Neo neo expressionist?

In the search for my own intrinsic artistic voice, I've noticed some consistent themes throughout my life. 

In particular, the figure and drawing the figure has been primary for me since I first began drawing. Since college, the work of Egon Schiele has been something I have constantly referred to and been drawn back to. I've studied and been enamored of many other artists, but I always goes back to Schiele.

I'd never really thought of his work in context though. It was always timeless to me and always seemed contemporary, even though most of it's a hundred years old. Though, I've taken an interest in digging deeper and it seems to be the consensus that Schiele was considered an Expressionist. Which somehow seems to be in tune with my own sensibilities.

But can I be relevant as an expressionist? A movement long since considered avante garde? Well, perhaps so given the revival during the '80s with Neo Expressionism (New Painting). This revival would seem to indicate that it is a strain of art that may continue to live. So, does that make me a neo neo expressionist? I don't think I have enough clout or a significant enough body of work for anyone to start a movement, but it seems like an interesting direction to go in. 

intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for the artist

It's been a little bit since graduation and I've been able to distance myself from what I was doing then and trying to find my own artistic direction.


With a big influence from Csikszentmihalyi, I have been trying to determine those elements of my art which are intrinsic and those that are extrinsic. I really don't think being one way or the other makes an artist successful or results in better art on it's own. Though, I believe that the approach aught to be integrated with the personality of the artist. 


On second thought, I think better art tends to come from artists who are intrinsically motivated. Monet comes to mind, in that I believe a lot of his production was motivated by the art market. He did after all, need to maintain the trappings of a bourgeois lifestyle. Though his best art in my opinion was intrinsically motivated. Like his series of late pond paintings and his light studies.


Perhaps this is because when extrinsically motivated, an artist tries to appeal to an audience who tend to not have the same taste level as the artist. Though, when intrinsically motivated, the artist must meet his / her own standards, which tend to be more refined than the general art buying public.

Kandinsky at the Guggenheim 10/07/09

What a great show. I didn't realize the range of Kandinsky's work and to be able to witness his progress on the Guggenheim's spiral was amazing. The Thannhauser Collection sort of gave a context of art that was going on around the same time, contrasting with Kandinsky's explorations into nonobjectivity. There was also a room of Kandinsky's drawings that were charming and quirky. With his paintings, it was interesting to see a progression of his color palette to the lighter, more pastel colors of later works.

However, I was totally floored by the Roni Horn and Felix Gonzalez-Torres pieces (Paired Gold) on the top floor at the end of the Kandinsky show. They, in a way, were asserting the dominance of contemporary art and illustrated how powerfully art has moved beyond the canvas. On previous floors were Memory by Anish Kapoor and Intervals (two pieces) by Kitty Kraus which I found darkly poetic, sort of mirroring the darker palletes of Kandinsky's earlier work.

Elizabeth Peyton artist talk 10/05/09

Elizabeth Peyton showed some of her work and played some tunes for us at the SVA theatre and gave a brief talk. She was a bit nervous, which she told us. She was wearing a beautiful shirt with these different animal print patterns and what looked like leather pants. Her presentation and her presence were elegant and inspiring.