Dear Jane,

No worries. Aside from the odd timing (or mistiming) of the server, I accept that people have different opinions on these things.

Even though I love Ellen Langer’s paintings, I can see that others may not. After George W. Bush’s painting were leaked to the public, the distinguished critic Jerry Saltz wrote a serious article praising his work:

http://www.vulture.com/2013/02/jerry-saltz-george-w-bush-is-a-good-painter.html

Fluxus artist Robert Filliou wrote about the “revolt of the mediocre.” It was Robert’s idea that quality and talent didn’t count. Without agreeing, I’d say it is an interesting proposition without agreeing to the idea.

The other intriguing approach is that of Swedish Fluxus artist Bengt af Klintberg. He was a prominent and influential figure in the early days of performance art. After several years developing and directing prize-winning avant-garde theatre works, he retired from active engagement with art to focus on his other love — folklore.

If you’d like to know more about Filliou and Klintberg, I have posted four items to the “Teaching Documents” section of my Academia.edu page at URL:

https://swinburne.academia.edu/KenFriedman

These include works by Filliou and Klintberg in

Klintberg. 1967. The Cursive Scandinavian Slave. New York: Something Else Press. 
Something Else Press. 1966. Manifestoes. New York: Something Else Press.

as well as two articles I wrote about Filliou and Klintberg:

Friedman. 2006. The Case for Bengt af Klintberg.
Friedman. 2006. Robert Filliou's Dangerous Proposition.    

There’s a lot to think about here. As I say, I like Langer’s work … but that doesn’t mean you have to. I suppose that this is one of the reasons I stopped writing art criticism, though I continue to write about some aspects of art history and the ideas that art can generate.

Yours,

Ken


> On Jun 15, 2016, at 9:12 PM, Jane Hilberry <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Ooops!!  I can see I'm going to have to apologize to Ken for my comments about Ellen Langer's painting!  Funny that Ken's email and mine must have crossed in cyberspace--I received it immediately after I mailed  my message! 
>
> Sorry, Ken!
>
> JANE HILBERRY
> Professor
> Department of English
>
> [log in to unmask]