that carries a wide range of meanings, which include: imitation, representation, mimicry, the act of resembling.  In ancient Greece, mimesis was an idea that governed the creation of works of art, in particular, with correspondence to the physical world understood as a model for beauty and truth.  Art Imitates Life.

Anti-Mimesis is a philosophical position that is the direct opposite of mimesis.  Oscar Wilde believed that life imitates art far more than art imitating life.




Splits and Cracks
48"x60"
$5000

Could it be that what is found in life and nature is not what is really there, but that which artists have taught people to find and see there through art?


Or are artists moved to create what they experience whether they do so consciously or unconsciously?

For many years I have painted Lake Tahoe Boulders and while doing so have purposely stayed away from compositions that included split and cracked rocks.   Recently during a critique of the past year of paintings I realized my work is now focused on these splits and cracks and further realized my life has been filled with splits and cracks and that this year of paintings is an unconscious representation of life.  Art Imitates Life.

However, as an artist, it is my intent to encourage the viewer to see what they have not seen previously, thus encouraging Life to Imitate Art.

Can we have it both ways?

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