A letter to Mr. Hockney

Dear Mr. Hockney,

I find myself compelled to write you.  I have always been an admirer of your work since I was in college in the late 70's and early 80's and marveled at your Polaroid photo collages.  Recently, I had the opportunity to view your photo collages and self--portraits at the Getty Center and to even attend the lecture there where you spoke as part of a panel this past year.  I felt so inspired listening to you speak that I started reading more about you and your career including watching films about you and this has created, for me, a kind of artistic kinship. As I learned more about you, I began to understand more about myself and my own journey as an artist.  Realizing how similar this evolution is for most artists regardless. As I've traveled through different styles and mediums waiting to one day be struck with my unique style or voice,  I have come to the realization that I have loved ever period and phase I have gone through, only moving on when I no longer felt inspired or invigorate by it.  For me, to stick with one style or thing creates stagnation for me and only when I keep changing and moving forward in other directions do I feel inspiration.  It is what keeps my work interesting and alive. 

It's wonderful to see how you move from one period to the next and move from one medium to another and back even integrating them.  I have done this my entire life and have always felt this meant I didn't have a clear voice as an artist when, in actuality, I was expressing my voice all along.  Thank you for helping me see this in myself.  I am very much looking forward to your portrait exhibition at LACMA.  This years project for me are large portraits of my friends and family. I’ve just started the first one of at least 12 on 48” x 84” canvas. I haven’t worked in oil in many years but if feels right and I’m enjoying getting to know it all over again. If you are ever inclined when you’re in LA It would be really great to meet you one day and just chat about art and life.  

All my best to you,

Scott Lindner

Artists & Galleries

I've been thinking a lot about representation and fine art galleries.  I think that there are a lot of galleries and/or people out there that represent artists that don't really understand Art or artists. They will try to make you conform to what they think "you" should be producing as an artist and that is not the mindset of anyone that truly understands or loves art and artists.
Art is something that comes from the artist and is a manifestation of them. (The artist). It's not something that can be controlled or made to conform to anyone's preconceived notion.  It is an organic thing.  Art is an evolving process and is the personal expression of the artist.  To try and make the artist conform is to kill, or at least, stifle this wonderful thing. 

If the artist allows this to happen, then in time, they will lose that spark and creative thing that made them an artist in the first place.  An artist must be allow to experiment and to move in any direction that organically manifest as in any path there is a natural progression.  For an artist to stop moving forward and to become complacent in what is being produced will result in the soul being sucked out of the artist and their work will become stagnant. The joy, for the artist, will be lost.  

People, that truly understand the world of art and artists, know that you must allow the artist to produce without limits.  This is the only way an artist can flourish and grow.  Only then can the artwork come alive and real artistic genius be realized.  Otherwise, the work, although beautifully executed, will become mechanical and ultimately lifeless once the artist.  There must always be come change and experimentation to keep the work fresh and alive.
There are many artist that could be great and are technically proficient but allow themselves to get stuck which in turn stifles their growth and the freshness of their work.  This happens because they have to make a living and once they find a style that seems to be selling they continue to produce works in that style in order to sell and be able to sustain themselves.  Galleries encourage this because they are in the business of making money.  Galleries that understand the artist are excited by new work and directions by their artists and know this creates more interest and excitement than when an artist is made to produce the same thing time and time again.  It's the artist's fault.  They have to be able to earn money to live and to produce.  Few artists are afforded the opportunity to continue to grow and evolve.

One example of an artist that has been fortunate enough to as he says, and I paraphrase, "I paint what I want, where I want and when I want".  That would be David Hockney.  He is a living example of an artist with a long and successful career.  You can look through his dry prolific body of work over the years and see how the artistic process naturally progresses when the artist has had the support of the art world and the people in it, as well as, the, all important, financial support that comes with it.  It's really quite remarkable.

Artist must be allowed to produce Art without restriction in order to fully mature and contribute to the advancement of Art.