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Frontier Spirit

Did 19th century 'Modernist' Painting establish a 'frontier spirit ' of unregulated Art? Is it any wonder why many American purchasers of 'Post Impressionism and 'Impressionism' managed to rescue Painting and modernism from European ignorance and contempt that completely aspired to jettison 19th century modernism to the early and unlikely grave of Art? Perhaps today Painters are struggling with an ever reducing captive audience because of over centralised anti-Painting dogma? Doesn't TATT over share its attitude to linking any modernism to political and ideological extremism? Surely Painting has its own agenda in spite of TATT 's overbearing influence in the hitherto self-appointed jurisdiction of TATT?


Why? ,Firstly is there an assumption that non-representational Painting will inevitably be associated with extremism , secondly, what goes on internally and externally is not up to any 'authority that claims to de-politicise when it is 'taking sides' itself in its 'Art judgmentalism'! Lastly,, just because hypothetically that some form of Painting appears to have exhausted its genre, doesn't mean it doesn't inspire others to transcend it, especially if it shows how a Painting block is arrived at , and may actually unwittingly reveal that the 'Painting block paradigm' is short term ?!! In fact , we should all welcome how Tracy Emin's Stuckism has been transcended by her own recent Paintings ! Being 'stuck' is an advantage not a finality!


But what if Painting is also replicated by what has happened in the world of Physics, where just because it appears to have not definitively moved beyond Einstein in the 1920s etc, it remains a valuable exercise of investigation that will (like Painting) advance beyond the realm of the 20th century! Moreover, the Einstein problem has given birth to experimental Physics that proves by experimentation the laws of 20th century Physics, whilst theoretical physics anticipates the next quantum leap in that vocation! Painters have always tried to break free of the past, especially via modernism, but sometimes a plateau of persistence may not appear original, but in collision with the near or far past will sever all limitations for Art to move forward! So why do Physicists today get huge funding and government backing, whilst we prevent Painting to be even taught at degree level at most British Art colleges today????!! Indeed, perhaps we are too focused on fusion of Paint and the general globalised version of Art by homogenous practice and not enough reincarnation or rebirths by experimental Painters and theoretical ideas that some practice?!!? Now haven't we come across a Renaissance before somewhere ? In fact the formal boundaries of Painting( Abstract to the figurative) aren't just false boundaries, they are only silhouettes or shadows for us to be aware of at Halloween!!


Isn't today a beginning by a Painting to trigger an offshoot, a trajectory undiscovered? Doesn't industrialisation often lead to 'modern Art' and then post-industrialism lead to first world self-preoccupation? But what if we factor in the end of a 'Cold War too? Was the deterioration of the wider spectrum of Painting by the West in the 1970s just a deliberate self-sabotage and a shift towards Tech Art and technology in general, to exacerbate the West's advantage over a struggling USSR and the Marxist system? Didn't Art acquiesce into space and not the space between the frame of a Painting too? The space race has now been joined by India, China, the Europeans and not just Russia and the USA! Perhaps the next feature of this space race will actually include all of BRICS and not just the other global superpowers like Australia and Argentina etc If tech in Art isn't connected to science of Space, perhaps we should be not chasing tech after tech, but should begin once again to humanise the Art media which are without tech and is not expensive to pursue! I never thought the space race would actually ground us here on Earth as a contrast and a definitive entirely human process, as well as an entirely social action !!?!! From social interaction in Aboriginal Australia to a colony of Painters in the East end, old tech (low tech) meets old timeless wisdom, planted feet on terra firma in order to appreciate the vast vacuum of space until we may find something that isn't so different from our home!


But doesn't the contemporary Painter also put his/her medium under scrutiny of a microscope by internalising (too small for the eye to see), and looking out into the stars and externalising as a telescope from beyond humanity (too far to see)? Surely the heart of our world pumps Aesthetic blood around the world , energising neural energy into the web of social interaction of the past, present and future? Here lies Painting, the sequel, prequel and not just the contemporary! We do not demand respectability, we demand freedom, and if you don't teach Painting at College level you are depriving people of choice and a career that will probably end up in ignominy or global stardom, but a path that they alone have chosen! That's their risk! There is nothing invalid about proving a discovery, but there is always something always wrong when being beaten to the punch when you're blindsided! There will be people today who will never forgive their Art College for not offering Painting as an established career path, but maybe as independent Artists they can change that for the next generation !!!?!!

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