At the end of the
20th century, plain old two-dimensional hand-made art offers one of the
few ways for us to resist the pressures of mass consumer culture. But
in order to have cultural impact, it is not enough for art to be simply
"self-expression." Artists must use their intelligence and devote
themselves to practice. They must respond specifically to a medium's possibilities
and conventions, built up through history, including the history of cultures
other than the West. They must understand modernism and its reactions.
Then, after studying and practicing, they must embrace, modify or overthrow
everything they have learned.
