Artist Hideout

What makes the Artist famous?

by William Lehman on October 12th, 2007

I’ve been reading some interesting articles lately about art and artists who are being represented in various places. 

I have come to the conclusion that art doesn’t necessarily have to be good (as per my opinion) to be worthwhile or to make the artist famous.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (See link) creates work that I would classify as being on the level of a three-year-old given paint and tarps to work with.  They are crude, arrogant paintings that have little or no aesthetic value (once again "in my opinion").

An office building in San Francisco apparently has some issues with Ferlinghetti’s work as well. 

(The building managers had met) months ago to talk about the artworks that would be right for the space and "thought they had an understanding as to what was being installed. But it turned out to be things that were not appropriate for the space. Several major tenants expressed their concern that nudity was not appropriate for a business setting. So we asked them to remove the art and replace with other pieces by Mr. Ferlinghetti."

But it remains that Ferlinghetti’s work is valued by some and hated by others.  This is of course understandable.  But how can anyone become so known for such a work.

Planning, Perseverance and mainly lots of ambition can take an artist (even the worst artist) from nothing to fame.

So, lesson learned.  Your work.  Even your worst works are valuable.  Just insist that they are "worthy", get a gallery to represent you and go for it.  More than anything try new things, go wild and create.  Find a style that works for you and continually refine it, adding to it as you go.

(please bear in mind that some of this is sarcasm, albeit with an element of truth)

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POSTED IN: Brain Shavings