Commentary

Quotes: The Essence of Academicism

Richard Bledsoe Commentary, Quotes, Remodernism, Richard Bledsoe

“It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing. We assert that the subject is crucial and only that subject matter is valid which is tragic and timeless. That is why we profess spiritual kinship with primitive and archaic art.”

-Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb

It’s ironic that Rothko, the painter of rectangles, railed against a lack of subject matter in art early in his career. At the time, in the early 1940s, he was exploring fragmented mythological themes, blunt figures like broken chunks of classical statuary. The zones of color he later became famous for were already present-but only as backdrops.

Rothko ended up claiming that the removal of imagery liberated his art. The validity of that idea is challenged by Rothko’s ultimate fate: suicide. He slit his wrists in his art studio.

To lose the image was the great mistake of Modernism. The Remodernist artist commits to imagery. It’s a gesture of faith-the acceptance of the actual.

 

Commentary: Cultural Geography vs The Hegemony

Richard Bledsoe Commentary, Establishment, Remodernism, Richard Bledsoe

These days, why does so much art look the same, no matter where it was created?

The adaption of Postmodernism as an international style has largely erased local cultural influences in institutional art making. When art largely consists of assembling appropriated images from globally available electronic mediums, then it’s hard to identify origins.

Non-objective and abstract art is similarly generic. Smeared paint looks pretty much the same no matter where it comes from.

Rejection of the anonymous, slick styles favored by establishment artists is a characteristic of Remodernism. The art is personal, reflecting the unique quirks and experiences of the artist.

A truly personal art will inevitably communicate the intimacies involved in where an artist lives, works, the environment they experience, the terrain they navigate. Remodernism is a home grown and diverse expression, glowing with  local color.

Video: The Next Big Thing

Richard Bledsoe Commentary, Culture War, Establishment, Optimism, Video

BLOOMBERG: Contemporary Art Market Sizzling

The theory presented in the video is the art market will continue to thrive, based on the liquidation of great collections build decades ago.

But what about the artists of today? Who are the future super stars of art?

That is the problem with 50 years of agenda based art. Because quality and vision have been sacrificed for ideology and sensationalism, the productions of the current art world offer meager hope for enduring relevance and value.

Remodernism is not part of the elite’s plan. The arts establishment assumes they continue to dictate success in the arts based on cronyism and obedience. The idea of a grass roots movement that not only rejects current cultural institution expectations, but seeks to actively destroy their corrupt system, is inconceivable to them.

The feeble offerings of the contemporary art market can only exist in a monopoly format. If there were true freedom of expression, and a diversity of thought, then the art market would be out of the control of the self-proclaimed taste makers. The good news is this freedom is coming, whether they like it or not.

Remodernism will alter the course of Western civilization by restoring to art the principles that made our culture great.The forces of decadence and decay will be confronted and defeated.

What kind of price can you put on ideas that change the world?

Article: Allergories Abound

Richard Bledsoe Articles, Commentary, Culture War

The mighty Instapundit shows how to address the culture war.

Art can be enlisted as a powerful ally, used to help define the nature of the opposition. The elite has been doing this for 50 years, with the terrible results increasingly evident.

I had not paid much attention to The Hunger Games, which seemed like Battle Royale meets Twilight. But it looks like I will have to consider adding it to my roster of pro-Western Civilization  pop culture mythologies:

Lord of the Rings. Firefly. Harry Potter. These stories, fed into the public conscious as the archetypal victory of good versus evil, need to be tapped.

Art will be used as a weapon to defeat the authoritarians.

Gallery Closing

Richard Bledsoe Commentary, Optimism, Richard Bledsoe

Deus Ex Machina Gallery and Studio opened on December 7, 2007. In the last 5 years, our cooperative gallery has been open every First Friday and Third Friday, with a new exhibit hung every month. Often guest artists-some from as far away as France-were featured, in addition to the works of the members.

Our itinerary expanded with time. Currently in addition to the 2 gallery nights, we host a poetry reading on Second Fridays, which is often standing room only. We host “A Coven of Nerds,” a game night, on second Saturdays. The space started recently being used for a monthly writing salon on Sunday afternoons.

These were just our ongoing events. We’ve also hosted performance art, experimental theater, film, dance, live music shows from surf to industrial, and collaborative art projects.

All along the space has functioned as my oil painting studio. I spent many valuable hours there creating some of the most significant works of my life.

It’s been a labor of love with some wonderful people. But it’s time to do things differently.

December 2012 will be the final month of Deus Ex Machina. I end this grand experiment with a full heart, already pressing on to the next adventure.

 

 

The Tyranny of Cool

Richard Bledsoe Articles, Commentary, Culture War, Richard Bledsoe

GREG GUTFELD: A timely rebuttal of the fundamental problem America faces: the elitist domination of our culture and creative classes.

Without a doubt voter fraud helped put Obama over the top in places like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.

But like Hugh Hewitt says, “If it’s not close, they can’t cheat.”

The only reason the voter fraud can work, can make the difference by ginning up an illicit percentage point or three, is by being aided and abetted by the legitimate votes of millions and millions of citizens who have been hypnotized by the buzzing of the collectivist hive mind. The blatant message constantly transmitted is America is not cool. Liberty is not cool.

The hostility to American greatness oozes out of practically every TV show, movie, classroom, and news station in this country. I’ve lived and worked amongst the herd of the creative class for decades now, and their unthinking conformity to collectivist dogma would be laughable if it were not so dangerous to our freedom.

It’s amazing we haven’t fallen farther already, considering the 100 year assault this country’s principles have suffered.

But Cultural Marxism can only succeed if it’s obligatory. Political correctness tries to limit options so the left is the only choice.

We are working to create an alternative to the rigid controls our would-be rulers want to impose on us.

Forget cool. Dead things are cool. Now is the time to get fiery.

An Unexpected Journey

Richard Bledsoe Articles, Commentary, Culture War, Optimism, Quotes, Richard Bledsoe, Tolkien

Sorry for a gap of few days in posting, we had a visit to make on short notice. Family manifests the richness of life. I love them all, and wish I could see more of everyone, all the time.

To continue the Tolkein motif, Gaypatriot expands on Ace’s Treebeardian wisdom on the recent election: Don’t be hasty.

The parallels our struggle is taking on to various modern mythos-Tolkien, Harry Potter, Firefly-is inspiring. The artists have foretold the outcome of the actions we are embarking on. The righteous will persevere despite overwhelming odds. Art should be full of these same type of examples.

Commentary: Art’s Number One Controversy

Richard Bledsoe Articles, Commentary, Culture War, Establishment

Over a year ago, the infamous Andres Serrano photo Piss Christ  got the blasphemy treatment.

In this case the forces of outraged vandalism were Christians, not Islamists. But apparently some Christians have noticed how the Muslim threats of violence against any perceived slight makes everyone else act properly submissive to their demands.

The establishment art world holds double standards on the treatment of organized religions. Elitist artists congratulate themselves for deriding the beliefs of so-called narrow minded Christians, while turning a blind eye to the aggressive homophobia, repression and intolerance of the militant Islamic world.

Why?

Fear. These artistic poseurs are knuckling under to bullies, all the while claiming to be iconoclastic champions of free expression. The hypocrisy is disgraceful.

Commentary: Contemporary Art Bubble?

Richard Bledsoe Articles, Commentary, Culture War, Establishment

Forbes identifies trouble ahead.

Speculating based on…what?
A valid concern. Since there is almost no correlation between the quality of a work of contemporary art and the value the culture industry places on it,  it’s hard to gauge it’s long term potential as an investment.

Because ultimately what is being sold is not the art itself. What’s being purchased is what the ownership of certain types of contemporary art is meant to signify.

Appreciation of the dominant strains of contemporary art – conceptualism, minimalism, abstraction -is part of the package deal of elitism and political correctness.  Embracing these forms of art flaunts one’s membership amongst the self-anointed upper crust.

Any old junk will do as the actual art object, as long as it meets the right criteria-concerns which are not even aesthetic in nature.  The art market is saturated with the mediocre output of artists who fit the preferred demographics, who espouse the desirable attitudes, and above all, kiss the correct asses.

Of course the bottom is going to drop out of this market based on the false narratives of the establishment. All the better to prepare the way for the genuine expression of Remodernism, the true art of the future.