I found myself in front of a Berthe Morisot painting in the Art Institute of Chicago last week. It was hung next to two Renoirs. Thus, by curatorial invitation I was inclined to compare the two painters, side-by-side, and I have to say Morisot kicked Renoir's ass.
I had several moments in the museum where I was struck by the power, quality and outright gravitas of several Impressionist painters, all of whom just happened to be women.
I think Feminism has done many great things, although I know many will disagree with me on that statement. In my childhood it was called Women's Liberation, which I still think I like better. It's taken decades, and it is still one step forward two steps back some days, but cultural attitudes are changing for the better, largely because of the good fight. One thing I feel it hasn't been kind to (or especially effective with) is art theory and art history. Looking at a Morisot or Cassatt through the lens of feminism undeniably has it purposes, but looking at them through the lens of contemporary painting, -gender blind- serves them much better to my mind. I wanted to see this particular Morisot next to some of the lovely De Koonings in the Institute, for example. There's so much in the power of the impasto that pre-supposes Ab Ex; namely the shared sense of immediacy in getting the paint to surface. It made me sad that, in this museum like most others, everything is so cleanly delineated into periods and nothing gets mixed. This just strikes me as a wrongheaded way to look at and think about art. If you really think about it, nothing truly exists in a box. So why put art into all these little packages?
It reminded me that there's a lot of division on both sides of the socio-political aisle these days, maybe for similar reasons. People put themselves into boxes, and don't want to mix and mingle with the different or divergent. There's a lot of venom from both conservatives and liberals, -and oddly, it's beginning to sound eerily similar. The vitriol against Hillary Clinton from many (though certainly not all) of Bernie's supporters often sounds as violent and intolerant as the voices of Trump's minions. Why have reached this point in our culture where we can no longer intelligently disagree with someone without verbally abusing them or trying to intimidate them? Why do millions of people feel that being insensitive and vulgar is somehow "telling it like it is?' I just feel we can do better. That we must do better.
I'm surprised that so many people on the eroding edge of lower-middle class can support a billionaire, any billionaire, really. In no scenario does this man care about "the people," just wait and see. But I'm equally surprised that we are having, for the first time in decades, a serious conversation about some form of socialism, because that also indicates an enormous cultural sea change. The times they are indeed a-changing, and while half of the people in this country are going to be royally pissed on November 5th no matter how things turn out, I wonder if either outcome will truly usher in the cultural apocalypse so many on both sides fear. More than likely, and sadly, it will be business as usual by February 2017.
I just wonder if we can pick our national discourse out of the comment section gutter and actually speak AND listen to one another respectfully again. I am not naive to the deep cultural and ideological divides. I've spent most of this year reading my Burke and Paine, getting to the roots of these polarized visions for democracy. To be honest, it's hard reading. It's much easier and more satisfying to call someone an "idiot" and leave it there, except for the fact that I feel I owe my fellow human beings the same grace I've been extended all the times in my life when I too was simply uninformed and unfoundedly opinionated. We all have much to learn about one another and about our shared history.
So maybe the museum is a place to start. Maybe if we mix the Monets in with the Pollocks and let ourselves free-associate for a while from a place of unfamiliarity and non-judgment we can open our collective perceptions. Maybe what you don't like isn't crap, maybe you just don't like it because you've never thought about it, or perhaps never seen in from a different perspective. When we cling to the safe and familiar we tend to become more frightened, not more free. Freedom comes with letting go and stepping into the unknown. Fear is the expressway to tyranny.
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