JaZzArt en València

Este Euro-ku forma parte de la exposición “La búsqueda” (València 2025)

GRACIAS

So, I have philosophised about the objectivity…versus subjectivity…of art and as well brought forth my philosophy on the fact that art is categorised as being either good or bad. Those are elemental truths that one is taught in art school and in the school of life as one works one’s way up the professional chain and gains experience both in life and in art. It is impossible to think of these things when one is very young.

So, what is «bad art»? My reply is that “bad art”, seriously speaking, is art that pretends to be profound but is hollow, or art that substitutes shock, gimmick, or self-promotion for vision and craft. And I am referring to both, traditional art and conceptual art or experimental.

With that said, here are some examples often cited as bad, being bad artists producing bad art (in the sense above):

Jeff Koons – His balloon dogs and stainless-steel kitsch may fetch millions, but they’re little more than oversized novelties. They dazzle with spectacle, not substance.

Damien Hirst – Famous for pickled sharks and diamond-encrusted skulls, his work often leans more on PR stunts and shock value than on artistic depth.

Tracey Emin – Her “My Bed” (an unmade bed with personal detritus) is often held up as a symbol of art reduced to autobiography and raw display without transformation. And in very bad taste I would add.

Thomas Kinkade – Marketed as the “Painter of Light,” his sugary, mass-produced cottage scenes are technically slick but conceptually empty—art reduced to calendar kitsch.

AI-generated kitsch flooding social media – Endless pretty-but-empty images with no inner necessity, no artist’s hand, just algorithmic pastiche.

Each of these examples is “bad” not because someone dislikes them, but because they lack the enduring qualities of good art: invention, vision, mastery, depth. They survive on hype, sentimentality, or branding, and on the bad art professors that try to drive them into the heads of gullible and young art students who will later realise how they had been manipulated, controlled, brainwashed and misguided.

CHEERS

ONE DAY

One day when I am old and mad,
like a useless worn-out prostitute,
conversing with the cat…

Illuminated by a single ray of light,
as the afternoon recedes and fades,
I’m comfortable in my chair next to the window,
watching the world spinning away.

All things are complicated that once were simple…

I think I’ll take a walk down to the bar,
to grab a handful of potato crisps
and a glass of Irish “wine”.
I look around with wild intentions,
are those old friends,
or figments of my imagination?

But I must dance,
and dance I will,
though now alone,
my glass half filled,
the dance floor’s empty,
so are the eyes
of laughing ghosts whose envy
has kept them so far from the sky.

The train has gone,
it’s steam still clinging to my skin,
I don’t travel anymore,
I just watch trains as a whim.

Sitting by my window,
I curiously take a peek
as the carnival is leaving
with its elephants and freaks.

My loved ones,
not so many,
hold a lantern in a storm,
afraid of me receding into madness all alone.
But like an old retired prostitute,
I wonder through the yard,
throwing corn flakes to the chickens
and reciting like a bard.

In truth I’m a survivor,
I’ve toasted every scar,
my tears are made of broken glass,
that broke through those nostalgic thoughts
I launched one day quite far.

The stormy seas can’t drown the music
that I play with my guitar,
so my bones will one day witness
the changing of the guard.

I’ve tasted bitter apples,
I’ve danced with girls sublime,
and a few quite ugly too
I’ve danced with over time.
But surprisingly enough,
I’ve lived to tell the tale,
of this old raging sycophant
that’s ordered one more ale.

One day I’ll be alone and old,
haunting these old hallways,
in a pose somehow unthinkable,
upside down like I’ve been always.

Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 8 SEP 2025, Izmir, Türkiye

«One Day» is another example of my «Jazz Poetry» from my upcoming book. The rhythm does not change, but the time does. Improvisation guides the strength of the story as it would a ghost who walks about just looking for a place to haunt…

CHEERS

Frida Kahlo (Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico 1907-1954) is widely respected for her deeply personal and symbolic self-portraits, but I do not believe it and I can argue my point that she is not a valuable addition to art history with critical perspectives on her legacy:

Limited Formal Innovation: Her technique was not particularly ground-breaking…far from it…in terms of formal or technical development. Her style was rooted in Mexican folk art and a sort of surrealism-light that did not innovate in terms of form, compared to…dare I…contemporaries like Picasso or Kandinsky, which were real artists in every sense of the word. For me Picasso and Kandinsky were the greatest innovators of the 20th Century and true geniuses. Kahlo does not fit in that company.

Overemphasis on Personal Suffering: Her fame leans too heavily on her personal story—her chronic pain, relationship with Diego Rivera, and her political identity—rather than on the artistic merit of her works themselves. And of course, she was a martyr and martyrs sell and are well accepted by the general public.

Cult of Personality: Her image (iconic unibrow, flower crown, traditional Tehuana dress) has become commodified to the point that she’s more famous for being Frida Kahlo the icon than Frida Kahlo the painter. She…and this was through no fault of her…became the queen of merchandising. I mean even little girls for Halloween dress up like Frida Kahlo. And pop stars, beginning with Madonna, have also dressed like her to capitalise on the image. But that says nothing about artistic significance…

Do not be afraid to do it and say it loud. Art is either good or bad because art, like music, divides first only into two categories: good and bad. And please, this is not a matter of taste but of truth. Good art shows mastery of ideas, technique, reference, experience, depth, and coherence. Bad art demonstrates a lack of professional approach bordering on laziness, emptiness, or mere gimmickry.

One may dislike Bach, yet Bach remains good, outstanding I would say. One may enjoy a jingle, yet the jingle remains bad. Taste does not rewrite reality. To collapse all art into “subjective preference” is to pretend that a child’s scribble equals Giotto, or that noise equals a symphony. The fact is simpler, harsher, and liberating: art is either good or bad. Everything else is commentary. And that is true because your taste…or mine…does not define art. Art is an academic subject matter and a profession. And although many people think of it as a pastime, it is definitely not. An artist does not work to pass the time but works for money, to sell a professional finished product.

So, just to recap, art, like music, is judged by one, and only one major law: it is either good or bad. Your taste may wander, and you may like this or that, but your taste does not define quality nor does it judge art. It is merely your taste (or mine) and we can have, like so many people we see «out there», bad taste. And taste, good taste, is an important attribute that an artist must have. To deny this is to confuse noise with music, scribble with painting, accident with creation. And bear in mind that the process of creating art is not intuitive. It is contrived, developed, refined, reworked and polished. Although it still can be a complete and total mystery.

CHEERS

Part 3 coming up…

Perdonad si no llego a leer vuestros posts/artículos pues estamos en plena faena atendiéndolos a los menesteres de la exposición que va viento en popa hasta el domingo que viene.

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Please forgive if we cannot read your posts/articles or comment. We are quite engaged as the exhibit is now in full swing and will be until next Sunday.

GRACIAS – CHEERS

We are also exhibiting “Bottles by Gül” at “La búsqueda” here in València.

CHEERS

Perdonad si no llego a leer vuestros posts/artículos pues estamos en plena faena atendiéndolos a los menesteres de la exposición que va viento en popa hasta el domingo que viene.

+++

Please forgive if we cannot read your posts/articles or comment. We are quite engaged as the exhibit is now in full swing and will be until next Sunday.

GRACIAS – CHEERS

PASOS GIGANTES

Suenan los huesos y el alma,

sumergiéndose en nuestra calma,

pasos gigantes que amargan…

GRACIAS