Diane Mead on thu 14 sep 00
Vince:
Sorry to bug you with lowly queries,
but since you commented...
What is your stand on Picasso
painting on vessels he did not throw?
How does the accomplished potter
react to this.
diane
having a bit of an opinion
but needing a little
more learned voice
to help form it in stone
(or stoneware in this case...)
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vince pitelka on fri 15 sep 00
> Vince:
> Sorry to bug you with lowly queries,
> but since you commented...
> What is your stand on Picasso
> painting on vessels he did not throw?
> How does the accomplished potter
> react to this.
Diane -
Thanks for asking me. In most cases if a painter/sculptor wants to decorate
pots, I would prefer that they learn to make pots. But any artist of
Picasso's depth and range is an exception. He was incredibly productive
throughout his life, and always pushing the envelope. Whatever his most
visible work at one time, he was way ahead of it, trying other things. His
career was one of cyclical re-occurence, where his past work kept
re-appearing again and again, informing his new work. That is the way many
artists work, but Picasso was just much more productive than most. I am so
grateful that he contracted some potters to make vessels for him to cut,
reassemble, and decorate.
Picasso was an egomaniac - no denying that - so there is both truth and
arrogance in his statement (and I am paraphrasing) "As a young man I learned
to draw like Raphael (he wished!), but it has taken me a lifetime to learn
to draw like a child." That is perhaps the most valuable lesson of Picasso.
We get herded like cattle into a stereotypical vision of what art is. We
see the art that children do, and we dismiss it as childish, when in fact it
is honest, direct, intuitive, abstract - some of the qualities that highly
trained, educated artists strive for. The trouble is that the honesty and
intuition have often been educated out of them. Don't get me wrong - I
believe in the noble goals of higher education, but altogether too often it
steers the artist AWAY from honest self-expression. Picasso was especially
lucky in that he rediscovered honest self-expression. People who cannot see
that are really missing out.
That's enough. Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Diane Mead on fri 15 sep 00
Dear Vince,
Come Monday at 9:10 am EST
25 high school seniors will get to compare their opinions (formed with my
help today in class), with yours! I hope you don't mind me sharing this
fantastic email with them. (If you say no, I shan't)
I told them some of the same things you said. As fledgling potters, some
railed against the idea that Picasso got the glory and the contracted
potters got a little stipend. Others said things similar to what you said:
in essence, he didn't have time to learn all he needed to express what was
going on in his work at that moment.
I agree with your idea that Picasso was pushing the envelope throughout his
entire career. His ego was bigger than
Frank Gehry's. I thank God for both those guys. They keep me making art
against all odds.
Thanks for the great insights! The students will enjoy the compare:contrast
we'll have Monday! (Hope they will enjoy opening our cone 6 too!)
Indebted for your time and knowledge,
diane mead
art department
mt. de sales academy
Picasso was especially
>lucky in that he rediscovered honest self-expression. People who cannot
>see
>that are really missing out.
>That's enough. Best wishes -
>- Vince
>
>Vince Pitelka
>Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
>615/597-5376
>Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
>615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
>Appalachian Center for Crafts
>Tennessee Technological University
>1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
>http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
>
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