Today's Art Scene

TODAY’S ART SCENE

Mention artists today and many people will invariably promulgate David Hockney’s art as an example of the most accomplished. And yet it is probably true that so much talent actually lies undiscovered, languishing in regional and provincial art groups that never gets the limelight. Hartlepool Art Society is one such group. They have a diverse band of artists and many delightful paintings can be bought for a song, when they hold an exhibition, usually at the local library. But what of the famous? Well, the most progressive artists like Damien Hurst and his cow in formaldehyde and Tracey Emin with her unmade bed actually face quite a lot of adverse criticism. Many even ask the most crucial question of all – is this in fact art at all? Is there an answer? I’d bet my bottom dollar the cut crystal rasp of late art critic Brian Sewell could have given us one. Years ago some even wondered about Jackson Pollock, when he was simply throwing paint around onto canvas, but I think everyone today would agree he has a special place in the hall of fame of international painters. Andy Warhol’s Pop Art too was questioned at the time. Representations of soup cans and colourful images of photographs of Marilyn Monroe seemed somehow dubious meanderings into foreign territory. Now it is accepted as important art and has paved the way for cartoon art and computer generated art, all very much up to date and all of it with impressive credentials. The work of Japanese artist Chiko Aoshima is of particular note and really imaginative.

Grayson Perry can also be very creative. Some of his vases and pottery objet d’art are quite beautiful. His latent transvestism possibly confuses people yet his male and female personas find perfect harmony and expression in his art.

Keith Haring of the USA, who has now sadly died, has a distinct style of his own. A work he did in 1988 of multi-coloured ‘crawling children’ had a simple but bold and impressive effect. The primary colours were distinctly childlike. His other black and white drawings have the effect of lino cuts and again are simple and direct. The Brazilian artist Vik Muniz uses all sorts  of materials in his art: peanut butter, soil and glue and even diamonds. His use of photographs of icons like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Liz Taylor and Marlon Brando recall the work of Warhol. Anish Kapoor, born in India, but doing work here in England now is concerned with creativity and spirituality. His ‘Void Fields’, twenty stones with a circular opening in each, and his ‘Madonna’ a void of intense blue, are two important art works of the last few decades.

Perhaps two characters the art world simply cannot do without now, they are so synonymous with the London scene, are Gilbert and George. Their classic 1969 series of photographs of themselves with some quite derogatory accompanying comments introduced us to their undimmed egos, continuing into 1984 with ‘Death’, where roses are interleaved with superimposed images of their ubiquitous selves. The mood is upbeat and questing in today’s art world and no one yet is saying they have run out of ideas, though smoking vaginas leave a lot to be desired.