Artists - Holding A Mirror To Life, Since Lascaux!

I think i've told you before that my degree is in Art History, rather than the practical aspects of art.

I was never a 'perfect' student though, indulging a bit too much on the more enjoyable parts of student life, but now, with time to look back and reflect, I realise how much information my professor's did manage to drill into my head.

From ancient greek art to the arts and craft movement, from the Tsang dynasty to the New Deal in the USA, it's all in there, rattling around my noggin.

I think though, the most important lesson i took away from those years is that artists are 'the' chroniclers of life. Since they first started painting on the caves of Lascaux, artists have been recording their own take on current events.

Obviously diarists, and nowadays reporters and 'some' journalists can tell you in writing about what it's like to 'be' in a war torn country. Again photographers can show you 'factually' what a destroyed building looks like, and focus your gaze on the raw emotion upon the faces of the dispossessed. The artist, however, presents you with an image and invites you to decipher it, to become part of the process itself. To stand in front of the piece and share your own thoughts and experiences with it.

I'll explore further the role of artist as chronicler in upcoming blog posts.

I'll leave you tonight with this wee sketch below. Have a look, have a think, and see what it means to you.

Title - "Why are they all coming here?" (brodyquixote2016)

Speak soon, 

​Davy