Bring On the Commercial Art

I went to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA over the weekend. There’s a good description of the museum at Rockin' Norman Rockwell. In addition to the regular NR collection was a temporary exhibit of New Yorker covers, the New Yorker being the ONLY remaining magazine that dedicates its entire cover to original art. It was a powerful exhibit, with pictures running the spectrum from Gary Larson cartoons to meaningful reactions to the aftermath of 9/11. Amazingly, these are all artists who are making a living (for themselves, not their estate) as artists. I live in an “art” community. It consists of a group of individuals who create art for themselves, but then bemoan the fact that they are misunderstood, broke. It isn’t hard to look at a painting and understand when it is too shocking or too dark for people to grasp. It is necessary to shake the public up gently, let them be uncomfortable with a visual idea over time, not get right in their face; of COURSE people don’t like that. There are so many artists who don’t get that, but the ones on the walls of the museum DO understand. My local artists would call it “selling out”, but instead, they are selling nothing. If they didn’t care, it would be one thing. But they do.