If it were not for the certain bars and taverns (The Cedar Bar, The Knights Circle) in the New York School's Greenwich Village locations, such artists as Pollock, Kline, Smith, Motherwell and Newman may have not exchanged words and arguements that led to such a revolution in Art History. While Still and Rothko met at Berkeley, they eventually would head to the city as well. Drinking and interacting is just as important as painting/sculpting itself in that if it were not done, there would be no updated influences to create new work. This city (NYC) as well as the state would also lead to the eventual deaths of many of these painters in this rugged group... with an exception of Arshile Gorky who would be left hanging from a tree in my home state of Connecticut.
Myself, I feel that going to such bars in your local towns in which you live/work/study is such an important aspect to the life of an artist. By going out, not only do you meet new people who may become future friends, enemies or even spouses, you, without even knowing it, learn so much about others as well as yourself. A conversation begins and then others join in... subjects become sensitive and cause controversy... the greatest possible aspect of speaking in a group to help create and think of new ideas.
For example, when I previously went out to a bar in downtown New Haven, Connecticut, I had a peaceful and arguement free night which I have no problem with. As the night progressed I thought of colors/lines/compositions that compliment each other, just as the friends I was with at the time to sketch down into a work to be done when I got home. As we went out to leave and have our final cigarette, drunk and under many influences, a fight between two females (one a friend and one a stranger) which made me start to think.
At any moment, like this fight at the end of a near perfect night out, something that was once complimenting had become contrasting. It depends how you look at this night as a whole. Was this last event seperate from the rest of the night, or does the entire night represent my thoughts on a future work. To put it into mathematical sense, I would say while painting a beautiful and peaceful work (90%) all of a sudden came along the other (10%) of contrast that is certainly not balanced evenly, nor a Golden Line of Proportion. The comparison between peace and hate throughout this night was at a very odd and uneven ratio.
In the end, Balance as well as Ultra-Contrast and Oppositions can lead to a deep thought on my artwork. I learned new ratios, new personalities and the fact that at any moment, a bomb may be dropped out of nowhere. Connection to painting? When to stop and leave the work alone (when to leave the bar and end on a good note). Yet, it is impossible to predict when to stop working, or when to leave a public place with fellow artists.
Go out, meet new people of all sorts, because if I had not done so, I would not have learned my new ratio I have began to experiment with in my work. Give this ratio a try.
Quote of the Day
"Ours is a far from perfect world, but it is all we've ever had, all that the greatest artists of the past ever had. At that, it's beautiful enough."
Abstract Expressionist Group Portrait
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