Buy Art, Not Drugs.

1. There are so many artists in the world. You could never keep up. I can't. Even when I was going to art school. (Junior High School to 23 years old.)

2. Art is a reason for living. Sometimes how I notice the leaves changing in my neighborhood makes me want to cry with happiness. I wish I could remember all the great words I read, all the amazing sentences and the cartoons that make me howl with laughter in the New Yorker.

3. Art is political. Art makes us think, act, muse, ponder, delight, destroy, fight, fuck, dance, sing, weep, still, speechless. Art makes a difference, even if you're oblivious to its power.

4. Art is debated. What is art? is close to the Middle Ages' version of The Earth is Flat or the physicists and religious leaders' Who is God? Art is _______ and Art is not ________. We are all left to wonder if Jackson Pollack fell off his ladder not in SoHo but in the forest, would his splashes of paint be heard?

5. When are we allowed to call ourselves artists? When we make money from it or because we don't? When the trust fund is depleted or when the interest check arrives? When all the money's been snorted or drunk or main-lined or stuffed into pillowcases? Is poster art art? Or is poster art like cheese food?

6. Can a great artist be alive or must they all be dead? Who decides what is great art?

and on and on.

This past summer I had the electric honor of being in the same room of an artist named Zoe Strauss. She floored me with her humour and honesty, passion and no- nonsense straight forwardness. I was attracted to her brutal truth and its delivery. Maybe I merely recognized her as my non-middle class brethren, hard sayin not knowin.

At any rate I had to leave the room she was speaking in, so I gave a school-girl note to a friend of mine and asked her to give it to Zoe at the end of the session. The note said, "I have a crush on you." I think.

Yeah, she never called. It's ok, I can handle it. Heh.

Zoe Strauss makes very interesting photographs. She's invited me to buy some limited edition diptychs which are quite strong in content. Check them out by clicking here. I especially like Thursday. If you need any more incentive to have her art on your walls, Ms. Strauss has recently been named a United States Artists. And she's brave and handsome and a proud Philadelphian.

It could be I like Zoe's work so much because it reminds me of this woman.

At any rate, whatever art is or is not, whomever we choose to call artists or not, whether you believe art is important or not, however small or large art plays a part in your life, I hope someone's art turns you on enough to offer a different sort of inspiration you may not receive in your daily life by your other, more well worn paths.

Comments

[lindsey]

thanks for the breath of fresh air in a day when i need to remember there is a lot more to life __.

[McAuliflower]

Ah Shuna... this seals it- I have a crush on you!

I always enjoy the spin you put on questions that happen to vex me.

If it doesn't sell, is it art?
If it's just pretty, is it art?
Is it worth the consumed resources if its art?

I have a feeling you used to have a book of questions before the time of blogging.

[ZS]

Shuna,

Thanks for the shout out... it was a pleasure to meet you. I'm so appreciative for your support and interest in my work.

With Love,
Zoe