Patch pano: No Photography at the Met's Francis Bacon show.
via flickr.com
A while back, I realized that my painter heros, painters whose work guided and encouraged me, could be thought of as a Saint Francis Trinity: Francis Bacon; Sam Francis; The San Francisco School (Bay Area Figurative) - Park, Diebenkorn, Bischoff.
Sam Francis because he knew how to leave paint alone. Francis Bacon, because he knew how to mess it up. San Francisco School because they know what a painting is.
So here I am, painting with photo data, thinking of my inspiration and my guides, at Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective of work by one of my three legs. A guard came up to me as I framed a shot, "No photography!"
I took the shot, wishing I could take a shot of her, a nice, handsome, middle-aged lady with straight, shoulder length, blond-gray hair and thin, straight lips. A stupid concept, banning photography at a visual art event.
I don't argue, much, it's not the guard's policy. It's endemic to all media presenters. The notion that wide-spread photo echos, ghosts of the real work, can devalue the original art.
She tells me I can get postcards and posters, books and video of the work in the gift shop. "They're much better, trust me."
No. I don't. She doesn't know that I view artshows thru the shots I take and the compositions I make from them. That I am enjoying the exhibition, savoring it, by bringing small parts of it into my art. Like sketching from the masters, I'm learning and extending the traditions, honoring the achievements of those artists who came before.
Of the 60 or so people who see this composition here on Flicrk in the first day, at least 20 will be encountering Francis Bacon's images for the first time. 10 of them will be intrigued and seek out his work. Over the first year, 1000+ viewers will see this compo, 166.666 of them will become new fans of his work, they'll tell their friends. The owners of Bacon's paintings and the Museum are advantaged by my photography at this "No Photography" event.
They don't have to thank me, I'm glad to do it. But, they need to get their heads out of each other's asses and realise that, these days, photographing is how we see. Sharing shots of sights is how the culture knows there are sights to be seen.
They need to think about it for a minute and stop putting up "No Photography" signs at visual art shows. They are as useless and counter-productive as "No Tweeting" signs at a blogger convention.
Filed under //
art
Francis Bacon
Gallery
Metropolitan Museum of Art
museum
New York
NY
nyc
photography
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