Ethics and art

[Tom Edgerton]

Sorry, but I think that the notion that you can only enter pristinely unevalutated paintings that have never been seen by eyes other than the artist's, or that have never been commented on or discussed with anyone or reworked as a result of the discussion, is mystifyingly quaint.

How could a competition be set up with these guidelines, with any expectation of them being enforceable? I've juried a number of shows, and it's never occurred to me to wonder whether the works before me were produced by artists with no one looking over their shoulder. If two sets of hands touched the work, I expect to see two names on the card, but I wouldn't attempt to track down this information and verify it. It's the work I'm judging, not the artist.

The English romantic landscapist Turner would finish his paintings on site at academic competitions a couple of days before judging, so that his paintings would glow more than the others in that particular light. Okay, this was pretty scurrilous. But any expectation that the paintings be painted without anyone's feedback is cutting it impossibly fine, to my mind.

Jeez, folks, painting is hard enough, without trying to assert that the only work that is competition-worthy has to be produced in a vacuum.

Love to all--TE