The Loft Blog presents The Arts District
The “failing” New York Times says that Hunter Biden and his art are newsworthy. What do Angelenos think about this? Neocon economist commentator Kudlow says that real art must be based on realism and traditional ideals of beauty, like the art created by his wife. He adds that abstract art is not legitimate art. Kudlow wants to be an art critic, but he is most certainly not qualified in any way, shape or form. Nevertheless, real art critics say that the art of alleged crackhead Hunter is most certainly legit art, and quite valuable art at that, even though Hunter is no da Vinci. Downtown L.A.’s most qualified art critic artist Brother Andy explains:
Hunter Biden, Artist, Isn’t Hurting Anyone
Editorial by Brother Andy
Who Gets To Chose What Art Is?
When one says the word “art”, one has to consider the definition through historic “rules of art”, which are filtered through artists themselves and promoted by “experts”.
First, anything can be “art”, they say. Secondly, anyone can be an “artist”. Third, “art” is based on the visceral responses of others toward an object, so, it doesn’t matter what the intention of the artist may have been in the creation (even deceased and anonymous artists), it only matters what you see and feel toward any given representation (typically based on your own learned biases, cultural prejudices, and pure bigotry, plus a bit of fear of the unknown). You decide what is art. That also includes the processes in which work is created — exploration may result in “failure” but if something is learned and enjoyed, then “bad art” also is viable as anything else manufactured or consumed. Fourth, “fake/scam art” is as viable as “fine art” because “anti-art” has the purpose of questioning and redefining the limitations of what art actually is through critical thinking — otherwise “art” is a benign spectrum of concepts. “Popular art” is often confused with being a “successful artist”, which are two different things entirely. Fifth, there is joy in the making just for the sake of itself outside of a knowable value scale. Sixth, all of life is based on “perceived value”. Seventh, making ‘art” is a psychosis from a neurotic impulse, a mental illness.
Compare and Contrast
Hunter Biden’s art work has the basic principles of fine art — much like Jackson Pollack’s. Biden’s work has a chosen color theory of using “hot” and “cool” color combinations — much like Van Gogh’s. There’s a technique, including the use of “negative space”, eye-movement, composition, depth. His style is expressionistic — a primary knowledge of basic art history would aid the viewer in understanding where he falls in the arc of non-representational deconstructionism. To be clear, his work is neither original or innovative, provocative or evocative. It’s pleasant and decorative, relaxing (no heavy-lifting intellectualism going on here), and there is no crime in that. Is he the next Picasso? No. He’s also not Banksy, playing us for a fool, despite whatever amounts as a circus surrounding him. The Biden “scam” lies in the media trying gain attention for themselves by attacking Biden as obvious click bait.
Anyone referring to Biden’s work as “left-wing garbage” is non-sense. ALL ARTWORK IS APOLITICAL (concepts are not reality in a real world)…and…ALL ARTWORK IS SUBVERSIVE (you can’t eat it, drive it, wear it, live in it — what value does it have? What is the purpose? What does it mean? The only tangible is in the materials). Any “message” implied or otherwise is imposed, since all art is a series of metaphoric representations, a coded language steeped in cultural cliches and stereotypes without deciphering instructions (even realism is not REALITY). | COMMENT
Notoriety Of The Artist?
Biden has notoriety but isn’t that overtly notable, while still being recognizable in style and technique to some degree — minimal. Branding is important for product identification and if a “name” has significance to a buyer or viewer, then fine. In creative fields, a known name will get you in the door as a curiosity but doesn’t sustain if there isn’t talent or a definable message or bankable goods/services to back it up…or potential to develop all that. Lucien Freud, as example. Time usual dictates longevity as a name is only as good as the context of its era. Most people, if stopped on the street, wouldn’t know Marcel Duchamp’s name but his influence surrounds us all everywhere on the planet through his advancements in minimalism, surrealism, found objects, Dada, Fauvism, Cubism, photography, to name a few areas.
Biden’s work is not “important” as it applies to the greater understanding of art or the human experience. He is a enthusiastic hobbyist who has the luxury to dabble with resources, time for study and reflection, and apparently free of commitments in a way most artists (or the rest of us) do not. Again, so what? Former Presidents of the US are doing EXACTLY the same thing without the degrading hoopla applied to Hunter. Is anyone suggesting Bush’s lackluster (amateurish) paintings are somehow undermining all we hold near and dear, he’s exploiting his position, and only an idiot would consider owning his work? Lighten up…Art, even “serious art”, is supposed to be fun. That’s one of the rules.
Hunter Biden’s Type
When it comes to art, size matters only in the sense of investment of time and materials and the intention of where the work is going to end up. Biden’s home-size-friendly work can easily fit into an array of decors. His work isn’t scaled for large Metropolitan museums or multi-billionaires with acres of wall space, nor is it small enough to fit in a suit case from care-free spending spree while on vacation. In his case, there is no provenance per say, other than what little you may know second-hand of his private life and the situation concerning addiction — which you don’t see in the paintings.
Biden is young, relatively speaking in terms of creatives. He may be the next Grandma Moses, a Primitive Artist, who didn’t kick into high gear until the last part of her life, whose work wasn’t exactly cutting edge, yet still found a loyal following. She was counter-programming to the Wild Sixties with her child-like renderings of the Turn of the Century. Probably not another Grandma in Hunter, although many artists have become well known by insisting and persisting, simply through massive volume…Does Biden have talent? Oh, yes. No more or less than literally thousands of college kids getting a degree in Fine Arts across the globe. He’s maybe a 5.5, with 10 being a genius.
Is a Biden work worthy of the asking price of half a million dollars? Is his work a solid investment? If you can afford it, why not? Otherwise, no. You will not sit on the stuff for a while and recoup the dollars or have a humongous pay-day — that is, unless Hunter goes crazy and kills everyone at the mall. Then, he becomes wild-card notorious and all bets are off.
Much of art is based on the celebrity of the artist, like Andy Warhol. You buy the story of the artist’s life as much as you are buying the work, the context of the artist’s biography. In my opinion, no one is going to buy Biden’s work in relationship to his father, even as a road to his father’s attention. You can buy that with traditional donations without having the burden of what to do with a unwanted painting.
Artist’s are also educators. If Biden brings attention to the struggles of addiction and presents a tool for positive change, then his work represents much of what Tony Robbins does. Even if Biden were as crass as to trade in on his famous father’s name, even if his prices are seen as obscene or unworthy, if he uses the notoriety and wealth for good, then the Biden story of over-coming adversity increases in value. Inspiration makes him one-up on Bush who sits in retirement and paints and that’s pretty much the whole story.
Why would Biden be subjected to a different standard then, say, the endless parade of addicts, perverts, and social outcasts artists have been for centuries? What bad could result from what he is doing? The worst thing that comes to mind is: people don’t buy his work and he continues his journey of self-discovery and recovery contented and at peace, with a pile of paintings no one wants. It’s not like that hasn’t happened to artists before…
Nay-saying critics have proven to be wrong more than right. As the old saying goes: there’s no such thing as bad press. Biden could easily let tongues wag, while he happily paints away, laughing all the way to the bank, which is always the best revenge. Joe Biden has nothing to be ashamed of in regards to Hunter’s art work. It’s not like Reagan’s son, the ballet dancer.
If someone gave me a Hunter Biden painting as a gift — assuming it wasn’t a gag gift — I would thank them, put it in the closet after they left, pull it out once a year while roaming around the house looking for a good spot or trying to figure out who had a birthday coming for re-gifting, and hope that after I’m dead, it brings in a bit of money in the yard sale to be donated to charity…with tax credits.
Leave Hunter Biden be. Have we not learned anything from great artists like Britney Spears?
Brother Andy is a provocative film-maker, multi-media producer, and fine artist who is currently located in Palm Springs, California. Brother Andy is the creative force behind the art movement/art methodology Intriguism and the iconic “Jesus Chimp” image. His passions include nudism, feminism, and animal rights.
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