State of the Art_Artists Book_Vol.II

Foreword
Welcome to volume II of State of the Art, Artist’s Book. You might question was there really a need to release another
volume so soon after the publication of the first one in 2013? Clearly yes, the demand exists both from the artist seeking
representation and wider exposure, and for the public, whose thirst to uncover the work of the wealth of artists from
around the world, remains unsated. This book also satisfies the need of the artist to be seen alongside his contemporaries
and to explore their work, so it is indeed, an artist’s book!
Here we have a volume which dips into a huge ocean of artistic talent and has succeeded in landing a catch of precious and
rare pearls of the art world.
The artists represented here are concerned with the visual message, they don’t rely on wordy descriptions or concepts,
instead they rely on portraying their idea and message through the use of paint as has been the case from the time of the
first cave paintings. A code, developed over the ages through education, instinct, culture and the subconscious, equips us
with the knowledge to decipher these pictures. The artist is content for the viewer to interpret the work without recourse
to knowing the innermost feelings or intentions present in the artist’s mind at the time of its execution. Often the image will
mean different things to different people and this is a reflection of life where we all see things from our own viewpoint: the
story can have more than 2 sides. We shouldn’t try to classify or categorize too strictly as this will inhibit the appreciation of
what the eye beholds. This is not to say that we should suspend our intellectual process, rather we should allow it to expand
to include that which is beyond verbal description in the way that we accept feelings which defy explanation. Who of us can
say why they prefer blue to red and who is qualified to say that they are right or wrong?
Without being in the presence of the artist we are challenged to enter the painting in an effort to comprehend the meaning
behind it. This takes time so, whilst it may be considered important that the artwork is forceful enough to make us want to
stop and look more closely, we can often overlook something which is deserving of closer scrutiny and, once we start to pick
at it, we can unravel the most marvellous of representations.
MariAn Boyle Simpson
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