June 18, 2021 Weekly Musings

Christine Alfery

Posted on June 18 2021

June 18, 2021 Weekly Musings

Featured image: Two Pears

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Can This Possibly Be A Shift In How We Can Think About Art?

Posted June 14, 2021

Why do we have art museums and galleries? Do we have them to market our work, or do we have them to critique our work? Or are they merely historical institutions that record visual histories?

My answer is that art institutions are for recording visual histories and art galleries are for marketing. I think there is a great deal of value in recording visual histories, but the problem occurs when the institutions are governed by ideologies that manage the trends in art. Christie's auction house is an excellent example.
Where is the freedom? If art is controlled by markets and popular demands, and historical institutions are controlled/governed by ideologies, where is the freedom? Perhaps, it is in choice.

Recently I read an article by Maximilana Duron in the Artnews June/July 2021 publication titled “Artists In Charge.” There is a town in Guadalajara, according to this article, where the art scene is not controlled by institutions, collectors or curators but by artists. The balance of art, artists, and institutions is completely different.

Maximilana states that the openness allows artists to make mistakes. Artists can try something crazy, and it is not going to be crazy expensive so there is more room to discover, and experiment. Maximilana goes on to state that the atmosphere is more cooperative in Guadalajara than say, New York City.
My critical read of this article comes in this last statement. “There is more cooperative nature in Guadalajara than in New York City.“ This statement assumes an accepted way of thinking about creating and about the concept of art. It reflects a slight shift in tone in how we can change our current thoughts about art, from institutional control to individual control and experimentation and exploration.

 

Where Does Knowledge Come From

Posted June 15, 2021

Featured image: Reaching For the Stars II

Why do some individuals seek knowledge? Is it for power? Is it important for knowledge to be objective and based on reality? For me, I answer to this last question is yes, yes, yes. But, I also recognize that objective knowledge today is hard to come by just like freedom and independence is getting harder and harder to come by. Objective knowledge, I believe is based on experience, perceptions, sensations and free choice.

All my life has been about individuals, rugged individuals, individuals who are not afraid to step outside the box and to color outside the lines. Some of the stars of my rugged individualist series: objective reasoning, free choice, experience, perceptions, sensations and honesty. All of these are l concepts that help inform concepts and our knowledge.

The stars, the rugged individualists are sadly losing the light that allows them to shine and glow ever more brightly.

How? With inaccurate information from those who have been charged to see, to inform, to invent, to create.

Rugged individualist are those whose values include independence, freedom, happiness and realize that they are the only ones who are able to create these values for themselves. Why? Because they are unique, and they uniquely recognize their individual needs.

Right now, there is a struggle to maintain their uniqueness. There is a struggle for all of us to maintain our uniqueness, our one of a kindness, or authority over our hearts, minds, spirits and souls.

This series: Rugged Individualism, is about those individuals who stand out in a crowd, whose light still shines. We are drawn to them, not because we wish to surrender to them, but because we wish to understand what makes them shine. We want to understand because we want our star to shine, uniquely all on its own like theirs.

Knowledge thinking, what it means to create. Our knowledge is not arbitrary. It is based on our histories, the histories that came before us, and the concepts we create from our sensations, experience, and perceptions. Our knowledge is not created from force, nor from mystical illusions that are subjective and not objective. Our knowledge is created from realities that make our lives better, and make future generations grow and be unique.

The series: Rugged Individualism, is all about unique individuals whose stars still shine.

 

 

Mom's Yellow Iris

Posted June 16, 2021

Featured image: Mom's Yellow Iris

I just love it when the irises begin to bloom. They are such a “sexy” flower. So exotic! This year I have such a wonderful line of purple “Russian Irises” that are right in the front of my garden. Last year I planted some larger bulbs of lavender ones in the back. What a wonderful, wonderful memory when my mom’s irises bloom!


I love the story behind my mom’s yellow irises. I was in charge of caring for my parents as they became unable to care for themselves. One of my responsibilities was to sell my folk’s house. As I drove away from the house for the last time, I noticed one of mom’s irises blooming. I stopped and dug it up with my hands and took it home and planted it. I can remember these irises from the very first red house I ever lived in, and every time we moved, mom moved them with us. It just seemed the right thing to do to continue the tradition. Every year they bloom and every year I recall the memories attached to mom’s yellow iris.

 

How Do We Know?

Posted June 17, 2021

 

Featured image: Two Vases of Flowers

Experience, sensations, perceptions.


How do we know who we are? What kind of questions do we ask ourselves about who we think we are? Do we ask, or ever say, "Where in the world did that come?" I do. And folks frequently ask me, "Where you get your ideas from?"
I have created a limited edition, edition of 12, signed book for the first pieces in my current series “Rugged Individualism.” In this series I am painting individuals who have asked themselves, "Who am I, and what do I stand for?" These individuals know who they are and are not afraid to be unique individuals, one-of-a-kinds, like art work.


I also try to answer the questions: How do we know what we know? As artists, how do we know whether our ideas and concepts are in the work that we've just created?

 

 

New Works:


Absolutely Delicious









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