What is the Purpose of Art?
What is the purpose of art?
Is it to inspire?
Is it meant to make us think?
Is art creation anything other than the artist’s need to express herself?
Is seeking out art in galleries, museums, and artist studios a way for us to process ideas that may be too complicated to express in words?
Is art a way for artists to earn a living, regardless of how meager or plentiful? For art collectors to make investments?
I could stop here or keep adding questions until the end of time, but the answer will always be All of the Above.
The artwork that makes up our current group exhibition brings up all kinds of questions. These two photographs by Maxim Laroche make you wonder if these images he shot in Haiti could have come from the same place. One is of daily life on the street, the other evokes a dark and mysterious energy which seems to refer to the troubles there — only “Smoke 3” was taken during carnival, and not during a protest, which is implied, from my point of view, that is.
And what could be more different, in terms of speaking to life in Haiti than these two paintings, one untitled by Patrick Ganthier, aka Killy, who says he paints what he sees, and the lovely, zoftig “Femme avec Evantail” or Woman with Fan by Pierre Louis Riché. One seems to be broadcasting the struggle and the other that life goes on despite the stress and challenges that Haitians face on a daily basis.
And then you have these two works by Pascale Monnin, a Haitian Swiss artist, that speak to unexpected mysticism informed by an exploration of human relationships, spirit, sexuality, and the symbolism and iconography of various world cultures. Try putting that in a Haitian box!
I invite you to come see this far-ranging exhibition at Galerie Lakaye so that you can explore the multiple meanings presented by this group of artists, and see if you can come up with your own answer to the eternal question, What is the Purpose of Art?
