I thank Michael and others for helpful advice on not writing free verse. I am a technological Luddite and can't focus on the computer tasks that might help me write simple lines of text. It's just painting, reading, writing and thinking that keeps me distracted from everyday stuff. Today I had lunch with James Valerio (see Forum Gallery), a friend of 45 years. We have very different political views. I'm way too liberal for him. Yet we are not so far apart on issues about art as we are on politics. We both lament the brutish character of so much 'postmodern' art thinking and how it has all but taken over the academy and the art world itself. I suppose that's because we're both painters and, as everyone knows by now, painting is dead and gone in the world of serious, fashionable art: the art of contemporary museums, major art fairs, hot critics, dealers, and collectors. James gave me a book to read. Now, I'm usually plenty up to date on books about the art world but this is one I missed. It's titled Exhibitionism. Authored by Lynne Munson, published 2000. I recommend it but it has flaws. it does have fascinating, and damming information about the NEA. Many of your suspicions about current art will be confirmed. The near impossibility of carrying on a good discussion of aesthetics in a postmodern context where all meanings have been cut loose is conformed.
I wonder how this post will look when you read it. On my screen, it's a perfect rectangle of text. wc
