Well today is my 50th birthday (and Dad's 82nd). With the coming little chat I am going to have with a local art curator I have been thinking a lot about why I make art. I am not much of an art speak type guy, I hate doing up those artist statements that all submissions require. Many times when I read those things written by other artists it sounds like a bunch of gobliigook horse shit (that's the technical term). It always seems to me like the artist is taking himself way way to seriously and is making up something thats simply not their in the art, they are selling a product by giving it some high falutan secret arty farty speak meaning crap. Great art reaches the viewer without the art speak verbiage, it just has something true in it, something honest that does not need explanations, it reaches deep into your gut without the need to pull out your Thesaurus.
I have always resisted trying to analyze why I make pictures, and have always hoped that the viewer will find their own path. We all have baggage we bring into a gallery. We all see things based on our own life experiences, are own prejudices and viewpoints. Your interpretation of what you see will depend on who you are as a person. I have always felt it is better to let the viewer decide and not try to sell your stuff though unnecessary verbiage. My hope has always been to let the work talk to each individual and leave it at that.
Still, I have been thinking, why do you make art Gerry? What motivates you? This is what I think does it for me.
A driving insatiable curiosity with people, a need to understand who and what they are, and why they are that way. Since I was a young boy I have always been fascinated with trying to understand others. Why do people act the way they do, what motivates them? Why do some turn out this way? Why do some turn out that way? Why do some do this? and some do that? What make people who and what they are?
My photography my art is an extension of this need to understand, it is my way of chasing that hunger and the way I express and interpret that understanding. My art is my way of connecting to others and telling stories, it allows me to feel, to experience, it's my way of of fulfilling my personal needs, it's my way of being happy.
Not exactly high falutan gobliigook art speak but it's truthful, it's honest.
Happy birthday you old fart Gerry, your 50!
I have always resisted trying to analyze why I make pictures, and have always hoped that the viewer will find their own path. We all have baggage we bring into a gallery. We all see things based on our own life experiences, are own prejudices and viewpoints. Your interpretation of what you see will depend on who you are as a person. I have always felt it is better to let the viewer decide and not try to sell your stuff though unnecessary verbiage. My hope has always been to let the work talk to each individual and leave it at that.
Still, I have been thinking, why do you make art Gerry? What motivates you? This is what I think does it for me.
A driving insatiable curiosity with people, a need to understand who and what they are, and why they are that way. Since I was a young boy I have always been fascinated with trying to understand others. Why do people act the way they do, what motivates them? Why do some turn out this way? Why do some turn out that way? Why do some do this? and some do that? What make people who and what they are?
My photography my art is an extension of this need to understand, it is my way of chasing that hunger and the way I express and interpret that understanding. My art is my way of connecting to others and telling stories, it allows me to feel, to experience, it's my way of of fulfilling my personal needs, it's my way of being happy.
Not exactly high falutan gobliigook art speak but it's truthful, it's honest.
Happy birthday you old fart Gerry, your 50!
