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| "Number One Spot" by Patrick Kemal Pryor |
In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that one of my favorite parts of being in a gallery is the way that each person brings a different perspective when discussing a work of art. The first Thursday of July brought another unique experience, and a conversation between myself, an artist who wandered into the Northrup King Building, and Patrick Kemal Pryor. The artist who came to the ASK Gallery looked determined to find something. I asked him what he was looking for today, and he told me that he didn’t know what he was looking for, but he would know when he found it. I was curious to know if this meant he was browsing through the gallery with the hopes of buying a piece of work, but told me “no, I never buy art. I’m an artist myself, and whenever I get stuck on an idea or artistic concept, I come to galleries to find inspiration”. Although I’m not an artist who sells work, I am an artist in my own regards: I love drawing with graphite, conte crayon, willow charcoal, compressed charcoal, and pastels. This being said, I understand what it feels like to find yourself caught in a rut, unsure of the next step in your artistic process. I’m always inspired by the work of others, often in ways that I realize after I begin to try new methods. The artist then began to explain what he had recently been trying to do with his work. His technique had involved almost a type of splatter, complimented by a bright and bold palette of color. He mentioned that this style defined a lot of his work right now, but he was looking into encaustic art, which I shortly discovered involved melting wax. He said it was an entirely new endeavor, but he wasn’t feeling as connected to the work he was currently producing.
At this point in the conversation, Patrick had wandered over, when the man began to look at the works by Patrick, that are displayed on the wall partition out on the gallery floor. He was drawn to the abstraction of Patrick’s paintings, and loved the color palette as well. He turned to, “Number One Spot” and commented that although he loved the work, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the vertical goldenrod stripe. I interjected that the stripe was necessary for the balance of the painting. Although it isn’t centered, the left side of the painting is “louder” than the right side would be without the stripe. Patrick nodded in agreement, mentioning that the palette and style of this painting was a newer technique of which he had grown fond. His older work no longer excited him the way that it used to, which was similar to the purpose of the man’s visit to the gallery. I could tell that this man was drawn to works of art that involved color blocking, and my assumption was confirmed when he showed me a piece of work in a gallery down the hall, which involved pure color blocking.
Each of our opinions about a piece of work, such as “Number One Spot” is built upon one another. One comment isn’t necessarily “correct,” which distinguishes the beauty of discussing art. We each have preferences, but art allows us to mold these preferences into works of art that we can call our own, or they can allow us to discuss the many elements that make up a painting, sculpture, or any genre of art. It is conversations such as the one between Patrick, the artist, and myself, that truly defines the joy of working in an art gallery.
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