The NY Times recently ran an article called "Vollis Simpson: Junkyard Poet of Whirligigs." It's about a 91-year-old outsider artist and former farm equipment repairman in North Carolina who creates huge, fanciful and dynamic pieces from junkyard scrap. I was particularly drawn by a quote in the article from Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, "a Maryland philanthropist and consultant to nonprofits" who opened the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. She says of Simpson, “He’s delighted with attention, but he doesn’t need it…my favorite artists don’t watch themselves being artists.”
My favorite artists don't watch themselves being artists.
What an interesting little phrase. Some of my favorite artists decidedly do "watch themselves being artists" (Whistler comes to mind). If you're not watching yourself being an artist--i.e. if you're unaware of your artistic identity, or don't particularly identify your work as 'art'--then are you really an artist?
Food for thought.
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