Pajamas Media

5 Comments

typo- corrected version:
Warhol is a third rate Art Director and first rate Marketing Man. In my opinion Warhol’s work is nothing more than Kitsch writ large.

I read Mr. Kimball’s The Rape of the Masters and found it clarifying and intellectually honest, a rare trait in today’s art world. As far as philosophy goes, one of the purposes of philosophy is to untangle antinomies and the errors of reason. An artist, especially Andy Warhol is in actuality anti-philosophical. IMO.

Professor Kimball’s assessment quite rightly places Warhol’s art as belonging in the attic or maybe the dumpster. That is; if the question is; whom am I going to believe, the vested art establishment or my lying eyes?

Go ahead ask me.

In response to the above post:

There is no “Black cause” unless you regard reparations as a “cause” and like Warhol, another famous huckster: Al Sharpton, would gladly impose on the “God Damn America”, i.e. a tax on the sins of their great-great grand fathers. By the way, many white men, died in a war that actually ended slavery.

Besides I’ve never bought into the race bating angle anyway, there is only one race; The Human Race. Many brilliant “Black” conservatives likely would disagree with your conclusion that the American dream consists of commercialism. The essence of Capitalism belongs in the realm of economics, not art.

To Warhol’s credit he did reflect perfectly his self-image err, maybe reflect is the wrong term; that of a cultural vampire, not only in the irresponsible and inhumane indifference he accepted in the weakness of those who tripped on by his studio but also the indifference to all but the most facile images he once peddled.

Real art reveals universal truth, (notwithstanding the solipsism most artists envelope in the expression of their art.)

Yes we all can appreciate the wonders of enterprise found at hand, whether a tomato can or a movie poster of a blonde but art world ought to celebrate and cultivate the highest aspirations of the American spirit, a spirit the world may once again envy one day.

check the movie for the answer…
Cradle Will Rock
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150216/

spoiler : our masters finance insignificant art because it is much easier to lead an analphabete nation than a well informed one

Modern art is nihilistic garbage that bespeaks a malevolent sense of life.

Mr Wahlen: I know I don’t master the English tongue but my reasoning is still very good – my eyes can truly See. I can also paint very well. Anyway it just happens that AT has just issued a great article on this very topic called “Who is an Uncle Tom?”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/post_11.html.

Now please ignore me. You are too arrogant to be called a friend. More a moralist than a true thinker. With all your posture and self-aggrandizement, you have been able to prove nothing. Just reveal your own personal bias. Your own type of ‘hucksterism’.

ART goes deeper and much higher than one’s own little self. I believe The conservative movement is so much better than this. Otherwise I would have to go where I don’t belong and call myself a liberal… Maybe you should change party instead.

The only ‘good news’ is that there are plenty of Warhol-haters already on the Left!

The funniest part is that most left-leaning art critics can still not formulate very well his work. Is it a celebration of America and capitalism or is it exactly the opposite? Believing Warhol was mocking everyone and everything, they consequently must assume that he was the biggest hypocrite of all. Which is already the norm amongst all the successful democrats anyway. Politicians and Hollywood celebrities mainly; no Artists.

So you see he is still misunderstood even by his critics. Like The America they love and hate at the same time because they don’t have a clear vision of what’s good and what’s bad. Just nice sentences, big sermons and strong ideological beliefs. Unfortunately mostly shallow.

For the few who possess a pure heart, they will accept the truth when they will receive it, the others will stay the same pompous hypocrites they already are (whether lefties or righties).

Last irony, Warhol felt no guilt because he always played the game straight!! Like a real Artist and a true Master. Like a Man.