Is It Good Art?

prints by kenT youngstrom available at www.jossandmain.com

I went through a bit of an internal struggle about whether or not to write this post.  I am doing it against my better judgement.  The fact is, that for all of my talk about culture and art not being elitist, and ideally being an integral part of everyone’s lives and surroundings, when it comes to discreet works of Art — paintings that are meant to be hung on a wall, sculpture  – I still believe there is such a thing as Art with a capital “A”.  I organize people in a way that I see as realistic, but is probably in fact more elitist than I’ll ever quite feel comfortable admitting to, based on an inherent belief in talent.  Some people are simply better at some things than others, and all the effort and training and education in the world isn’t going to change that.  I constantly struggle with the ideology which seems to be pervasive at my kids’ school which suggests that, given equal opportunity, everyone is capable achieving the same success as everyone else in everything.  Some people are just better at math than others.  Those others may be better at sports or at writing.  Certainly education and opportunity can shape the degree to which individuals are or are not able to realize these talents.  But I do believe the talents are primary.

The internet has made a mess of that method of social organization, and it will be interesting to see how it all falls out at the end of the day.  Everyone is an author, everyone writes the encyclopedia, everyone is an authority, anyone can make a movie.  All doors are wide open.  There is some merit to that.  Some talented kid with few resources, who otherwise would not have had the connections necessary to become a director in Hollywood, can now make and promote a movie.  That’s great.  I’d even go so far as to say it’s potentially revolutionary.  But there are still good movies and crappy movies, and some people who are better at making good ones than other people.  Likewise, there are talented artists, and there are people who should really find something different to do with their time.  This has to do with the quality and nature of the work, and therefore still holds independent of the context in which the work can be found.  So it is disturbing to me that I still have a lot of trouble letting go of the notion that “Art” is found in galleries and museums, and not for sale at Crate and Barrel.  There is a, if not underground then at least street level, art world that is very powerful and which I do not want to overlook.  There are incredibly gifted graffiti artists, and I find their work to be a positive and vital addition to the urban landscape and not a defacement of property.  Lately comic book artists and graphic novelists have been gaining attention as well.  But the exceedingly commercial nature of “Art” being found for sale in multiples at home goods stores, in catalogs or on the internet, rubs me the wrong way.  Period.

So I find myself in a quandry when, surfing the internet in search of good flash sales, I came across the work of kenT youngstrom (that seems to be his preferred typographical presentation of his name) on Joss & Main.  I’m actually not sure it’s bad (the work that is).  As much as I might love flash sale websites, Joss & Main seems like the wrong place to be buying art.  And I don’t think kenT is some brilliant artist whose work will someday sell for tens of thousands of dollars and be found in museums.  But it’s kinda sorta not bad (I apologize for the insult – I know I’m sounding like a terrible snob here, but it really can’t be avoided).  For someone who is not an art collector, and who has limited funds, but who is looking to decorate his home or apartment in a tasteful and pleasing manner and wants an interesting painting to put on the wall that adds a dimension of character to the room, kenT just might be the guy.  I actually like a lot of the pieces.  They’re not “great” or earth shattering, but I like them.  Suddenly I have to revisit all of my assumptions.

In addition to being available on Joss & Main at the moment, kenT sells his work through his Facebook page, and his website announces that it will be available on cb2.com next spring.  The Facebook page I get — struggling artists need to try any means available to them to gain exposure.  But cb2?  Joss & Main?  It’s like being hit over the head by a baseball bat.  ”This work is, at its core, absolutely commercial,” it says.  And I don’t want the commercial nature of the production of “Art” thrust in my face.  I love and embrace the commercial artistic production, the production of utilitarian objects with artistic value, all around us.  But I still want that darn painting to be above it all.  I am trying to let go of that.  There is definitely a place for on the commercial landscape for kenT’s painting — for art that sells in multiples (that part still gets me) for $142.95 (which is really nothing for a painting) — and there should be.  Customers should feel comfortable buying it and basking in the pleasure that comes from purchasing and hanging an interesting work of art, knowing that when their friends come over they will not in fact say (to themselves), “Look at that crappy painting that Joe bought and actually had the guts to hang up,” but will more likely say (out loud – and with sincerity), “Hey, cool painting.  Where’d you get that?”  At the end of the day it does make me a snob and a hypocrite at that – not especially who I want to be – that I still couldn’t bring myself to buy art on Joss & Main or cb2.com  … and then there’s the print part.  You’re supposed to be able to see the texture of the paint on the canvas, right?

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