Everyone has their own opinion about art. Some love it, some hate it, some don't even try to understand it. Some people think art is a Thomas Kinkade poster hanging in their office, others think it's limited to works of Michelangelo or Titian. Whatever your opinion is, you have the right to believe it. However, what if we all were a little more open-minded to art? Can we at least take the time to view it, try to understand the artist's intentions and process behind creating it? I wish we lived in a world where everyone could at least agree to attempt to understand art before making a strong decision on whether it is good art or not. Alas, this is not that world.
Just yesterday I spoke with someone that had a very strong opinion about art. They basically did not want to see what they called "modern art" at all. While working at the museum, I hear many opinions. Some are well-thought out, helpful, and valid, others like what I heard yesterday, were quite extreme. While listening to this individual, I kept my opnions to myself. My thougths were the complete opposite against his. Gathering from what the man said, he basically wanted to remove a whole genre and art movement from the museum so he could see more of what he enjoyed.
I thought this was quite absurd. In fact, when he said "modern art," I think what he actually meant to say was "contemporary." From other comments he made, I believe he was referring to contemporary artworks in the museum that he did not like. I understand many people are not aware of the differences between modern and contemprary. (Modern-think Picasso, Mondrian, Matisse, Contemporary- current-day artists like Banksy, Nick Cave.) It is completely ok that not everyone knows the difference, but I think if you are going to make such a fierce argument, you need to be educated in that area first.
How could someone completely dismiss a whole time period in art history? To me, this is like taking several chapters out of history books. If we were to take out information like September 11 or the current war on terrorism. History affects everything in the future and this also applies to art history. If a museum or text book chooses to focus on one specific time period or movement, that is valid. However, removing one area from the grand scheme of history does not prove beneficial. Just because someone does not enjoy specific artists and/or art movements, does not mean we should completely dismiss them.
The more I thought about this man's comments, the more infuriated I became. Of course, there are many pieces of art that I do not like but I still deem them as great works of art or at least respect them in their place in history. As in many other areas of life, people close their minds to what they can't understand or frightened by. For me, it's ok to not understand everything. How could we? But, we should at least allow those things to be discussed. What are your opinions on viewing artwork? Should a general art museum showcase artwork from all time periods, genres, and art movements?
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