Martin Lewis – Under The Street Lamp
As someone who obsessively loves art, but absolutely cannot DO art, I’ve always been mystified by the (seeming) absurdity of the “Art World”. Which is why reading the wildly entertaining “Get the Picture” by Bianca Bosker was such an eye-opener. She pulls back the mineral spirit-soaked curtains and lays bare this surreal world as “one big melting pot of hypocrisies and contradictions”. Where “beautiful art = decorative”, and “decorative = dumb”, and “dumb = accessible” (affordable), and all these very undesirable qualities add up to (heaven help us) “Couch Art”.
This is a world where beauty is toxic, ugly is hip, and people in lingerie sitting on other people’s faces (literally) is the apex of Contemporary Performance Art. A world where a garbage bag of trash (an – actual – garbage bag of trash), a urinal freed from the confines of a men’s restroom and placed sideways on the floor, and paintings that include genitalia (so much genitalia) command the most respect, not to mention the highest price tags, in the elite world of collectors and gallerists.
Urinals and garbage bags aside, I should confess right out of the gate, I quite enjoy Couch Art. And not simply because I can’t afford anything in the next status bracket. If you know where to look, you can find some fabulous art that will not require your firstborn as collateral.
For instance, the image above is called “Under the Street Lamp” by Martin Lewis. Never heard of Martin Lewis? Neither had I until I came across this image by chance while searching for something entirely unrelated on eBay one evening and it took the wind right out of me. I immediately bought the print (for $18), Googled “Martin Lewis”, and experienced the special thrill of discovering something that felt like a long-lost secret.
Great art doesn’t have to be expensive or intimidating. It’s the Charles Burchfield print you rescue from the dusty pile of still life and ornately framed mountain meadow scenes in the back corner of an antique store. It’s discovering a new artist on Instagram and learning that twice a year they have a 36-hour print sale of selected paintings. Or it’s going to your city or town’s annual art festival’s and supporting local talent.
Although, if you are brave and want to attempt full body entry into the upside-down world of “Art,” you can always start by saving your garbage.