Indispensable subject

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Interest in the artist—as subject—either as a celebrity or object of pity, increasingly pushed the subject matter of art into the background. The subject--in art--was finally felt to be dispensable. Later, subject matter was re-admitted to art, both by artists, and by critical observers. Nonetheless, in the meantime, something had changed -and permanently.

Paintings "had" a subject before the painting itself began to be construed as subject. This is now so obvious as to be banal -perhaps why it was overlooked, before. Before absolute abstraction, a painting without a subject would not have been considered a painting. 

This seems an almost trivial distinction until you realize that with the return of subject, the painting was as yet itself a subject, a subject-within-a-subject. Subject in art, now, is taken for granted—hardly noticed—present or absent. We are now so accustomed to looking at art as a thing-in-itself, that it is possible to discourse at length about a painting which has a subject -without reference to the subject.

Non-objective subjectivity is a paradigm shift that favors the artist. An artist can be an incompetent painter of apples, paint apples anyway, and the result nonetheless qualifies as a painting (however badly it is painted). Of course there are other criteria, but everything is incidental now, is it not? It is, above all, the eternal idea which is real.

Subject in art is optional and, if it has a subject, the subject is incidental. In effect, this expands the range of subjects to infinity or, to put it another way, no subject is excluded. The range of possible subjects is breathtaking! Artists are free—and should feel free—to paint anything—or nothing—felt by the artist as worthy of attention

These are my grounds for making bums the subject of art. With so many euphemisms for "bum" to choose from, I pick the most pejorative term (for rhetorical effect) for the homeless that I know, to contrast the importance of painting against the humble subject depicted. It works for me. Compared to their pitiful state, even an average painter (such as I), looks talented.


The graphic art of Brian Higgins can be viewed at: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/8-brian-higgins
 One-of-a-kind works of art can be viewed at: https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/1840403

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