Slog News & Arts

Line Out

Music & Nightlife

« The Morning News | Pat Buchanan, Feminist »

Friday, September 5, 2008

For Jubilation T.

posted by on September 5 at 9:00 AM

Jubilation T., you asked what I thought of the painting I posted in the last Currently Hanging. I hadn’t yet seen it in person, so I didn’t comment except on the painting’s back story.

I went to see the painting yesterday in person, and I just want to report back that it is some powerful stuff. That “spill” that covers the guy’s head and runs upward is encaustic, and the unpainted canvas is left raw.

But it was the hands that got me: they’re made of thick paint piled on top of the canvas, and then actually burned.

I’ve always loved the way that the thickness of Miller’s paintings imply an excess of information that stands in place of any knowledge Miller has of his subjects, since they’re always taken from found photographs. The artist can only guess about his subjects’ characters, their situations, what they might make of him if they knew he was doing this, or how they might behave in a formal portrait sitting that actually gave the artist permission. Miller puts himself in a position that’s the reverse of the all-knowing “cone of vision” effect you get in Renaissance perspective, or even the locked-in knowledge that comes straight from the artist’s soul in much of modernism. Miller doesn’t know these people, but he’s determined to paint them, and what you see in each piece is the evidence of him figuring out how.

RSS icon Comments

1

Uh can't you come up with Joob's email address and send this to him rather than making us all scroll THAT much more?

Posted by Non | September 5, 2008 9:25 AM
2

@1 -- A little suffering on my behalf will build your character, Non. And god knows, it could use some help.

My dear Graves, thanks for the courtesy of the reply. I thought the image was cool, and am glad to have the benefit of your additional insights.

At the risk of asking for everything (but then again, when didn't I in my life?), I wonder what you'd think about including the price of the works in question in your Currently Hanging pieces?

Now, I realize that price is a largely worthless measure of the value of a work as *art* but since nothing thrills me more than to see a BFA student at Wenatchee Community College asking $10,000 for his/her senior thesis project ("Bucket & Broom with Green Swiffer: The Rape of Europa and Das Kapital"), I was hoping you'd include this information.

It would also spare me the indignity of calling the gallery, disguising my voice behind a dishrag and window fan, and asking the price, only to be told by a dismissive gallerist that "prices are available at the gallery." Although the Catherine Person Gallery and Roq la Rue never did that, for the record...

Theeeeenks!!!

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | September 5, 2008 9:39 AM
3

@1: This is the sort of helpful and insightful follow-up that makes Currently Hanging's existence worthwhile. If your scrolling time is so precious, set your reader to ignore Art tags and don't waste more time haranguing Jen Graves.

Posted by Aislinn | September 5, 2008 9:45 AM
4

Honestly, Jube, no freaking way. If this were an art blog, sure. But given the fact that almost every commenter on this blog already seems to hate and distrust contemporary art, there's no way I'm going to flatten it farther by making it an even shallower conversation about money. Sorry. But I feel strongly about this.

Posted by Jen Graves | September 5, 2008 9:46 AM
5

I love contemporary art.

Posted by Mr. Poe | September 5, 2008 10:02 AM
6

@4 -- I understand. But. If it's a reaction to art, isn't it worth plumbing and refuting (not just you...others who love contemporary art will amass in your defense).

Which brings me to @5, who is our own pocket Rubens.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | September 5, 2008 10:22 AM
7

I don't like much contemporary art, but I don't like much of anything. Some of it's great, and I like seeing it here even when it sucks, because it's good to have the stream pass by. It's one of the best parts of Slog, even if it doesn't attract as much attention as Your Pit Bull Fucked My Youth Pastor's Bicycle.

Posted by Fnarf | September 5, 2008 10:25 AM
8

I, too, appreciate the Currently Hanging posts and have often wondered, when I saw something that particularly captured my fancy, whether I could afford it. A price tag would be convenient, but I can sure see how the haters or the disinterested would just go ballistic.

Posted by homage to me | September 5, 2008 1:12 PM
9

ocisdxw pteqliw cqbvixn hydri fwviszua wgaubxoq sepwy

Posted by lrxjwinsh tjdryc | September 7, 2008 9:05 PM
10

ocisdxw pteqliw cqbvixn hydri fwviszua wgaubxoq sepwy

Posted by lrxjwinsh tjdryc | September 7, 2008 9:15 PM
11

Look - JTC - if you had called Mark Miller's gallery, you wouldn't get a dismissive gallerist - mostly likely you would get Billy Howard or Sara Callahan. Both are veterans in the field and know, especially in Seattle, that snotty isn't the way to handle the mob. As a matter of fact, coming in a seeing the work would give you an opportunity to pick up the price list and see for yourself what a painting is priced at. Market values are based on many factors and in the case of Mark Miller, his work has been shown in Seattle for decades. He's influenced many artists and has pushed painting consistently and without fear. Whether or not one likes contemporary art, one needs to recognize that the artists who are showing in galleries in Seattle are professionals and that they're work is built upon many historical factors. Nothing is made in a vacuum. The great thing about art is that it gets under your skin and you can even hate it - that's a powerful emotion - better than complacency and apathy. It gives you something to push back against and learn from. No matter how much a painting costs in a gallery in Seattle, nothing compares to prices in New York and other art centers. And it's free to look - no charge - no need to purchase - just a community service that galleries do. Go to a restaurant and in order to critique them you have to buy the food. Go to a movie and you have buy a ticket for $12 bucks. So don't buck the galleries for showing things you don't like. It's their curatorial prerogative and ultimately their business win or loose.

Posted by Billy | September 9, 2008 5:06 PM

Comments Closed

Comments are closed on this post.