A lot of Artists I spoke to do not seem upset about having been isolated during the pandemic. I refer to this time period for artists as the “Isolation Art Era”. I believe an artist’s lifestyle (mine anyways) most often does not recognize time or people around them during the creative process. The focus on their work takes over. The pandemic has given us artists more time to be creative, experiment, or fine tune our skills. I have taken advantage of doing such things during isolation, however not everyone is an Artist. In reference to the feature painting, walks and hugging a tree once in a while has also been helpful through this time. I think many— artists included— are looking forward to seeing people in person to become inspired through conversation and experiences.
The Purpose of Art Exhibitions
I have always admired an art exhibit that is able to communicate to the viewer what the artist intended. It can be a powerful message or a beautiful experience. Museum and gallery settings are an important element in society. I feel this way because it is a place to meet with people, exchange ideas, and build a community. How can we do this from home? Trends such as virtual art spaces and Zoom get togethers. have started which might be the norm from now on.
The Innovation of Virtual Tours
A huge trend that began during the pandemic was visiting art exhibits while sitting on your couch. With a simple click you can go in the direction you wish to “walk” and choose which painting you want to stop and look at. These tours will give you information about what you are looking at and sometimes even magnify details for a closer look. In some cases, it is required to sign up for something or pay for a membership, but it does not require you to get in your car and drive. This unfortunately eliminates the factor of meeting people, exchanging ideas and building a community.
The Art of Zoom
Zoom has become a solution for many people to visually get together at the same time. Is it the same or better to see things or people in this way? For some people, yes, but definitely not for everyone. Before the pandemic, a few artists and myself would get together once every two weeks to critique each others artwork. We would bring some treats to eat, sometimes drink, and then we would identify things about each others work. Once isolation began, we started using Zoom. It was nice to see everyone but awfully difficult to point out characteristics about a painting when you can’t go up to it. The conversations usually consisted of “No, over to the right, a little more, lower, lower… that spot next to the other one…” etc, etc.
Life will not be the same in many ways after the dust completely settles. As long as there is a pandemic, many opportunities to avoid contact will continue to present themselves. There will be good and bad ideas. We will find out soon enough what was a trend and what was a solid idea. Nevertheless, there are opportunities to be had and they should not go to waste.
Top Image - “Palgrave Forest”, by Fatima Learn. Acrylic Painting Paper with a linen finish.
Second Image - Photo from a scene in The Metropolitan Museum in New York from the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”