Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999 Page: 18
60 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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How I Collect Art
Or Everything Important I Kno
by Les Marks
I collect good art. That is my goal as a collector, going on ten years
now. Presumptuous? No, not really. Why should anyone set out to
collect bad art?!
But who is to say what makes art good? Actually it's very easy,
because every viewer makes a work of art good, or not so good, by
their reaction to it. Is that the ultimate post-modern cop-out? No.
Not really. Kind of a cool power trip, or maybe not? That's because
I know that what's good art to me may be shit to you. As far as I'm
concerned though, I'd never insult the work of any artist. I might
offer suggestions, be willing to enter into a dialogue, but who am
I to criticize? One person's caviar is another's raw fish eggs.
Of course, there will always be art that has been decided by
consensus to be historically important, and therefore good. These
artists have often opened doors into new realms of being; the art
that defines all the "isms." I admire, respect, even worship many of
these artists, but their inclusion in the "Who's Who" list doesn't
mean I necessarily find their art to be good art.
To me, good art has soul and passion. It doesn't hang around
in the background, like a tepid wallflower. Good art is not afraid to
wear bright lipstick, to show its true colors. Good art is something
I just know. I know it because it connects to some place inside me
that reacts. I may even experience a physical buzz to good art. Not
just a little nod of the head, that's what I do to be polite to the
neighbors. No, good art can cause a hard knee-jerk reaction. It can
tear me apart or make me laugh out loud. Good art hurts. It can
flatten me like a can. It can bring me to my knees, as an Ed and
Nancy Kienholtz crucifix did. Or it can raise me to the noblest of
heights. Good art will make me feel. It will make me think.
Good art, like life itself, will be difficult, demanding, myste-
rious, and if we're lucky, even awe-inspiring.
In addition to collecting, I've managed to create a few pieces
of my own sculpture. More successful I think, are the interpreta-
tions and thoughts I have begun writing in response to art works
in my collection. One artist that I collect is Kiki Smith. She is the
daughter of the pioneer minimalist Tony Smith, yet her work is
anything but minimal. It is infused with deep personal meanings,
often related to the female body and its unique functions.
Smith's piece Tissue Drawing With Armpits, 1994, is composed
of acrylic and ink on multiple layers of Nepal paper with collaged
lithographs. The text at the bottom of the piece proclaims, "In
Circumspect She Was Spinning Tissue of Her Body," which
prompted me to expand the sentence to the following dialogue.Learned From Nietzsche
Thoughts on Kiki Smith's "Tissue Drawing"
"In circumspect, she was spinning tissue of her body. Slowly, with
a determined hand, the needle's point was pierced just into the skin.
Jerking from the sharp burst of pain, she then took a deep breath, gath-
ering herself, cementing her resolve. The stitch proceeded with the
needle pushed forward an inch or so, the exact distance of relative
unimportance. The pain was intense, the blood flow more than one
would expect. "No pain, no gain," she said to herself. After all, this
spinning of tissue, this creation of living matter was beyond stopping,
beyond any one person's control. The overwhelming desire to create
new life from one's own being belonged always to womanhood, but
never before without the partnership of man. Creation from the power
and vitality of the woman's spirit alone, now that was all she required.
That and her everyday needle, spinning and weaving from her body
that which would grow; layer upon layer of skin, hair, or muscle, organ
and thought. Spinning alone, in creation at home, lost and unknown.
At least until now." 0
- Les Marks is a Houston collector and
businessman, owner of Les Marks Chevrolet.Kiki Smith
Tissue Drawing, 1994
Acrylic and ink on Nepal paper
with collaged lithograph, 76" x 84" x 6" framed18 ARTLIES SUMMER 1999
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Lightman, Victoria H. Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999, periodical, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228053/m1/20/?q=%22Bryant%2C+John%22: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .