03. A NEW VISION
In the summer of 1996 I received a commission from Jane Bernstein at Ariel magazine to produce an illustration for an article about the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. My main idea depicted how congested Atlanta had become thanks to this sporting event. I began to paint the approved idea but hesitated. For many years my work had suffered from being unbalanced. Was I an illustrator or a fine artist? What if I reduced everything to basic elements? This approach led to me working exclusively on editorial commissions. Finally I was able to produce mini masterpieces.
Consider the following:
"All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act. This becomes even more obvious when posterity gives its final verdict and sometimes rehabilitates forgotten artists." "I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste." Marcel Duchamp 1887 - 1968