Garth Herrick's Apotheoun is a Smithsonian Competition Semifinalist

[Alexandra Tyng]

Thanks for posting the link, John. It was interesting to see. There were some I could relate to, and some I couldn't. I guess it's different for everyone because art is so individual.

On a positive note, given the finalists, it is remarkable that realistic, representational work with more traditional elements made it into the semi-finals. Maybe some even made it to the finals. If they do this again in three years who knows how much will have changed in the art world!

[Marcus Lim]

Originally Posted by Garth Herrick

Dear Michele,

Yes as I stated above I do know Sydney Goodman and he may know me as a former student. I have not been in contact with him for five years, so there is no conflict of interest in this competition.

Dear Michele and Garth,
I'm very surprised to hear Garth's a former student of Goodman - not that i know him personally, but i did read his bio and see his images almost 5 years ago. In fact, Goodman's works set stage to thought-provoking images for me and my works, and the images i collected of his works become somewhat an endless encyclopedia for my own learning. So here, I would like to share more of his works with all of you here.

Garth's talents bloomed in the right nurture-r's hands alright!

marcus

[Sharon Knettell]

I thought it was very sad. I think we are conditioned today to thing that ugly and discordant work ( every piece on that site) is to be treasured because it is new. It could be dog****, but it is 'cutting edge' after all. We think of work of high aesthetics and craftsmanship as boring.

Representational artists all too often repeat themselves and go for the hackneyed and trite, which is why we are so often and justly ignored.

[Alexandra Tyng]

I definitely know what you mean, Sharon, though I guess I probably sound wishy-washy to you. Nothing on that sight really grabbed me, though I liked a couple of things. At the other extreme, I agree with you that

Representational artists all too often repeat themselves and go for the hackneyed and trite, which is why we are so often and justly ignored.

That is exactly why Blake Gopnick of the Washinton Post wrote his article trashing traditional portraiture. I am not saying I agree with everything he said and the specific things he said, but it is important to know and understand what modernists hate about traditional realism, and why.

It is equally important for modernists to know what traditional realists hate about modernism, and why.

That is exactly why I said somewhere above that the kind of work (this piece of Garth's for example) that bridges tradition and modernism, that uses tradition to say something new, is, I think, the most powerful direction in art.

[Garth Herrick]

John, and everyone,

As far as I know, the selected ten artists featured during the competition have nothing at all to do with the judging and selection for the exhibition. They are just ten interesting artists the staff elected to promote the competition last summer and help set the pace for the submissions.

How did they all fare in the competition? I don't know for sure, but it seems only Armando DeJesus Dominguez was fortunate enough to become a semifinalist. I wonder if he is a finalist also?

So I am not sure how this artist selection can reflect upon what the exhibition will be. I just wanted to clarify my understanding.

Garth

[John Reidy]

Thanks Garth

I wondered how the 10 could be promoted earlier than the final opening and this explains it.

To be open-minded about this I will wait to see what form the finalists take.

[Jean Kelly]

Congratulations are still in order here, your painting is amazing and to be one of the finalists is an honor. I visited the site, and am really curious now to see the winners. I couldn't possibly keep a journal going as I'm not a "word" person. Do you keep one Garth? I'd also be interested if others do this.

Jean

[Steven Sweeney]

Do you think there might be anything at all to a theory that some judges could be intimidated by a title (

[Michele Rushworth]

While this painting of Garth's would have received high accolades even if it was titled "A Kid Sunbathing," I often think there may be something behind the idea of intriguing titles.

Years ago I submitted a rather odd but mostly uninteresting landscape to a few shows and it was rejected every time. I had titled it something like, "California Sunset" or something similarly bland. Then my husband suggested the title "Left New York at 5:03". It was accepted into the next show I entered. Who knows!

[Garth Herrick]

Oh Steven, you are ever so insightful in what you say about titles. In my painful shyness I tend to give my works absurd and obscure titles for their abstracting and distancing qualities, as an alternative to "Untitled". I think I have already disclosed that there really is no sensible correlation between "Apotheoun" which is an old Geek word meaning deification, and "A Fair-Skinned Boy Reclining in the Noon Sun Risking a Bad Sun-Burn Upon a Concrete Pool Apron Beside His Mother's Fancy Espadrille Sandals and Well-Tanned Legs in June, 1981, During a Church Picnic Outing".

My daughter has the fortune of being named "Lachlan" which is equally unpronounceable, and not even a previously known girl's name. It may be unique. Imagine my horror when the receptionist at the pediatrician's office once called out "Latch-Lane"! She loves her name and wears it well, though.

Thanks for your wise insight and advice.

Garth (even my name was endlessly corrupted and tripped over until Garth Brooks came along).