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Christian Morrow's avatar

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!

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Edgeworth Johnstone's avatar

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.

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