Richard Bledsoe “Fortunato” oil on canvas 20″ x 16″
Part of a series of literary alcoholics I’m working on-in this case from the Edgar Allan Poe story, “The Cask of Amontillado.”
This is the first oil painting I’ve completed since moving my studio into my house in December of 2012. I actually finished this painting a few weeks ago, I’m finding I’m working more frequently on my oil paintings since they are so easily accessible, and they are progressing quicker.
After the horrors of World War II, a group of northern Europeans banded together to promote their vision of art with a series of exhibits, publications, and collaborations. As a movement they existed for a few years in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
CoBrA favored expressionist painting techniques, spontaneity and experimentation. Inspired by the art of children, primitives, and the insane, they sought a kind of populism where art was made by and for everyone.
While their methods may leave their art crude and unresolved, their sense of art as a universal form of communication runs counter to the ever-present elitist tendencies that marginalize art in mass culture.
“Creation and revolutionary struggle have the same objective: the realization of life.” – Constant
BEN LEWIS: Who Put the “Con” in Contemporary Art?
From a few years, but a good description of some of the dubious practices that fuel the contemporary art market. I do not agree with his observation suggesting regulation is needed (why is more statist intervention the solution for everything?), but more transparency would help.
The money quote: “The art world is dirty, corrupt and immoral, and, if there was a name for such a crime, these people would be charged with perverting the course of art history.”
The art world makes a good microcosm of the real world. A small group of a new aristocracy of the well connected use their influence to line their pockets, their offerings devoid of any real achievement or quality. This is the era of the fall of the “experts.” They’ve squandered their credibility with the terrible results of their schemes and actions.
Remodernism removes power from the hands of corrupt, self-serving elites, and gives it back to the people.
A sales training film from the 1960s
An amazing piece of art history: when Vincent Price sold art through Sears Roebuck.
Fine art was made available across the United States; over 50,000 pieces were sold. The idea that art could be popular with a general middle class audience is lost in this era of elitist art attitudes.
Remodernism is bringing art back to the people-all people. As it should be.
How Tolkien’s faith informed his art.
The piece makes a good point regarding the earthiness of Tolkien hobbit protagonists, who love their simple joys. In a story filled with powerful kings, warriors and wizards, the greatest heroes are the small, humble, rustic folk.
The respect Tolkien pays to to the hobbits, the many examples of courage and principles he ascribes to them, shows how art can serve to reinforce positive cultural values without becoming sanctimonious.
A blog post on “Dowager: Playing the Empress”
Richard Bledsoe “Dowager: Playing the Empress” acrylic on canvas 20″ x 16″ SOLD
“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.”
-Francis Bacon
A video depicting many paintings.
English painter Francis Bacon (1909 – 1992) used painterly distortion to express the existential angst and shock of the 20th century. The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC had an impressive collection of his works on display which I saw as a child, before I had any sense of what modern art was all about. His intense narratives and mysterious atmospheres haunt me to this day.
Remodernism grew out of a painterly art movement called Stuckism.
Like many art movements, the name of Stuckism grew out of an attempted criticism.
The Stuckists have generated much attention and controversy by their willingness to tackle art world dogma and celebrity worship. Stuckism is a much more recognizable “brand name” in the insular world of art, compared to the more generalized term of Remodernism.
Both movements were founded by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson, artists of great vision and integrity. They were able to precisely articulate the failings of establishment art, and suggest constructive alternatives.
It did always strike me as a strange way to try to shoot yourself-in the chest, not directly at any vital organs.
Two authors suggest it was a case of manslaughter at best.
It would fit Vincent’s gentle, resigned nature at the time to protect some youngsters who had their whole lives ahead of them.
If true, it definately changes the dynamics of one of the most notorious martyrs to modern art. Unfortunately the truth can never be known.
remodernamerica.com 