for the sake of argument...

[MichaelRH]

Though I'd post this drawing, drew it today.
I'm sure I'll get responses like "WHAT THE *&#@!! is he doing"!!! (lol) Well, I can understand..you're looking at a drawing from someone who finds Francis Bacon's work beautiful.
This is just!! an expressive drawing..distortion is intentional, it makes me re-think the figure/face. These drawing are just explorations. Does a work of art have to be "beautiful", "uplifting"..to qualify as "fine art"?? Not wanting to get into this debate at all, I've seen it emerge quite often in posts. If you say this drawing dosen't qualify as "fine art" -it dosen't for you. Is German expressionist painting fine art?? I think so. Do paintings and drawings that do not meet asthetic requirements (whose?) fail? I feel expressionist work is extremely important, and it has a solid place in the pages of art history. Do I find "beauty" (not sure if I would agree on a definition of beauty) in many kinds of art...yes. http://www.wetcanvas.com/Critiques/User/Study1.jpg
Is painting pleasing or BEAUTIFUL paintings a goal...not necessarily. (just one artist's opinion..one who is enjoying immensly the exploration).

[cagathoc]

Michael,

To me Truth is beautiful and in a way that more mundane physical beauty cannot approach.

Your drawings seem sincere and they hold within them some of your Truths. This makes them fascinating and, yes, beautiful in the way that only truth can be...


Cindy

[loenart]

Your recent posts indicate you're having trouble transforming your current style to a more expressive one. From viewing your website, I see your current style is an homage to the female figure and perhaps it is difficult for you to distort those images in search of more dramatic and significant images. (I say difficult, because there is an apologetic undercurrent to all your messages concerning F. Bacon, etc.) My suggestion would be to leave the figure for a while and try to create expressive images with different subject matter and come back to the figure later. You may have thought of this avenue and rejected for one reason or another, but it might help relieve some of your inhibitions vis-a-vis the human form.

I don't know Francis Bacon's biography, but from his paintings I really think he painted carcasses from a slaughterhouse and utilized them for his human forms. He kind turned his subjects inside out. It would be interesting to read his story.

That's the interesting thing about these forum's, it's made me think of artists, like Bacon, who I've forgotten about.


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Michael Loen

[This message has been edited by loenart (edited May 29, 2000).]

[Julia]

It seems you like to distort beautiful things??? Don't inderstand.

[LdyBiss]

Wow.. food for thought http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif I love that work Mike..and am glad to see the posts.. yet the one regarding distorting bueaty is strange. Inturpitation..of what we do, how we do it and our advancement on the road of art comes from the doing.

[MichaelRH]

Michael - very perceptive response. "Inhibitions vis-a vis the human form"..YES!
I'm don't think I'll be moving far from (attempting) to use the figure to convey ideas. "Trouble in transforming..." another YES.
Julia.."beautiful things" (people) have been distorted literally through out history. Everyday. The distortion continues. Does distortion make something "ugly". Let me illustrate a point here.
I think we've all seen the photos of SURVIVORS- of the camps in Germany. Are the photos of these unfortunate people in any way beautiful? (poor word), or they ugly?..or are they truthful? I feel many different emotions when I see these photos. Is there beauty in tragedy? I won't call what I see beauty..but strength. Take something as fragile as the human body...subject it to extreme abuse...and what do YOU see. Could it be the beauty in imperfect bodies..in distorted bodies..bodies resilient enough to be alive. I believe Bacon ALWAYS saw the beauty in the human form, but he also ALWAYS saw the tragedy of our lives. Illness, death, and abuse at the hands of other human beings. They all DO something to our physical bodies..not to mention to our minds.
I'm sure a lot of artists are not remotely interested in exploring some directions in art. I'm interested. It is facinating to me.
The above drawing could be called "Mask". Yes, it is a bit ambiguous..it dosen't look like she is wearing a mask. Oh well.
Julia, Rod, Cindy...Zoom in on any ONE of the faces that look out from the "bins" in one of those black and white photos taken in the concentration camps..and tell me the face is ugly? Maybe..if you look at this person's face long enough, you'll see the beauty.
Michael L...I'll continue to explore. As you've noted..I do pay homage to the female form (and the male!!!, just haven't done or posted many of these)..but it might appear that I am trying to show my love of the human form from two separate directions.
I would think a surgeon might find our interrior works of beauty...and there really are beautiful women beneath the make-up.
I'm clear that "beauty" takes many forms.
a quick edit here: While at Art Center, I did a fairly in-depth report about Rodin. What I didn't realize about Rodin, until I completed my study, as that it was NOT the finished MASTER PIECE that was important to him. It was the exploration. Trial and error or trial and re-evaluate.It IS nice when something comes out as close to your idea as possible. It was the activity..the moulding clay..the physical activity..not the result, and this means to me it was NOT the BEST result. All the little errors that occurred and were left during the process..were equally important. You might get things pretty close to "right", but all those things that don't make the grade are pretty wonderful also. I must have given myself an ulcer at 7..trying to keep the crayon colors INSIDE the lines.

[This message has been edited by MichaelRH (edited May 30, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by MichaelRH (edited May 30, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by MichaelRH (edited May 30, 2000).]