Thursday, May 24, 2007

Me again

I’ve developed a new painting format within which I can try on different kinds of figurative painting. It's a challenge (and possibly stupid) because I’ve been an abstract painter all my life, but engrossing because I’m learning stuff. Or rather figuring it out as I go. Anyway, this week I’m Gerhard Richter. Or I’m trying to be Gerhard Richter. Funny how you get a picture in your mind of what something you’re making will look like, and when it’s done—even though you’re trying to be Gerhard Richter—it looks so disappointingly yours. This may be the idiosyncratic stamp that (hopefully) makes our work compelling to other people, but for the person who lives inside us it’s, “Oh shit, me again.”

1 comment:

Terry Perk said...

As Einstein once said: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.” Your move isn’t stupidity though, its actually what I would call intentional ignorance, which as we both know can lead to very positive and productive encounters with the world.