Making peace with Pablo, part 2 of 2

(cont.) ...But this must be said - in both a pejorative and a laudatory way - not all of it is good. In fact, a lot of it is really quite awful. But, therein is the crux of the issue - each one of these pieces was both a movement to the next, and a piece unto itself. The former idea was never lost in the second: therefore some pieces scintillate, and others flatulate. But all of them were both a means and an end. Picasso was at the core, after all, simply a practicing artist. Why then is all of it so incessantly on display? Because of his international stardom; his name and reputation - as with any other rockstar artist - all of his work is ravenously bought, sold and traded, without aesthetic restraint. But those of us who can't afford a real Picasso, can be more discriminating, and take our time picking our favorites, according to what we know is good art, or what we've grown to appreciate regardless. And, having been thinking about monuments recently, I was struck by Picasso's "monumentality;" his hugeness that every artist, regardless of their desire or reticence to do so, must live in the shadow of, merely by the fact of having come after, rather than before him. And so, I've finally come to dealing with this shadow...

Another point to make about Picasso, was his virtuousity. Once I got past my disgust with some of his pieces - largely because of my above thoughts - I began to accept the fact that he was a virtuoso of mediums. No medium, that he chose to take on, was ever his master - his drive for artistic consummation was indefatigable, and exhausted nearly all media available. I had never seen his wooden people sculptures - often lifesize, which he painted and drew throughout the '50s; I had never seen his folded paper sculptures of figures, which were subsequently turned into concrete sculptures. He quickly, it seems, took to a medium, and turned it to his particular purposes; found his way through it.

I have begun healing my rift with Pablo; and it feels liberating. The doubts are still there, and I still thoroughly hate some of his work. But what better thing can one say of an artist, especially such an historically important and still-controversial artist - than I hate and love their work? I have grown to know him better through exposure and consideration. It's all about maintaining a conversation, isn't it?

The End (?)