Beauty

I find the ideas in Ameila Jones essay to be very thought provoking as a practicing artist. I personally struggle to put a definition on the word beauty or what criteria a thing has to have to be deemed beautiful, I feel it is a subjective idea as unique as the person viewing. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The quote is said to be paraphrased from a statement by the Greek philosopher Plato. Beauty is a subjective, fluid, and deeply personal idea that is unique to each person and their individual experiences. Amelia Jones’ essay is to remind the reader of this very basic truth. She challenges the reader to think outside the rigid definition of beauty in fine art that the historians and critics like Hickey have worked to create. These narrow definitions repress anything and anyone not fitting into the appropriate mold of acceptable art. I believe the ideas in Jones’ essay are very applicable to everyday situations and one should try to look at things from different angles. The added perspective of another person’s life experiences and how they view a thing could help to expand the understanding of someone else. We all learn and grow from experiences and exposures we encounter. Hickey’s essay’s work to maintain the rigid definition of work that is allowed to be considered fine art for the masses to absorb in order to continue the desired ideas of what art is. I feel this struggle is still present in the current art world, as little as I have been exposed to it. Art works have to fall into specific categories to be accepted into galleries for viewing as the newest and greatest out there. The definition of what is worth consideration for a gallery setting has changed and shifted and become more inclusive but strictly depending on who gets to decide the type and style of art they will allow to represent their idea of fine art. In the consideration of what is fine art, traditions have been established to conform to a narrow view of fine art and the people that were allow to be recognized for its creation as well as the people that are allowed to have an opinion on whether or not an art is beautiful. Artists that are now considered “great” were not always considered so in their lives because their art did not fit the current trend of fine art and was thus unimpressive. Jones argues that Hickey with the support of the L.A Times, is working to keep fine art within the constraints that he and his fellow critics feel it should be. Jones challenges Hickey’s definitions of beauty or lack thereof. Jones argues that Hickey upholds the outdated, ridged, and racist standards that have been the norm for generations and has ultimately hindered the work of many artists not fitting that definition to be unseen. If an artist has not painted several versions of the nude white female to satisfy the white male gaze, they aren’t true artists because true artist study the nude form. I do not believe there can be a general definition of what beauty is or what elements a work has to have to be universally beautiful. I try and keep that in mind as work on my own pieces, not everyone is going to enjoy my work but others may really like it; perhaps even more then I do in some cases. I create things that are visually pleasing to me and hope that others find the same feelings in viewing them. Amelia Jones, “Every Man Knows Where and How Beauty Gives Him Pleasure: Beauty Discourse and the Logic of Aesthetics," in Emory Elliott, Louis Freitas Caton & Jeffrey Rhyne (eds.), Aesthetics in a Multicultural Age (Oxford University Press, 2002)