Youth in Arcadia

Someone give him a paintbrush, he's brilliant, I can tell!

I've recently encountered an interesting article entitled "Why the Current Art World Youth Obsession is Completely Asinine". Though, being under thirty, I am included in this juvenile jumble, I must admit that I agree.

The issue with most young artists is that, under the guise of being "avant garde" they repeat the same thing that all of the other "avant garde" artists are doing. Further, most completely dismiss history and are doomed to repeat everything that has come before. Yet because they are not aware of it, they not only do not learn from the previous incarnation, they produce a terribly banal echo of what was once gloriously mediocre.

"All you need is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure."

I think Mark Twain had it right on the money.

"Originality is nothing more than remembering everything you've heard, but forgetting where you heard it."

Ironically, I can't remember who said this. It must have been me!

You, if you are under 30 like myself, are probably thinking "yeah that's true, but I'm not like them." Perhaps you're not, but I recognize that I am. Hopefully to a lesser degree, as I actually study art history and contemporary art. I am somewhat aware of what has happened before and what is occurring now. If I echo what has come before, at least I do it with beauty, with intelligence, with a new contextuality. But of course, that's perhaps what we all say.

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