pⅦ~Ⅷ <INTRODUCTION>
Art is for anyone. I know this viscerally, as a would-be aratist who burned out.I wrote about that recently, and ever since, I've been beset by questions. every lecture I give, every gallery I visit, people ask me for advice. what most of them are really asking is“How can I be an artist?”
In a time when it seems like there are so many more artists, museums, and galleries than ever; when art seems constantly in the news; when platforms like Instagram are coditioning us all to think visually, to find the awsthitic stimuli our everyday lives-to allow“the little things[to]suddenly thrill you,”in Andy Warhols words-questions about creativity are in the air. But how do you get from wondering and worrying to making real art, even great art?
Can I really be an artist if i didn't go to school? if I work full time? if I'm a parent? if I'm terrified? of couse you can. there's no single road to glory. Èveryone takes a different path.
Yet over the years I've found myself returning to a handful of core ideas again. Most of these ideas come from the simple act of looking at art, then looking some more, and from my own motor memories of my years as a fledgling artist. Others come from listening to artists talk about their work and their struggles. I've even lifted some from my wife.