Frank Stella in Working Space, 1986
I'm just so glad to have stumbled on that, had to share it.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
An irresistible sensation
" . . . there is an inviolable autonomy to art which offers its creators a sensation so irresistible, so desirable, and so exciting that it assumes the character of instinct, as if it were something guaranteed by genetic imprint. The sensation is one that the artist experiences as the first and only necessary viewer; it occurs in the unrecoverable moment when the artist looks at what he has made and sees it as alive."
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2 comments:
Hi Mary,
I just happened to stumble upon this post because I was deleting some old email on my laptop, which almost never use for email. In any case that email included a comment from you on my blog from 6 months ago and I wanted to return to your blog and take a look.
The reason I'm commenting on the Stella post in particular is that I interviewed him by phone regarding the book when it came out. I was a totally abstract painter at the time but did feel that something was missing. And Stella danced so close to embracing realism, especially when he talked about Rubens and the Renaissance masters. But he would not come right out and opt for realism. I didn't expect him to. But he seemed so tantalizingly close. And of course this was more than 20 years ago so I may be remembering it badly.
Still it seems apropos considering your recent post on your reading, especially regarding Newman and abstraction.
For myself I finally stopped reading about art, probably about the time I interviewed Stella. Art theory is so captivating and yet for me at least it is a siren song. I find that I'm much happier just ignoring it and doing my art, of whatever sort it might be.
P.S. I really like that last print.
Thanks Ken. I totally missed your comment (the kind a blogger dreams of!) -- because of accidentally turning off email notifications many months ago.
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