The simple fact is that art isn’t a competition. One can critique, offer personal opinion, dismiss, but awarding “First Prize”, etc. has always been a humorous act at best. Art judging has a long history of derision of the judges by future viewers.
John you could have taped a banana to the back of you canvas and submitted it as an assemblage. I do think your stamp idea is an outstanding thought and made me smile and think. I really enjoyed your video and yes, I too have been in art shows where I got in mostly because the judge had an art installation idea in their head and just happened to fit the vibe of the show as it was curated. I have also been excluded from shows because my work was two inches too big. I give you so much credit for reaching out to others for their thoughts. You are a brilliant painter and a brilliant videographer. I would not be a good judge either and have worked in various genres of art. You are absolutely right on target with the breakdown of abstract art in categories. I have been painting abstractly now in recent years and for most of my life was a contemporary realist. The weird thing is my abstract work is getting more attention than any of my realist work ever did and that is odd to me because it was something I never had much interest in and getting attention with that at age sixty four? I'm thinking now that most relatively good to great realist painters can be good abstract painters because they work with shapes, color, composition form and texture and the surface. I would say judging from flat digital photographed images of art is pretty much impossible. The lack of seeing a piece and feeling it up close in the real is lost. I'm just glad we have art to talk about and not politics and our current crap show going on with that. Artists have better things to do and that's sharing beauty with the world and acknowledging the efforts of our fellow artists. You are a noble man John and have a wonderful holiday season. Stephen Heigh
As always, I loved the video and its content, particularly your confession, the way you describe the various forms of abstract art, your concept of art judges and their role in that capacity. Thank you John :)
Great video. Thanks! And made me laugh. I didn't enter a show where a former teacher was a judge, because she knew me and liked my artwork and I felt the judging could be skewed by that. I don't like politics. I love the way you were judging the show. Do it again and this time solicit the other informal art judges to--aside from offering feedbck--remind you of the time!
I did this kind of thing for several years when I ran an art organization in Wisconsin. One thing I can say, from the samples you showed, the work out East was a lot better than the work in the Midwest.
I really enjoyed your video. Judging art is very complicated. It makes me question what the purpose of judging is? Art is so subjective, why must we need validation at all? Having your art seen and experienced by others should be enough. Competition just changes the experience between artists.
Here the ‘common man’ was asked to judge. IMHO the winning entry ought to be based on your personal desire. That’s why you were chosen to judge. Forget the art & croissant, wine & cheese cult of know it alls. It’s an honor to judge, to be you, not them. Forget the drama and the critics looking over your shoulder. It’s not about them and their artist feelings, it’s up to you. Make your choice. Done.
Shouldn't there be a category 'Pretentious Nonsense'? No, probably not, that would have nearly all those shown fighting amongst each other again. Does that make me 'a very good judge indeed'?
Crowdsourcing the judging is brilliant. Art is so subjective the opinion of any one person would seem to be not as good a predictor of success as the opinions of many.
Hey John, perhaps you were doing a subconscious 'Stuempfig' when you missed that deadline? Still, it got you thinking and, voila, you shared those thoughts. I would also make a terrible judge of work outside my purview. Nevertheless, I feel strongly about the need for competition and discriminating judgments. Recently, I've heard protestations like "Artists shouldn't have to compete." I responded, "If we're going to eliminate competitions, why not grading as well?" Why bother to have instruction? Why not just supply a studio and demand galleries sell everything, without discrimination?" Walter Stempfig judged hundreds, possibly thousands of works he was an expert in over his lifetime. Win or lose, those artists were better for his involvement. However, in the end, we must be the best judge of our own work, but only if we've walked the walk and been honest with ourselves.
Apologetics for taste aside, it is too bad that the works that were seen by the named critic/judge, Walter Stuempfig, cannot be shown. I have never known of this artist until this video, but upon looking at his referenced works online he was obviously an artist of quality, and would know quality work when he was presented with it. This makes me wonder what the woodcut he endorsed looked like . . .
Thank you for your very nuanced reflection and dialogue about quality in Art. I find it very interesting and important 🧡🩷♥️💜🙏 And Of course quality both in life and in Art can not be measured as the time it takes to run from A to B. That can never be the point. It depends on your values, what you experience as important. What do you judge as important values ? So you might agree on some values and disagree on other, and your way of experiencing and judging values can change during life. But the values, whether conscious or intuitive, cultural and historic will always be important for the choices we make- both in life and art. Art is a way of communicating about something you find isignificant - in that way Art is a multidimensional language inspired from all sides of life and invites us to experience deeply and with an open heart mind. 🙏for your inspiring video 🧡🩷❤️♥️
The simple fact is that art isn’t a competition. One can critique, offer personal opinion, dismiss, but awarding “First Prize”, etc. has always been a humorous act at best. Art judging has a long history of derision of the judges by future viewers.
John you could have taped a banana to the back of you canvas and submitted it as an assemblage. I do think your stamp idea is an outstanding thought and made me smile and think. I really enjoyed your video and yes, I too have been in art shows where I got in mostly because the judge had an art installation idea in their head and just happened to fit the vibe of the show as it was curated. I have also been excluded from shows because my work was two inches too big. I give you so much credit for reaching out to others for their thoughts. You are a brilliant painter and a brilliant videographer. I would not be a good judge either and have worked in various genres of art. You are absolutely right on target with the breakdown of abstract art in categories. I have been painting abstractly now in recent years and for most of my life was a contemporary realist. The weird thing is my abstract work is getting more attention than any of my realist work ever did and that is odd to me because it was something I never had much interest in and getting attention with that at age sixty four? I'm thinking now that most relatively good to great realist painters can be good abstract painters because they work with shapes, color, composition form and texture and the surface. I would say judging from flat digital photographed images of art is pretty much impossible. The lack of seeing a piece and feeling it up close in the real is lost. I'm just glad we have art to talk about and not politics and our current crap show going on with that. Artists have better things to do and that's sharing beauty with the world and acknowledging the efforts of our fellow artists. You are a noble man John and have a wonderful holiday season. Stephen Heigh
Well explained! You touched all aspects that touches artwork.❤❤❤❤ thank you for this video😊😊😊😊
Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing.
As always, I loved the video and its content, particularly your confession, the way you describe the various forms of abstract art, your concept of art judges and their role in that capacity. Thank you John :)
Great video. Thanks! And made me laugh. I didn't enter a show where a former teacher was a judge, because she knew me and liked my artwork and I felt the judging could be skewed by that. I don't like politics. I love the way you were judging the show. Do it again and this time solicit the other informal art judges to--aside from offering feedbck--remind you of the time!
Loved the painting of your wife.
Really enjoyed this. It was great to see more of your work, and that of Walter Stuempfig.
this was so enlightening and as an artist I totally relate to this confession...Judging is so completely under discussed.
Loved your personal prise story❤❤❤❤
I did this kind of thing for several years when I ran an art organization in Wisconsin. One thing I can say, from the samples you showed, the work out East was a lot better than the work in the Midwest.
John, you and your videos, help to reinforce my ties to PAFA and the circle of artists drawn to it, close to my heart. Thank you. M Naples Maber
Thank you. You’re a gem.
I really enjoyed your video. Judging art is very complicated. It makes me question what the purpose of judging is? Art is so subjective, why must we need validation at all? Having your art seen and experienced by others should be enough. Competition just changes the experience between artists.
Here the ‘common man’ was asked to judge. IMHO the winning entry ought to be based on your personal desire. That’s why you were chosen to judge. Forget the art & croissant, wine & cheese cult of know it alls. It’s an honor to judge, to be you, not them. Forget the drama and the critics looking over your shoulder. It’s not about them and their artist feelings, it’s up to you. Make your choice. Done.
Shouldn't there be a category 'Pretentious Nonsense'? No, probably not, that would have nearly all those shown fighting amongst each other again. Does that make me 'a very good judge indeed'?
Crowdsourcing the judging is brilliant. Art is so subjective the opinion of any one person would seem to be not as good a predictor of success as the opinions of many.
I am up to 183 in William gompertz 150 years of modern art which covers many things in this video.
Hey John, perhaps you were doing a subconscious 'Stuempfig' when you missed that deadline? Still, it got you thinking and, voila, you shared those thoughts. I would also make a terrible judge of work outside my purview. Nevertheless, I feel strongly about the need for competition and discriminating judgments.
Recently, I've heard protestations like "Artists shouldn't have to compete." I responded, "If we're going to eliminate competitions, why not grading as well?" Why bother to have instruction? Why not just supply a studio and demand galleries sell everything, without discrimination?" Walter Stempfig judged hundreds, possibly thousands of works he was an expert in over his lifetime. Win or lose, those artists were better for his involvement. However, in the end, we must be the best judge of our own work, but only if we've walked the walk and been honest with ourselves.
Nuts Like Art History Majors Who Never Had The Talent To Produce Any ART
Apologetics for taste aside, it is too bad that the works that were seen by the named critic/judge, Walter Stuempfig, cannot be shown. I have never known of this artist until this video, but upon looking at his referenced works online he was obviously an artist of quality, and would know quality work when he was presented with it. This makes me wonder what the woodcut he endorsed looked like . . .
Thank you for your very nuanced reflection and dialogue about quality in Art. I find it very interesting and important 🧡🩷♥️💜🙏 And Of course quality both in life and in Art can not be measured as the time it takes to run from A to B. That can never be the point. It depends on your values, what you experience as important. What do you judge as important values ? So you might agree on some values and disagree on other, and your way of experiencing and judging values can change during life. But the values, whether conscious or intuitive, cultural and historic will always be important for the choices we make- both in life and art. Art is a way of communicating about something you find isignificant - in that way Art is a multidimensional language inspired from all sides of life and invites us to experience deeply and with an open heart mind. 🙏for your inspiring video 🧡🩷❤️♥️