Art Now (& Then)

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The content of this post is not presented as some ART Now manifesto... but rather that it might spark some discussion as to what a relevant, new ART Now should be about.

Following a very successful first exhibition (in terms of visitor numbers sales)  of a diverse selection from the 450 artworks I've made over the past year I now have lots to reflect upon in terms of 'what next'.I now know that, for example, I have and use a very hot colour palette... that my work is figurative and, in large part, Art About Art (it has a strong autobiographical core to its references) and that there are are broadly 2 strong threads:

1 Works that grow out of revisiting 'old master' paintings by e.g. Vermeer, changing some of the content of each work and, in so doing, changing the original meaning/story/narrative.

2 Works in which virtual interiors/stages/spaces are created and occupied by characters and objects that also - typically - reference art historical sources, pose questions and have multiple layers of meaning.

The body of work made during the past year is a kind of lifetime's work of images that for the most part are unique evolutions that couldn't have been made without the use of image manipulating/construction software.  In all of this making I deliberately set out to develop a crafted feel to each work, enhancing each piece with hand painted areas in the final production stage - I have been delighted by visitor "What is it?" (a print, a painting) comments at the recent exhibition.

What has positively surprised me has been the way in which e.g. the works pictured in the Virtual Exhibition (above) have been well received as something different, clever, thought provoking and refreshing.

I think I now have a more focused direction with 'what next' and it relates to constantly pursuing answers to the following questions, questions that, it seems to me, are entirely appropriate when pondering what ART Now (in a digital world with no 'isms' except perhaps 'Image-ism') should be concerned with:

What is it? / What is it about? / Who is it for? / Where should it be seen? / Who, in the scheme of things, decides its value/merit? / Is it fresh?