Amy Arbus fine photographer

[Jon Ford]

Dave-- I saw Ofili's work at theTate gallery in London last summer. His 
large canvases have great energy and color. I don't care whether he uses 
elephant dung, acrylic paint,  or dirt to make his works  with-- he is a  
very talented artist. The materials didn't seem "smeared" on the canvas, 
either--they were applied  in a way that was integrated with the overall 
image and composition of the whole work.

Jon


>From: dmcqklaatu@netscape.net
>Reply-To: austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net
>To: austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net
>Subject: Re: Amy Arbus fine photographer
>Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 07:34:25 -0400
>
>
>Wait a minute.  "...elephant dung smeared on paintings..."  
Maybe you should take the time to actually look at Chris Ofili's work.  
Well, why don't we give him the Mapplethorpe treatment, and be done with 
him?  He is a Brit of West African heritage.  Elephants and their dung have 
a deep meaning to those folks, especially since the elephants are endangered 
to the point of extinction.  As are they, subsumed by a culture they are 
part of and made extinct by.  Why not take a look at the work itself and 
think about it in a meaningful, contextual way, instead of blowing it off in 
FoxNewsNewYorkPost fashion?
>
>
>
>Stephanie Chernikowski <stephaniecher@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: globe@zipcon.net
> >Sent: Jun 26, 2004 6:48 PM
> >To: austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net, Jon Ford 
<jonmfordster@hotmail.com>
> >Subject: Re: Amy Arbus fine second-rate photographer
> >
> >is Diane Arbus considered a great photographer because of
> >her skill or because she chose to photograph freaks?  If the latter 
then does
> >tht mean greatness is freaky and unpleasant?  In some other age 
beauty and
> >symnetry were considerd great but now is considered mediocre.
> >
> >
> >don't get me wrong, i am a fan of diane arbus. that being said, i 
think what you say is often true. there is a real tendency to go for 
scandalous in the arts. if you can create a scandal, you get recognition, 
hence elephant dung smeared on paintings. much is just lethally boring, 
badly executed, infantile.
> >
> >both mapplethorpe and arbus were groundbreaking in their choice of 
subjects as well as highly skilled artists w/a vision. love them for their 
courage, as i love michael moore for his. avedon and penn focused on beauty, 
as did mapplethorpe, but they transcend pretty. people who imitate 
mapplethorpe by taking pictures of flowers all too often just embarass 
themselves by comparison.
> >
> >big is another ticket to being called "art." just cuz a 
photo is huge does not mean it is good, but it is frequently a ticket to 
being taken seriously.
> >
> >
>
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