What Is Art and Why Does It Matter? "is an online magazine that creates a forum for interpretive experimentation and gives a face to the people who make museums a vibrant presence in the world. This magazine is here because we all “know” that art is important, but do we always know why? Looking at art can provide a much needed refuge for reflection, sympathy, quietude, inspiration, and even ecstasy in this increasingly chaotic world. Looking further can deepen knowledge of cultures and artistic practice, develop and hone observational skills, reveal insights into history that other documents can't, and encourage creative, analytical, and autonomous thinking. Art can be funny, and it can make you cry, too. We want you to find a way in. And the best way to find a way into anything is to look closely and ask a lot of questions. Enjoy."
Anna Hammond - Deputy Director for Education, Programs, and Public Affairs - Yale University Art Gallery - "What is art" magazine Contemporary art is estrangement, alienation, displacement that allow you to think, to see things. And/or "refuge for reflection, sympathy, quietude, inspiration, and even ecstasy in this increasingly chaotic world." I love art for that.
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John Baldessari (American, born 1931) - Solving Each Problem As It Arises, 1967 Acrylic on canvas, 67 3/4 x 56 1/2 in. (172.1 x 143.5 cm) - The Janet and Simeon Braguin Fund
"This work is one of a small group of text and phototext paintings on canvas that Baldessari commissioned from a sign painter in 1967. His decision to use text in this work, not as decoration but as information, reflected his commitment to infuse reality into high art through didactic, confessional image making. Although the works in this series were drawn from textbooks, course lessons, and popular culture, Baldessari presented them on canvas in order to locate the logic of their creation within the context of painting. This work builds on the conceptual foundation of artists like Marcel Duchamp, who questioned methods of production in high art."
Yale Art Gallery - Modern and Contemporary art