New Berlin Painters Manifesto

[Michael Nagel]

Painting and Photography are related Arts. The first has an increasingly difficult stand in society, the latter is becoming ubiquitous thanks to digital imaging and the great number of people with artistic ambitions and the availability of the Internet as medium making it easy to publish and reach more people.

The New Berlin Painters Manifesto is an interesting read.

I do not know if a broader audience will be reached by it.

It should.

Best regards,
Michael

 

[Asher Kelman]

Painting and Photography are related Arts. The first has an increasingly difficult stand in society, the latter is becoming ubiquitous thanks to digital imaging and the great number of people with artistic ambitions and the availability of the Internet as medium making it easy to publish and reach more people.

The New Berlin Painters Manifesto is an interesting read.

I do not know if a broader audience will be reached by it.

It should.

Michael,

The sense of it has a lot to commend to our interest.


"We seek a haunting, grotesque beauty, one that expresses inner turmoil in a tumultuous world, a brief existence, and an unfettered need to create meaning amidst apparent uncontrollable chaos: chaos both in nature and politics as well as the chaotic particles making up our irrational beings, manifested through the transcendent power of a true work of art."


Maris Rusis would like the idea of the material art being more important than the brilliant idea where the artist is a manager and no craft of his/her hands made fingerprints on the work.


I'm still studying it's meaning. I'm not sure that the manifesto is meant to be coherent or even can be so as it is the product of explosive rage and disgust and that does not have to be either logical nor some truth to be defended. Still, anyone who tries to understand this manifesto will doubtless get some clarity, even if it's in just one segment of their vision.

Thanks for sharing this. Is the exhibition over? I wonder what reviews it got?

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Vogeler, in april of this year:


"Yeah, the spray paint and there’s a piece of fabric that’s exactly 10 cm long. It’s just boring. I don’t want to read about why it’s amazing, I want to feel it. And when you see a good painting, you feel it. When you first see the Sistine Chapel, you feel it. You don’t need this explanation or from someone who has a graduate degree from Yale to give you a reason why a ****ing cigarette in an ashtray is a work of art – it’s ****ing bullshit and everyone knows it. Everyone goes along with it. It’s a child reaction that is important, it shouldn’t be so conflated and esoteric and bullshit, and that’s what we’re going for with the New Berlin Painters. We make work that comes from our gut, our feeling, ourselves and that’s the emotion we want people to get out of it. It’s not ‘look at my painting and then read the novel about why my painting is amazing by the curators and collectors who think my painting is amazing.’ No. It’s like ‘**** you, look at the painting, get something from it from your gut, don’t think about it just feel it.’ I really think for us it’s a move back to emotion over rationalism. It’s a visceral reaction first."


But for all that, this one painting of trees, if one looks at the white space has more than trees. So do we ignore that clear property. Or, is this really part of the art even though the artist might not know that.

Paul Vogeler, oil on canvas​

After all, to know everything about one's own work would mean understanding the human mind, and we have not reached that yet. We may have insight but not enough to always realize or recognize the forces that drive or inspire us.

What do you see in this picture of trees?

Asher

 

[Michael Nagel]

Asher,

This manifesto is an outcry - I can subscribe to most of its content while criticizing the lack of coherence in some points.

This:
10. We reject wholeheartedly the Warholian notion of the entrepreneurial art factory, where art is produced on assembly line as a product, and the man who calls himself an “artist” no longer has a part in the actual hands on process of creation—one who acts more like a businessman or careerist than an artist. An artist is more than just a “producer.”

And this:
12. We believe the object must triumph over the idea first and foremost, and be created from start to finish by the artist’s own hands.

are very important points in my eyes.

This manifest is turning away from the 15 minutes of fame and 'everyone is an artist' which has dominated the last 40 years and is still doing so.
The manifest is focusing on vision, craftsmanship and commitment. I can only say YES.

I cannot see the trees you mention (there is a logo, they probably don't like hot-linking), is it this?
I will check on reviews of the exhibition, I did not see any, but I did not look for it either. I do not think that the quality/popularity of the paintings will affect the content of this manifest in either way, for me it stands on its own.

I think that it stirs up a few people and makes them rethink, when this is accomplished, a first goal is reached.

Best regards,
Michael

 

[Mark Hampton]

This:


And this:
12. We believe the object must triumph over the idea first and foremost, and be created from start to finish by the artist’s own hands.

are very important points in my eyes.



Best regards,
Michael

Michael, this then rules out your approach photography unless you have built/made the lens / camera / sensor / programs you use etc.... - also I hope these people make the medium they paint with and on - and the brushes - what about the food that fuels them ?

 

[Michael Nagel]

Michael, this then rules out your approach photography unless you have built/made the lens / camera / sensor / programs you use etc.... - also I hope these people make the medium they paint with and on - and the brushes - what about the food that fuels them ?

Well, this is a painters manifest, but let's take a step back:
A painter does usually not make his own brush or canvas - does he lose control by doing so? I dare to say no.
A painter is mixing his colors, often there are the secrets of their work that contributes to their uniqueness. Matthias Grünewald used a set of intense colors for example.

It as matter of your own definition.

What is the object of a photographer? For me it is the light.
The light is captured by a sensor/film and the work continues.

Did Ansel Adams build his camera? No.
He did have total control over his work - not at least thanks to the Zone System developed by him.

It depends where you draw the line - what is a tool you can use and is up to you to decide if it is sufficient for your needs or if you have to create a more suitable for you.

Best regards,
Michael

 

[Asher Kelman]

12. We believe the object must triumph over the idea first and foremost, and be created from start to finish by the artist’s own hands.

Well, Michael, if that were so, then there's no room for minimalist art, for example, painting with a lot of dark space in which we're invited to contemplate or muse. Even in the work I pointed to above, the space between the trees shows the torso of a woman. So it's an idea, either by conscious intent or subconscious drive. No matter which, in each case ideas and imagination dominates in such a case over the actual object. No actual finely defined object tree is reproduced, rather shapes that evoke "treeness", a collection of our feelings of trees. So ideas are not trumped by objects but, the converse!

Still, I understand and appreciate the gestalt and direction of their artists manifesto; it's really a protest. They seek to escape the artistic fashion of the NY Art Scene and the prevailing sense of art covering the weird and sensational: cardboard boxes, dog excrement, students running naked and the like which get curated nowadays.

I will be returning many times to their manifesto as I admire rebels and it's stimulating to learn of their protests. However, the manifesto raises interesting questions more than providing a clear path for themselves or anyone else.

Anyway, objects cannot be separated from streams of ideas anyway, unless viewed by dumb recording robots, LOL!

Thanks again for bring this to us.

Asher

 

[Michael Nagel]

... However, the manifesto raises interesting questions more than providing a clear path for themselves or anyone else. ...

If you want to provide a different view, you have to start with questioning the current state. People providing a quick answer to everything are suspicious - at least to me. How do you want to endorse anything without having thought about it? If you follow without any thoughts on your own, you step down being a blind follower.
By raising questions, you want make people think about it and you are ready to accept different views. Otherwise there are only answers...

Best regards,
Michael

 

[Mark Hampton]

Well, this is a painters manifest, but let's take a step back:
A painter does usually not make his own brush or canvas - does he lose control by doing so? I dare to say no.
A painter is mixing his colors, often there are the secrets of their work that contributes to their uniqueness. Matthias Grünewald used a set of intense colors for example.

It as matter of your own definition.

What is the object of a photographer? For me it is the light.
The light is captured by a sensor/film and the work continues.

Did Ansel Adams build his camera? No.
He did have total control over his work - not at least thanks to the Zone System developed by him.

It depends where you draw the line - what is a tool you can use and is up to you to decide if it is sufficient for your needs or if you have to create a more suitable for you.

Best regards,
Michael

Michael, you are correct it is a matter of definition - painters can and do make their own papers / brushes and paints - lots died because of the chemicals they used in paint ,making and mixing .

the object that is made according to my reading should be made by the artist, how far that is taken will be upto those who follow this way of working.

How to take and use the manifesto in photography is the question i guess.

cheers

 

[Asher Kelman]

Michael, you are correct it is a matter of definition - painters can and do make their own papers / brushes and paints - lots died because of the chemicals they used in paint ,making and mixing .

the object that is made according to my reading should be made by the artist, how far that is taken will be upto those who follow this way of working.

How to take and use the manifesto in photography is the question i guess.

cheers

Mark,

One can only use the manifesto as a warning to not be sucked in by fashionistas and gurus as to want is apt for todays style or even museum curators who think that performance spectaculars which increase attendance are equal to art.

Asher

 

[Mark Hampton]

Mark,

One can only use the manifesto as a warning to not be sucked in by fashionistas and gurus as to want is apt for todays style or even museum curators who think that performance spectaculars which increase attendance are equal to art.

Asher

Some manifestos are better than others.

Robert Hughes died todayish - his shock of the new book is like a manifesto for modernism....

just a thought.....

 

[Asher Kelman]

Some manifestos are better than others.

Robert Hughes died todayish - his shock of the new book is like a manifesto for modernism....

just a thought.....

Thanks so much, Mark! I'm going to buy one of his books. I think I'm going to really find a great deal of sense there!

Asher

 

[Mark Hampton]

Thanks so much, Mark! I'm going to buy one of his books. I think I'm going to really find a great deal of sense there!

Asher

about as much sense as any other manifesto - some beautiful work in his books so that's a bonus Asher.

 

[Michael Nagel]

Mark,

It is interesting to see that the Robert Hughes criticism of recent art is not so much different from the assertions in the New Berlin Painters Manifesto.
It is the refusal of industrializing art and managing the production while tailoring the product according to the demands of the art market.
It is the quest for conscious creation of a piece of work that can truly (whatever that means for the individual artist is subject to interpretation) be called art.

If an artist has to create his tools by any means is questionable as long as all available tools are adequate for his needs. He will, however, go the distance and create own tools if there is a need for his art.

Just my view

Best regards,
Michael

 

[Mark Hampton]

Mark,

It is interesting to see that the Robert Hughes criticism of recent art is not so much different from the assertions in the New Berlin Painters Manifesto.
It is the refusal of industrializing art and managing the production while tailoring the product according to the demands of the art market.
It is the quest for conscious creation of a piece of work that can truly (whatever that means for the individual artist is subject to interpretation) be called art.

If an artist has to create his tools by any means is questionable as long as all available tools are adequate for his needs. He will, however, go the distance and create own tools if there is a need for his art.

Just my view

Best regards,
Michael

Michael,

Robert Hughes wrote some interesting critiques of 20c art. I dont agree with most of what he wrote - but i point that out - as i call it a manifesto.

here is a list from wilki of 20c art manifestos

form me art is the ability of reader to invent a narrative (or not). Artists make work - readers make art.

thanks for pointing this manifesto out btw.

cheers