Years ago, while I was a graduate student at a major university, I used to go down to the local art college to see what was going on. I have always been interested in Art, and you could say I was a devotee of all that was creative, novel, and curious.
One day there happened to be the annual show of student work on display at the school gallery. I wandered around, hoping to see something interesting, a new perspective on the familiar, something that would challenge me a bit. But what I found mostly was imitation Picassos or van Goghs, poor copies of avant gardists, but nothing that made me stop in my tracks to take a closer look.
I would have been through the entire show within a few minutes had I not overheard a couple of men talking on the other side of a partition on which paintings were hung.
“This has real feeling… very authentic. Nothing phony about this one…” I heard. “I’m voting for this one.”
“Absolutely. The only thing worth looking at in this show…” came the other voice.
I was curious, so I peeked around the corner and recognized two of the senior professors of the college. They must have been part of the committee that chose a winner.
I waited a moment until the two men had moved on. I was by now very curious as to which picture they seemed to think was the best. I turned the corner and found it.
It was a pencil drawing of a kitten. A girl student had done it. The loving care with which the cat was rendered came across loud and clear. Every stroke of the pencil was carefully executed with great concentration. The picture was devoid of any pretense, any claim to fame; it was kitsch in its sentimentality, but indisputably honest. Yes, this was the best piece of all.
I considered that a generation ago, this little drawing would not have impressed anyone. In fact, a student would have been sent packing among peals of laughter. But times had changed. The art world was being flooded with imitations; homages to this and that prominent figure; references made to so and so, ad infinitum. Just as in the world of film where re-makes were the norm, in Art people seemed to have run out of visions. Nothing was original and everything was commercial. Art had become just another racket.
But now here was a girl’s drawing of a her kitten….
Tags: art college, art today, contemporary art, naive art
