The fact though is that self-taught artists abound today with endless online tutorials and discussion groups from which to choose. Whether they progress to an individual vision and approach beyond just technique is another matter but attending an art school is also no guarantee.
One of the theoretical divisions of modern and contemporary art recognises that the object can assert its own meaning and exist as a purely aesthetic statement or conversely reflect an ethic standpoint which refers to a socially motivated desire to change or affect the social order.
Artistic relevance and purpose will always be called into question and while the world continues to marvel at the prices paid for art at auction, any condemnations of decadence are more squarely pointed at those who see art solely in monetary terms.
Time and place are obvious triggers to both memory and experience – rendering light though colour at a specific moment in time to capture a moment of beauty is not a new idea but such moments are rapidly superseded. Such is the nature of light.
Few artists have mentioned city green spaces in their work other than as romanticised places from whence they came, such as a remote rural village in an area of Russia that no longer existed in the case of Chagall
When I see the work of someone like a Phyllida Barlow with an installation endlessly taking over a gallery space there is a distinct feeling of amazement because what has characterised my art from the outset has been the self-enclosed limiting factor of the edge of a canvas or sculpture with a definitive outline.