Showing posts with label Lou Gagnon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lou Gagnon. Show all posts

27 November 2010

Lou Gagnon


1. Where and how would you display your work in an ideal situation?
Rather than pursue ideal situations, I prefer to stay open to opportunities to connect with others. I have had the good fortune to see my work hanging in a wide variety of settings. including alongside my heroes, and found value in each.

2. If expository writing is good at elucidating and proving a point and
descriptive geometry gives us the tools by which to map objects in space
in relation to one another, what kind of an apparatus does art afford us?
What does art do best?
Both of the above and more. Art can engage us in shared experiences that cannot be explained or located. It is at it’s best when it resonates and moves us.

3. What can you expect from your audience/fans/viewing public? What would you
like them to know about your work?
Nothing, it’s my job to communicate.  People typically have a visceral response to my work (positive or negative) and “knowing” or “meaning” does not change that reaction.  This is important to me because it's a chance to see their honest response and it helps me evaluate how the thing is working.

4. Marcel Duchamp said - "Enough with retinal art!" What is your reaction as an artist to this statement?
We can excuse Mr. Duchamp for his ignorance regarding our contemporary understanding of the operation of our visual cortex. That he may prefer to tickle his pre-frontal cortex over his visual cortex is up to him and should not be used as a tool to isolate and or define art. His is more a political statement about exclusivity (still a powerful strategy) than an aesthetic statement.

5. Do you think that there is still room for art movements in today's
pluralistic climate?
We have always lived in a pluralistic climate it is just that until recently it’s been isolated by geography creating the illusion of homogenous culture. Movements are a construct of art history and are best established with some distance. Artificial constructs will be seen in time for what they are, inauthentic.

That said, it would be fun to see a movement in art that parallels the locally grown, whole food movement. It seems we suffer from too many processed art products, impregnated with artificial nutrients and stabilizers vying for novelty and an extended shelf life. Enough with Twinkies!

6. What is one question you wished we had asked you about your art? Please
feel free to answer it.
Where can we see it? Red Dot Miami booth 108B. Touchstone Gallery in DC and you are always welcome to visit my studio or website for my exhibition calendar.
Why do you sell it? A large percentage of the direct sales from my studio and adult workshops subsidizes private art instruction for young people.