Will the Robots not just be our masters, but eventually our "Old Masters" as well?

Portrait of Edmond Belamy, 2018, created by GAN (Generative Adversarial Network), sold by Christie’s for $432,500. Image © Obvious (via ArtfixDaily.com)

We have always heard comments about modern and contemporary art (usually abstract) along the lines of "my kid could do that", and we have seen paintings by elephants and monkeys. Now the computer has entered the picture, and a huge price was obtained for a painting generated via computer artificial intelligence.

In this article, "Is artificial intelligence set to become art’s next medium?" a work created by computer algorithm sold for 432,500.

There are many aspects of life and work where computers and robotics are not only helpful, but can actually do a better job than humans. Will this means of producing art be one of them? While the visual appeal and technical qualities are undeniable, there is one significant difference as far as I am concerned.

A 2015 paper :Quantifying Creativity in Art Networks by Ahmed Elgammalyand Babak Salehz from the Art and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Rutgers discussed whether artificial intelligence could evaluate the creativity of artworks. Their conclusion, in short, was yes, it could. I wonder if they have plans to now study the computer generated art for creativity. We could now have computers both creating and critiquing works of art!

Over time, our relationship to art changes, as do fashions and trends in art. But I think there is one constant we can rely on (at least for now, I hope):

While computers can "create" art, unlike humans, they don't have a need to create art.

Banksy Artwork Self Destructs

You have probably seen the news about the Banksy artwork that "self-destructed" immediately after it sold for over one million dollars at auction (If you haven't, you can read more here).

Image via Casterline Goodman Gallery / Instagram 

 

If you are not familiar with Banksy, he is an artist known for his art on walls, which often incorporates images or features of the surface to make political, satirical, or sometimes simply interesting commentary.

He chooses to remain anonymous (although this seems to be more difficult as time passes, and various outlets believe they have outed him).

Is it art? Theater? A publicity stunt? My opinion: A combination of the three.

The auction gallery claims they did not know about this in advance (a rather dubious claim), and now the discussion is whether the art's value has been harmed or escalated as the result of this shredding.

Thoughts? Is this a serious commentary on art and commerce, or simply more fodder for the "contemporary art is a bunch of idiots" crowd?

Georgia O'Keeffe - a Pioneer Artist and Brand Manager

Georgia O'Keeffe: Art, Image, Style  is an exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum this winter showing two aspects of Georgia O'Keeffe - her art, and her wardrobe.

Tony Vaccaro, Georgia O’Keeffe with “Pelvis Series, Red with Yellow”
and the desert, 1960. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
Courtesy of Tony Vaccaro studio

I had reservations about this exhibit before I went to see it - it seemed like a tenuous connection and would be like snooping through her closets just out of curiosity. But the clothing was another extension of her personality and her artistic sensibility.

More importantly, it demonstrated how she would still fit in with today's world - it was part of her personal branding. She not only kept a consistent image, in keeping with her theories of art, but she would make sure that published images of her would always have the same visual impression. Think of Steve Jobs and how he always wore impeccably tailored black shirts in keeping with the design philosophy of Apple products.

According to Curator Austen Barron Bailly: "Every aspect of her life was consciously, aesthetically driven — from the clothes she wore, to the way she addressed a letter, to the objects she placed on her mantle, and, of course, to the compositions of her paintings"

If you get a chance, see this exhibit, and gain a new appreciation for the woman and her art. On view through April 1 at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem (www.pem.org) https://www.pem.org/

Your instructor doesn't have quite the style sense O'Keeffe had.

Where have you heard this artist's name before?

I happened to come across these two paintings listed in a Skinner's  auction catalog. The paintings, while pleasant and competent, might not seem that striking. The name of the artist, Edward Darley Boit, may not immediately ring a bell with most people.

Lot 1016: Edward Darley Boit (American, 1842-1916) Hillside Landscape

Lot 1362: Edward Darley Boit (American, 1840-1915) Villa, San Remo 

What makes them of interest is the connection the artist has to a very well known painting, possibly the most famous painting in Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Yes, those are his daughters in the famous Sargent painting.

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit (1882)
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925)

In Praise of the Small Museum

Rose Art Museum

There is a tendency sometimes, maybe often, to overlook things in our own back yard, Even though only 30 miles away, this past weekend I finally visited the Rose Art Museum on the campus of Brandeis University in Waltham.

Sometimes museums are grand and overpowering, sometimes quirky. The Rose is small, and the architecture crisp and timeless. The setting on a wooded hillside makes it look like a white and glass box floating on the ground,. Once inside, it is easy to fantasize that you are not in a museum, but in the house of a sophisticated art collector.

Current exhibits include

http://www.brandeis.edu/rose/exhibitions/2017/bodytalk.html

This exhibit, with works drawn from the museum's collection, has the human body as its theme.

Immortal City by Kevork Mourad

Immortal City is an exhibition of new paintings by acclaimed Syrian-Armenian artist Kevork Mourad (b. Syria, 1970). The prominent work is a black and white, three dimensional drawing/painting resembling a stage set. The images evoke the cultural loss and destruction due to the war in Syria. http://www.brandeis.edu/rose/exhibitions/2017/immortal-city.html

You can see more about the Rose and its exhibit schedule at:

http://www.brandeis.edu/rose/index.html

Reusable Universes: Shih Chieh Huang Worcester Art Museum

Is this Contemporary Art of the future ? ?  Worth viewing the exhibit to appreciate the possibilities of recycling . 

June 24 - November 12, 2017
Contemporary Gallery

Reusable Universes: Shih Chieh Huang features the work of Shih Chieh Huang, who combines his longstanding fascination with technology and the materials of modern life to transform mundane manufactured objects into novel and remarkably complex sculptural forms. Huang elevates circuit building, transistor rewiring, and other hardware operations into an art that connects not only with our senses but our sense of humanity between today's virtual and analog existence.

 For more information go to :

http://www.worcesterart.org/exhibitions/reusable-universes-shih-chieh-huang/

Sprinkler Factory Sculpture Garden

This winter there is an exhibit at the Sprinkler Factory in Worcester, where they have turned their large gallery space into an "Indoor Sculpture Garden" featuring sculptures and large-scale paintings.

Those of you in the Contemporary Art class (and those of you in Art Appreciation who have skipped ahead to the chapters on contemporary art) may find this interesting. As I looked at the works in the gallery, there were a number of them where I could see which artists may have influenced them - Keith Haring, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenerg, among others.

If you have a chance, the exhibit is on through February 25. http://www.sprinklerfactory.com/ for more information.