Why Reinvent the Wheel?. It's pretty well understood that when something works well, thee's no need to change it. This seems to hold true for art, since
most paintings, for example , are of the same subjects, and people seem to enjoy looking at
familiar work. The difference between one painting of a horse and another, for example, is not
the horse so much as the presentation of the horse. Penn Jillette's new movie, "The Aristocrats",
is on joke told by numerous comics - each giving his or her own twist to the same material.
In this vein, the following excerpt from the July 21, 2005 "Twice Weekly Robert Genn Letter" -
click here to visit the link on the CAPA home page - is of interest:
Like a lot of artists who have been around for a while, there
are people out there doing fairly commendable copies of my
work. Some copy "in the manner of"--the general themes and
ideas. Others copy part of the style or as much as they can get
of the style. Some take images from the Internet or other
publications and copy verbatim. Some almost "get it" and apart
from turgid brushwork, the only real difference is the
signature.
Over the past few years there has been a growth industry in
copying the work of the recently deceased French painter
Bernard Cathelin. Perhaps somebody painted like that even
before him. His images and their variations, much in popular
demand for current home decor, have become commonplace under
many signatures. This has occurred because his is pretty basic
stuff and easy to clone--simple flat patterns, minimal drawing,
no light and shade. The work gives few problems to unskilled
painters with an eye for cash flow.
Right now at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia,
PA, there's a forty-year retrospective of the work of Richard
Pettibone.
He's the guy who makes meticulous, postcard-size
copies of some of the late and recent art icons--Warhol,
Stella, Lichtenstein, Duchamp, Mondrian, etc.
The critics of
course love it because they think the work challenges the
popular notions of originality, size, and banality. Think of
it: Warhol's soup cans, which were copied from soup cans, are
copied by Pettibone. Critics also like his fun-poking mix and
match--Dali-ized Warhol Marilyns, etc. Again, Pettibone has
always been careful to copy the stuff he can copy. For the
copyist, Pop is a piece of cake. To my knowledge, he hasn't
made a decent copy of, let's say, a John Singer Sargent
watercolour, because he can't. In this sense, the copyist
Pettibone is being forthright and honest.
The prevalence of cloners may account for why a lot of
brilliant and deft artists are guarded and devious about their
ways and means. Sargent, a private, secretive guy, was known to
labour over work in order to keep it fresh, and to finish with
a flourish to make it look easy. This "speedy" look has defied
his would-be copyists for years. "Mine is the horny hand of
toil," said Sargent. Secretly, I've always felt that Sargent's
attitude was something worth cloning.
Joe Chernicoff, CAPA Exec. Director
My husband, Tony Roberts was a professional bullrider and a
bull fighter. He was 4th in the world in 1986-bull rider. He lost all of his pictures and
everything he ever had. He is not well now and doesn't have long to live and I would like
to have some pictures of him. I have tried to find some things on the internet but I have
failed. Is there any way you could help me? Anything would be appreciated.
Thank you. - Rhonda Stone (rhonda_stone2001@yahoo.com)
What's New and Continuing
Cholla the Artist:
Leigh Walker:
Julia Sweda is one of three new artists whose work is shown at
cowboyartshow.com's artist studio
Doorway 26. Julia creates decorative hand painted ceramic tiles and murals.
Ruby Hollembaek'sThe Alaskan artist's authentic glass tile mosaic bison skull mounts, and
decorative hand painted and murals can be seen when you enter her showroom through the doorway link.
The fine photographic art of Juliet Harrison is available through Doorway 26, where you will find her award winning black and white
photos of horses, bulls, and other animals.
Announcement
Jeremy DeCoste, of Original Art Online, is offering a free 6 month trial for
everyone looking to promote their original works of art. It might be worth your while to check it out. Let him know you read the notice here.
This isn't cowboy art, but it's mighty interesting!
Cholla, the one true equine artist, has a new work posted on the Cholla Art page at
enter here. The title is "Martha is Free".
The folk and contemporary artist's original paintings, collages, clay sculptures, and limited edition gicleé
prints and sculpture reproductions are now on exhibit.
Sculpture
thumbnail preview links point to exhibit and sales pages.
Breaking the barrier in roping is not a good thing, but here's a great sample of an important
barrier breaking....
