I ran into some people I knew from school the other day. We were talking about art, classes and trying new approaches, subject matters, styles etc. One of them was trying to share her wisdom about art. She said, just like when you are deciding on a careeer, it’s important to try different things but then you decided on one thing and focus on that for the rest of your life. She says once you find your thing, you do that add nauseum so that you get better and you get known for that one style. I said “I don’t think Richter thinks that” and she said “yeah but you can always tell a Richter.” “No”, I said, “his styles are vastly different. The paint smear paintings don’t look at all like his photorealistic work.” She shrugged.
For the rest of the day I kept thinking how completely and whole heartedly I disagreed with her. Yes, deep exploration of a subject is incredibly important, but to deny yourself experiences is just nuts. You are only on this planet for one go. Every experience you have feeds the other parts of your life, work, etc. To choose only one path and put blinders on is just nuts. I don’t understand artists who aren’t intersted in Art History. I don’t understand artists who paint and never bother learning to draw, or artists who don’t have interests outside of painting. I see so many students taking the same classes over and over. They don’t even bother with the assignments. It’s just social hour for them and they paint the same things over and over. They don’t want critiques and they don’t want to try new things. How can you just paint one thing, think about one thing. Life is so abundant. I want to learn about everything. The artists I most admire are the ones that aren’t afraid to try new things. I think if you look at the careers of your favorite artists, you’ll find that sure, they are mostly known for one or two styles, but if you look at the entire body of their work, you’ll find lots of variations and lots of influences intersecting and bleeding together. It’s what separates artists from hobbyists. Art is life. Life is art.
And another thing. Why do you have to have the same career your whole life? Don’t you want to try new things? I am all for modifying and adpapting. The road of life in winding and varied, that’s what makes it so much fun.