give a young artist that is just starting out?
Its hard to say if I have a motto or a creed. It seems strangely definitive to announce such a thing. I have always carried with me the what John Cage said about inspiration: "I think people who are not artists often feel that artists are inspired. But if you work at your art you don't have time to be inspired. Out of the work comes the work." I will sometimes say this to others as "work comes from work".
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| Joe Molinaro has this picture of John Cage in his office. It has been there for as long as I have known him, 1995 maybe. Here you go Joe. |
This is related to the advice I would give young artists as well. I had a professor in Grad School, Marty Tucker, who in looking for a image of his work for this post, I just found out recently died. Very recently in fact, March 18th. Marty once said to us, that if you stop working because a particular tube of red paint you ordered hadn't come in yet, you probably weren't going to make it.
My first show in graduate school in the student gallery, I had maybe 8 paintings of cows on roofing tar paper. These were my first finished pieces at the University of Cincinnati. Here are a few of the paintings.
I started thinking about Marty during this process and I remembered that he wrote something in the registry book for the this show. It says "Brandon - Super show. Thought your work refreshing, expressive and even amusing. Very strong. Martin Tucker"
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I started this post thinking about one thing, I was going to say to young artists that they should remember what Cage said- that out of the work comes the work and that you can't let things like waiting on a tube of red paint slow down your progress. But as this post has evolved into a bit more of my remembrance of Marty, who was extraordinary, and who was a huge encouragement to me in the beginning of my career, I want to say this instead to young artists: Know and lean on the people who get what you are trying to do. Marty always said to "know who's shoulders you stand on" and what he was talking about was to realize who, past or present influences your work and who's work you are trying to extend the language of. This is incredibly important. I think in addition to that you have to know that the audience for what you are trying to do isn't everyone. It isn't even necessarily others who you respect or who's work you love. Make the work that you make and connect with the people who find truth and resonance with that. Everyone else is in a different conversation. Marty's early encouragement gave me the focus to mine deeper into my language, while many other people were trying to get me to make work that was more like the work they were interested in. As an artist this is one of the worst detours you can make. I don't encourage stagnation or not being in a conversation, but say what you want to say.
Next week the Blogwatchers start answering questions that we have been asked by others or we think others would be interested to know the answer to. The first one is: "Who are the last 3 artists that you seriously looked at whether they influence your work or not?" April 5th
I would like to end this post with Martin Tuckers obituary and to say that the people who influence our lives and careers are with us to greater or lesser degrees throughout. I haven't thought about Marty in a while but I quote him every semester, so in a sense Marty's ideas are part of the way I think about everything I do in art and teaching and that is pretty profound and I think Marty would think so too. Thanks Marty.
| Martin Tucker was born Sept. 7, 1932 in the Bronx, NYC. He was drafted into the army during the Korean War, where for the first time he didn't have to share a bed with his two younger brothers. Through the GI Bill, he enrolled in the State University of New York at New Paltz, to pursue his early childhood passion for the visual arts. He was first in his family to attend college. In graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Marty met his wife Ruth, and began his teaching career at Western Washington State University in Bellingham, WA. The family moved to Cincinnati in 1967, where he became professor of painting and drawing at UC for 37 years. He had a true enthusiasm for teaching and gave his students wide exposure to the art world. He was very proud to initiate an exchange program with the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Marty's own work has been exhibited in numerous cities. One of his favorite quotes was by the artist Paul Klee: "Art for me is serious play." |