Downtown Art & The Emperor’s New Clothes. September 14, 2015
Much of the art that has been rendered upon some downtown buildings could be called “fauvism” which emphasizes painterly qualities and strong color over representational or realistic depictions.
The art does not depict formal imitations of subjects, but the painters own expressions often accomplished with violent color schemes; reminds one of Superintendent Benny Gooden and his “Perceptions” leading to the purge of the Rebel Mascot and the Song Dixie.
Every favela from Mexico City, Caracas, Lima, Quito, Santiago to Buenos Aires is covered with fauvism. I term this “Boxcar Art”.
To the point: Would it not be reasonable for the downtown murals to encompass our Western lineage; particularly since the downtown advocates are portraying Fort Smith as the Gateway to the West—which I believe it to be. Also, much has been ballyhooed about the U.S. Marshals stationed here and the Hanging Judge, etc.
Therefore, would it not make much more sense to focus & showcase the actual history of the town and area? Murals of cattle round-ups, Marshals in hot pursuit, a portrait of the Hanging Judge Parker, covered-wagons, riverboat traffic, stockyards, stagecoaches, American Indians trading & selling, trappers, buggies, ad infinitum, would be much more fitting and pleasant to view, as well as teach the visitor or resident something of the true city past. Nostalgia, heroics, & inspiration are lacking in fauvism.
Along with those thoughts, the star of the cast, Judge Parker, is conspicuously absent from the P.R. directed at the proposed Marshal’s Museum, and of the many Marshals working here and an obscure deputy U.S. Marshal appears to be the star; who just happened to be black.
It looks as if the proposed Marshal’s Museum is being made to appear as some sort of a Civil Rights offering, and may be a ploy to get more government grants, any government. Recall, this project was initially billed as a “private endeavor”. Status today?
Ultimately if the museum is ever completed, sooner rather than later it will most likely become another permanent taxpayer burden, e.g. far greater than the Convention Center.
Citizens have already been forced to subsidize the proposed behemoth to the tune of millions.
Onward fauvism!
Ayn Rand succinctly said that Art is the barometer of a society or culture; she also said that an artist’s rendition reflects that person’s sense of life.
The downtown Emperor is pretty much naked.
Joe McCutchen
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