Grotesque and the truth
May 1st, 2024
The art as in the painting by J.M.W Turner above is easy. It is easy to look at, to think about, and to discuss with another person. There is not much more to it than an amazing skill and talent to capture a perfect moment in time, on the canvas nonetheless. And the colors that were chosen to immediately bring an understanding of the situation pictured. Symbolism is easy too — an iron horse emerging from the natural squall announcing the coming of the age of steam and speed and relentless engineering. There is beauty in the simplicity and simplicity of beauty in this painting. And the meaning is distilled into mazy brushstrokes and layered pigments. There is a touch of brutal force still conveyed in a pleasingly aesthetical manner. This painting oozes classical class in its approach to the subject and to the art itself.
On the other hand, how exactly am I to approach the second painting here — one painted by Otto Dix? This painting is absurdly grotesque and exaggerated, like almost all of the oeuvre of Otto Dix, and especially his works that deal with the war and its aftermath (or many singular personal aftermaths of the war). There is no beauty to see. The subject matter is painfully realistic and harsh and difficult to digest. There is no easy way to discuss this painting and its meaning with another person — it would require daring on my part to willingly bring discomfort to another person. And yet, there is an underlying sympathy and adherence to the truth from the artist. There is a hauntingly pitiful human dignity and that is also a part of the beauty I find (and look for) in art.
There is a place for both of those paintings in my private museum I keep open in my head. I can keep them next to each other there. The concepts of beauty and the grotesque and the truth are exchangeable there.
