Criticism Archives - Greg Mason Burns

Walking on Both Sides Part 3 is a mixed media collage using newspaper headlines to contrast reality.

Manipulation of the Art Market

The manipulation of the art market is the stuff of legends and actually pretty transparent. It's run "in secrecy" by the super wealthy in a way to make them more wealthy. It's about intimidation, and that game works for them. This is why I always tell people to buy what they like. Don't buy art to match the décor (the art will outlast the décor) and don't buy art to compete as an investor either (the game is rigged before you even enter it). Artists suffer the worst consequences, but there is a way to solve this: buy local artists...

March 28, 2022

Greg

in Criticism

Manipulation #11 - House on Newcastle is an abstract photo of Galway, Ireland using oil pastel and acylic paint with red, green, and blue coloring.

The NFT Market is a Massive Ponzi Scheme

[caption id="attachment_4568" align="alignleft" width="225"] Manipulation #11 - House on Newcastle Photography on Archival Paper (2021)[/caption] Seriously, if you're considering getting into the NFT market, seller beware. It is not really buyer beware if you can convince people to jump into the game. Simply put, the more people in the game the easier it is to sell and make a profit. I can't say it as well as Canadian Artist Kimberly Parker puts it, so you should read her article posted below. In short, she did a massive data scrape of those markets that sell NFTs, and the results show that the...

March 28, 2022

Greg

in Criticism

Essen Coal #1 is an abstract photo of the Welterbe Zollverein mine in Essen, Germany.

Reception Theory as a Visual Art

Introduction of Reception Theory as a Visual Art Reception Theory as a visual art can be described as thus: Imagine a town, or a village, that does not exist in our reality but we know it is there nonetheless. We cannot visit it or touch the buildings or talk In order for this town to exist, this town must have been created before. And it was, by two entities. Actually, it was not created by two entities, but by the void that exists between the two entities instead. The town exists in the void. One entity (the communicator) provides the information of what this...

March 19, 2022

Greg

in Art, Art Project, Artistic Process, Contemporary Art, Criticism, Drawing, Painting, Photography, Reductivism, Video

Copelouzos Family Art Museum – 35 x 35 Project

[caption id="attachment_2900" align="alignleft" width="268"] My Contribution to the Copelouzos Family Art Museum: Art Is Not Free / I'm Walking on Both Sides - Oil on Canvas - 35 x 35 cm (2020)[/caption] UPDATED ON 12/20/21 WITH LATEST - SEE BOTTOM OF TIMELINE FOR UPDATE Scam or Not? Read On...

May 10, 2020

Greg

in Criticism

Why Artists Should Sign Their Work

[caption id="attachment_2989" align="alignleft" width="300"] Color Study of Ponte 25 de Abril[/caption] I haven’t had a good rant post in a while, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the act of signing artwork. More specifically: how the chic way to sign an artwork these days is to not sign at all. And I’ve thought a lot about why I sign my work, too. However, I’ve never really come up with a better answer than “it’s mine and therefore I should take credit for it.” This goes back to my feeling that we should be declarative in what we do. I don’t...

June 26, 2017

Greg

in Criticism

Novo-Surrealism Artist Talk at Zaratan

[caption id="attachment_5102" align="alignright" width="233"] Zaratan Arte Contemporanea: Novo-Surrealism Artist Talk[/caption] This video is of the Novo-Surrealism artist talk I gave in January, 2017 at Zaratan Arte Contemporanea in Lisbon, Portugal. The topic was Novo-Surrealism and the Media's Message versus the Audience's Understanding of Reality. About 10 people attended live and about 200 people attended on the live broadcast on FB Live. The discussion lasted about an hour. It covered the theory, possible avenues the project can take going forward, and how open the idea can become. I was a bit nervous, as I had not given a serious artist talk like this...

January 14, 2017

Greg

in Art Project, Criticism, Residency

Beauty and Evolution: is Beauty a Defense Mechanism?

[caption id="attachment_3797" align="alignleft" width="208"] Beauty and Evolution: Definitely some evolved vices in this painting[/caption] Beauty and Evolution I can´t argue against this. Denis Dutton has a pretty convincing argument one way or another, but how true is it? His theory suggests that what we perceive as beauty is as evolved as our bodies are. He argues that the shape of a diamond is eerily similar to that of a pre-historic stone spearhead. Furthermore, these stones weren´t just made to kill animals but to show off abilities for the purpose of mating. Think about it, a man makes a stone not to kill,...

January 13, 2016

Greg

in Contemporary Art, Criticism

Telling the Truth in Art

[caption id="attachment_3250" align="aligncenter" width="1100"] A truth about flamenco is that it’s more commercial than it should be[/caption] Telling the Truth in Art Nothing irks me more in art than criticism that uses modern fashion as a justification for it's existence. In fact, if a piece of art is being criticized because the piece fails to follow modern fashionable conventions then the piece is very likely by definition "art". I don't say this meaning that art must or even should break conventions (I don't believe that at all). But art that conforms to prevailing fashions intentionally is missing something, and that missing piece...

January 5, 2016

Greg

in Criticism

A Critique of the Definition of Documentary Art

Documentary Art: a Definition [caption id="attachment_3563" align="alignleft" width="155"] Documentary arts: An image tells us a story, whether it has detailed facts or not[/caption] The first thing that comes to mind when we think of a documentary is usually a film. Beyond that, we typically think of writers and photographers, especially those of the journalistic type. But that's not all. Painters were definitely the documentary artists before photography was invented. Painters such as Raffaele Carelli and Johann Moritz Rugendas documented the landscapes they visited. In fact, the Hudson School was probably the dominant American documentary arts style of the 1800s. They influenced the...

October 24, 2015

Greg

in Criticism

How to Look at Art in Four Steps (when you don’t know what you’re looking at)

Have you ever wondered how something can be called "art" when it apparently looks like something you could have created using the leftover paint from painting your garage? Well, in this great video by University of Pittsburgh Professor Terry Smith, at the Andy Warhol Museum, he explains how to look at art using four steps: What: Look at the art and ask: "What am I looking at?" Share these thoughts with other people. Try [caption id="attachment_3257" align="alignright" width="193"] How to Look at Art in Four Steps: The Chair in the Blue Room (2019)[/caption] to describe it and keep an open mind. Describe the...

October 13, 2015

Greg

in Criticism, How-to in Art