Stuckism in the House
Another Friday mini-exhibition
A week’s work to show in my house because in Stuckism, after the painting, showing is what matters. I want people to see them “in the canvas”, so to speak. That is the reason for the Friday invites. I’ve made it three weeks in a row, and hope to continue throughout autumn and winter. Last night we spoke about the art on the wall for less than 5 minutes, and talked about each other for over two hours. A few folk songs were stuck in, along with curried lentil soup and naan bread, the fluffy kind, indigenous to Oswego.
I hope to grow emotionally to eliminate vanities like Instagram® and Facebook® once and for all. I will quit both the day after attendance at these Friday exhibitions equals or exceeds the average “like” or “heart” on the anti-social media, which is 17. The magic freedom number.
Stuckism is also about painting with ideas.
Here are some:
Cease painting for technology. Besides peace on earth, the super majority on the other end of a phone computer doesn’t want what you want, and the feeling is mutual. What if artists stopped providing free content for billionaires? That would be something. What if we weren’t so interesting after all, under any condition? Maybe it’s the “out there” that is wonderful, and the “in here” that is actually quite stiff and a dumb bore. What if we could freeze people’s fingers from rapidly screen flipping up and down? I for one don’t want any judgement. It’s all subjective and usually as thoughtful as toilet flushing. I respect the opinions of fellow painters, knowing that if they took the second to “heart and like” then they spent a lifetime looking. Or close to it. The artists on Instagram are few. But I can spot ’em. Easy-peasy. If they lived in my town, they wouldn’t miss a single Friday, barring stopped-heart emergency. And I would never miss his Thursday. Or her Tuesday if I had feet to take me to the house exhibition.
So take me to 17 interested guests. That’s more soup for me to cook and 34 eyes to look into mine, and at my art.
That is naked. Standing, sitting, moving naked for art. Incredibly discomfiting and wonderful, a little bit.
Hope to see you next Friday!
I couldn't agree more. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg shouldn't get to dictate what pieces of art get to exist online. Algorithms push only what's popular. Controversial artwork and art about heavy subjects all sink to the bottom, while artists with a small following disappear into their own little bubble.
If you desperately need to take advantage of the Internet's wide audience and rich multimedia features: just get a website. You have full control. Nobody can "block" or "report" your art. They either visit your digital space, or they don't. Simple as that. There are no algorithms to push your work. People have no choice but to grapple with the full weight of your art. Nothing will ever beat a gallery, but a digital archive of your artwork, unabridged and uncensored, held in perpetuity until January 19th, 2028 (the day that all Unix-based systems will fail to count time correctly,) is a rather satisfactory second option.
The best part? Websites are unique in that they lack any sort of "like" button. Or really any popularity metrics, for that matter. If someone likes your work, they have to use their words! I'd much rather spend the day reading kind emails about my life's work than check to see in the morning that only 12 people thought my art was barely interesting enough to hit a button. Again, nothing will beat that face-to-face communication, but a backup option is never all that bad.
As always, your work is so full of life and color. Your usage of texture and the brush stroke give each piece an almost fluid quality. They're full of motion and movement. They're kinetic. Your process takes in unique subject matter and transforms them into beautiful abstractions. You have plenty of very strong pieces this week! I take a particular liking to "¿Qué?", as you have some very interesting forms and color relationships at play there. Keep up the great work!
Great work as always Ron. Setting the pace for the rest of us and the constant highlight of my Instagram feed. I would be at all your shows were it not for the Atlantic getting in the way.