David Cunningham
David Cunningham

Art is a Lie

We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies. ~Pablo Picasso

Welcome all liars and lovers of lies. Picasso for all his faults, goes to the essence of what we all do as artists. We create illusion to reveal some truth that has been revealed to us. For me, I find beauty in things all around me, often things that are overlooked. There is something special in those color combinations between those two stones or the way that light dances across a face. My students tease me as I like to go on about the purple often found on the shadowy side of tree trunks. It mixes so amazingly with a deep orange.   The colors pulse and alternate their visual dominance.  It is like dancing.

Gustav Klimt’s Beech Forrest paintings remind me of this experience

The forest itself flickers in and out of existence. It moves and doesn’t move. The painting itself is dabs of paint on a canvas, yet it moves and is alive, I can almost smell the place and feel the wind. What a beautiful lie.

1 Comment

  1. webadmin - 8 years ago

    Just reading this takes me to a place of absolute awe and relishment in the fact that you are mine. What an honor it is to know you.