Personally, I consider anything made with
premeditated intension as art. So what? Is a
carpenter that makes kitchen cupboards an
artist or just a professional craftsmen?
Could he be both?
The new American liberationists
contrivances have a deeper identification
with commercial art than the plagiarism or
adaptation of itsimages. They share the
impersonality of advertising- agency
art-department productions. They are
entirely cerebral and mechanical; the hand
of the artist has no part in the evolution
of the work but is the mere executer of the
idea-man's command,though in this case the
artist himself is usually the idea-man
(sometimes the idea for work comes from
friends or sponsors). Nor is the self of
the artist involved in the proses of
creation.
Harold Rosenberg, “The
Anxious Object
")
, 1965, p. 75
The Pinup Halo
Art used to be
contemplated in terms of meaning and having a
“Halo” (Walter Benjamin, “
The
Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction").
Then digital print came and screwed it
all up. At this age of digital art, “the
original copy” is meaningless, because
it doesn't exist per say, and any print
copy you will make isn't perceived as
“the original”.
Historically, when looking at the pinup, we
find it (in it's fully formed glory) at
around World War II. It is considered
pop-culture smut, only worthy of wiping a
Marine's... well, you know where I'm going
with this
But by Benjamin's own
terms, these paintings were full fledged
art, drawn with oils on canvas and
distributed to the masses by print.
There are rare originals being collected
for
hundreds and thousands of dollars. In our
capitalistic world, money talks, and paying a
few hundred dollars for an oil painting, just
because it is the original, made by the hand
of the artist himself, constitutes a “Halo”,
in my book.
Do Art and Money Mix?
Is the
commercial artist less of an artist because
s/he draws commissioned works for the purpose
of promoting a product, like Rosenberg
suggests? History is filled to the brim with
patroned artists, who received commission for
they're work. The Renaissance would not have
been, without
rich, corrupt
Italian patrons. Today, art is still
being commissioned, albeit, usually,
it's done through ad agencies. But is it
less than art because it's done for
money? Or maybe a more burning question
is: Does the end justify the means?
Well, everybody's gotta' make a living and
although politics can't be ignored, not every
artist can afford to pick and choose their
brands, according to their own, personal
ethics. I wonder, though, how many times did
Michaelangelo sculpture a statue, he thought
was shit, just because he needed the cash.
Pinups- The Trash Art
With the growth of
the internet and broadening of its
niches, art has become infinitely
varied. Every one has their own taste.
This is the worst and best of times for
underground art. Pinups, are forever
stuck between niches, too sexual to be a
Renaissance goddess and too sweet to be
a Playboy Playmate. Their appeal will
forever be star-crossed, between that
underground girlie magazine art and
perfected fine craftsmanship of their
artist.
If you love it and you're not sure why- It's
art!
Tags: pinup art, pop-culture, original oil on canvas
pinup, underground art, World War II, WWII
