Turn Around; It’s not All in Front of You

Andrew Forge’s essays on mostly 20th-century art has me thinking about paintings that tend to elicit the response “I could do that” and wondering why they are important. I think it comes down to a relatively simple distinction: perhaps we should be looking for a different sort of value in abstract works that seem to have been created with little technical skill. Many were made (if the artists are to be believed) in the throes of mind-filling, soul-twisting questions and doubts, and if such paintings touch us in some way, it could very well be because we are experiencing similar struggles. What’s more, in a world that wants only answers, we need reminders that the questions are where meaning is to be found.