Comments on the idea of grad school

Of Course I will go to grad school!!!I had gone to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as an undergrad and would love to go back for grad school. I haven't invested the time to look into the programs as I have been busy with other endeavors as of yet. But I will most likely go into a painting program as that is the field of study that my heart is grounded in.

Images of Jen Manning's work

MFA THESIS SHOW

Tom Raggio or better known as "put label here" as his work was posted as had two large paintings in the back of the main room. they reminded me of joan mitchell's work with very active paint splotches painted over other painted areas. with pencil and tape and drawings added into it. they had an effect on me that i can not place. but i felt the most emphatic paintings in the show belonged to him.

the small 8x10 paintings on panels by gabbe grodin reminded me of art i had seen from the museum of bad art in baltimore. thats not to say that they are bad but quite the contrary they sprung to mind the idea of how not to paint and what should not be done in painting which is exactly what i enjoy in painting as i myself had been painting for 17 years and am constantly trying to make myself in a phrase quoted by john cage "you know you've had a good teacher when you can learn how to forget to ride a bike". if you look at the end of the career of any artist they often deconstruct their painting style.

before learning zen mountains are mountains and men are men during the course of learning they get confused and after you have learned zen men are mean and mountains are mountains but a little bit elevated. that is a thought that runs through me like a river of knowledge would when it comes to a fork in the road. as yogi berra once said when you come to a fork in the road take it. and i think many of the mfa students are doing that. it seems as if though there is too much trying and not enough real art. there are 2 paintings that are beautifully painted but they call them a diptych when they are one painting just too long to be one painting. that i was in dislike about but the work was clean and boring. i do not know if the artist felt the work should be boring or if the majority of the artist in the show realize how boring their work is. should art be boring? that is a good question. is art meant to entertain. can it be both boring and entertaining. should it speak to the viewer and if so how pretentious should it be. for most entertaining art tries too hard and falls short.Eileen Behnke and Summer Baldwin are both good painters but their work doesn't say much one is pictorial and the other representational. i like these things but you can tell from the work that these are artist that need to grow and develop. didi i like the show?is that a relevant question? does it matter?art is meant to be looked at but is it meant to be enjoyed. when you start to enjoy it too much does it become office art or something that someone may want to hang over their couch?and why does this matter. these are thoughts that sprung to mind looking at the art in the exhibit and i still am working on my opinion of latoya.