Now we are really reflecting during our art workshop in Provence

To follow-up on my last post, during the last weeks I hired four astounding professors from various universities to work on the following question: “What is beautiful”? Their answers will be available shortly in the form of short presentations on Vimeo. This is our fourth and last post on the notion of beauty as seen by the sensitive Dominique Cosandey, a psychoanalyst from Montreal. To make a beautiful painting is to simply paint your own stories. The beauty resides in the sincerity, in the authenticity, in the courage of the artist. The latter exposes herself or himself to tell, to share, to teach. You do not know what to paint? Why not creating beauty from yourself. Dive into your interior to extract everything with colours and shapes.

Look at this old black and white photograph. Now let’s just imagine how many true stories breathe in it, the extraordinary amount of possible paintings. In order for these paintings to be successful, you simply have to paint with truthfulness, even if the result is ugly (see former post on ugliness). Works by the tandem Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin are a fine example of what Cosandey is trying to tell us. Some may think that their works are ugly… for me they are true and beautiful.

As for us at Walk the Arts, now at our painting workshop in Provence, do we have to reproduce exactly what we see in front of us? Or can we paint what we feel at this very moment in front of the Provence landscape? Can I include the “I”, the human being I am into the landscape? To conclude our last four posts on beauty, is beauty simply the representation of truth? The true truth?

by Yves M. Larocque (Ph.D.) | Jul 12, 2014 | Inspiration |Thoughts

1 Comment

barbaracail on July 12, 2014 at 8:17 pm

Great commentary Yves! Helped me to move my thinking. Enjoy Provence!
Best
Barbara Cail

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Who are we?

We all make art! It is part of culture. It is deeply rooted in human nature as a way of communicating with others. We all need to tell our stories because it is stories that link us all. We are all one, one creative mind! Though, all unique and equipped with unique ways of expressing ourselves. We live in constant search of that unique liberating voice. At Walk the Arts we aim to facilitate our art makers to explore new territories. Our painting classes and art history trips on three continents are meant to be rounded art experiences among small groups of like-minded adults. We offer an environment that fosters creativity. As we always say, art as religion is just a matter of faith. This blog is about living fully the experience of art, about finding our single artistic path, about the joy of art-making. We believe that making art accessible to all will lead to a betterment of our society.

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