What Makes Art Worth Making
I think that people who aren’t more familiar with art often value it almost entirely on how artwork can function as decoration. They often value its aesthetic appeal above its deeper meaning and purpose.
On the other side of this coin, I’ve also met artists who place very low value on pieces of art that function as primarily decorative. They want art to convey a significant message, to change the way people think, or expose something about the world. Still life paintings and flashy abstract works are often treated as if they have nothing to say, and are merely created to appeal to an audiences’ sense of sight so that they can be bought and put on a wall in someone’s living room.
More often than not, this just isn’t the case. Artwork is rarely so simple, and aesthetic quality and artistic statement often seem to contrast with one another.
For example, Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens painted “Allegory of the Outbreak of War,” to illustrate the devastation of society during times of war, but his painting at first appears rich and luxuriant in spite of the aggressive scene it portrays.
Contrasting this, the French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois is perhaps most famous for her sculpture Maman—a massive abstracted spider with a full egg sac that towers over its audience. Unsettling at first, the sculpture is actually representative of Bourgeois’ mother whom she describes as supportive and protective, and her “best friend.”
I’ve learned, as I think many artists have, that the function of artwork doesn’t have to be in the statement it makes alone. I’ve often considered this since starting my job at the Pinot’s Palette studio in Bricktown.
Our paintings are designed to be decorative and appeal to huge audiences on a solely aesthetic level. For most die-hard artists, this would be a little bit of annoyance (as we almost always place value primarily within the deeper complex meanings behind paintings.) However while a Pinot’s Palette painting is probably never going to be making a statement about the world or changing the way people think, I’ve seen our paintings encourage first-time painters to be creative and expressive. I’ve seen parents introduce their young kids to painting for the first time in our Family Day classes, and been reminded of how my mother and grandmother also exposed me to art for the first time at a very young age. I’ve talked with painters who struggle to leave their homes, but can be at peace and enjoy themselves when being guided through a painting by one of our artists. I’ve also been at our Project Pet classes, where 40+ strangers in a room together are all bonding because they all just love their pets so much. We’ve also had paintings produced, and even auctioned away to raise money for charities. And of course, I’ve taught “date night” classes where I’ve seen couples bond and become closer while working to make something together.
I’ve been graduated from art school for about two years now, and I’m always looking for new ways for art to function in a positive way in the world. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to learn that there’s so much more to my job at Pinot’s Palette than simply making paintings for living room walls—which is still pretty cool in and of itself if I'm honest, because after all, I’ve gotten to a point where I realize that more or less all art is, in fact, worth being made.