We must beware of pretense as art. If you cannot draw or paint, do not call what you produce “contemporary” or some other packaged expression. You are not special; you do not know something we do not know, and you are not a genius. You are passing off your inability as profound.
The only thing worse than deceiving us, is deceiving yourself. And some of us will not mistake arrogance for confidence.
In a society where art cannot be judged and appreciated, truth in its many other forms will suffer the same predicament. One is left with extreme poles: weak men who cannot stake a claim, or arrogant men who hide their insecurity in dogma. God give us honest critics.
Critics serve as the theologians of the art world. The corruption of a society’s soul is indicated by the deteriorating quality of its art. And it is the role of the critic to recognize this deterioration, to call it out, and to save us from further deception.
