Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Art For Art’s Sake

As 10cc once sang: Art for Art’s sake, money for God’s sake…
 
Alistair mentions, amongst other things, the retrospective of Derek Jarman’s art, and is touched by the passion of the amateur/auteur. I agree, even though I have not seen the retrospective, but simply carry the ever-present memories of Jarman’s art in my head.
 
Alistair also points to the the foul review by Waldemar Januszczak of Jarman’s retrospective:
As my 13-year-old daughter muttered harshly as she fled a show that offered her absolutely nothing in the way of shared experiences: “Okay, you’re gay. Now move on.”
That Januszczak boldly uses this as an excuse for his own shortcomings to understand Jarman is bad enough, but as Alistair perceptively states, it says more about Waldemar Januszczak’s parenting than his daughter’s aesthetic taste.

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2 responses to “Art For Art’s Sake”

  1. Brian Avatar
    Brian

    His comments were unfair.  Anne Frank was a 13-year-old whose simple schoolgirl’s journal had great artistic validity.  Maybe this 13-year-old was a bit stultified, but I recall an Indian schoolboy of yet younger years making his early mark as a film director. 
     
    Out of the mouths of babes… .

    Reply
  2. Geoff Avatar
    Geoff

    …comes all manner of things. Sometimes it’s truth, but most times it’s vomit. I’m not convinced that Appleton was being unfair in this case.

    Reply

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