Cleaning Out Old Files....

...I came across this little gem from Jed Perl.

"I believe that a work of art must have a free-standing value. Formal values are one element of that equation; I take it for granted that a work we experience visually must be visually resolved. But the artist who gives this work its value is pulling together all kinds of experiences. Narrative may be as important as color; the startling character of the imagery may be what fuels the vigor of the line. What counts is that whatever the artist is thinking or feeling is absorbed into the look, the character, the intricacies of the work. The painting, the sculpture, the collage, the assemblage makes its own terms, and we judge what we see.

Jed Perl
“Eyewitness”
Basic Books; NY, NY, 2000
pp. 5-6