April 14, 2014

Jejune Art

I’ve noticed that a lot of the art work on display recently in San Miguel is being described as “whimisical,” which strikes me as a euphemism for “unaccomplished.” That’s right, it’s frighteningly JEJUNE, a word that I’ve always liked and that Webster’s dictionary defines as puerile, dull, and lacking significance. So jejune seems like the perfect word to describe a lot of the art being exhibited right now, art that is dull, uninteresting, and unaccomplished. You might want to call me old fashioned, but I have a strong desire for art that has GRAVITAS, another favorite word of mine, which according to Webster’s means “high seriousness.” Give me gravitas or give me death!  Sure, I can enjoy whimsical art, such as the paintings of Joan Miró or the cut outs of Henri Matisse, which I believe has both whimsy and high seriousness. But whimsy without gravitas is like the Wonder bread of my youth, light, airy, and lacking in substance.

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