“What is Art?

Art resembles a social phenomenon, but it is essentially something almost natural, something like a volcanic eruption. It does not record history, nor does it precede or follow it. Art is love, in the wider meaning of the word, it is the expression and the overthrow of a sense of fulfillment. It does not obey theories which it permanently refutes. It has its own logic and is not interpreted in words. Art is not militant or calm, but it is like the wind, which is sometimes fierce and strong and sometimes peaceful.

Art does not form but it does more than that. It connects you to the mystery of being. It does not yield justice, it is beyond it. Art is not militant but belongs to innocents, whether they are in prison or the strict manager of the opposite business.

Art is aimed towards free people, but it is very difficult to understand who these free people are. Art is not interpreted either in political or artistic manifests. The faculties, the materials, the styles, the discussions, the philosophies and the texts deal only with the stimuli that create art. But art does not interpret it.

Art is not related to marketing, auctions, and prices – all these are foreign bodies to art. The cave of Lasco was not a gallery. The artist often didn’t know if what he did was good or bad. Rarely the pioneers believe they are pioneers.

For their forefront, sure is they who follow them. Art does not demystify. “When you scratch a true artwork, a little blood will run” someone said. Many things mimic art and many imitate artists. Many artists answer questions that they do not suspect. They refer to people who did not know the question. The  education and the cultivation of the spirit is different. Art is interpreted only by art, as the pianist performs the musical composition. Art never progresses, do not confuse it with science, it just changes faces and ways to tell the same things every time. Art is something very simple and the artist a wise man.

See the faces of people as they pass through pedestrian crossings. See the worn walls with the torn posters and the colorful slogans. See the ragged clouds as the sun sets in the afternoon. See the opposite tree as the small shoots come out waiting for spring. You have made a good start and there is hope to feel the works of all time.

The artwork message is always poetic, even when it depicts the massacres of Chios or the arches of Van Gogh. You do not have to feel and love art. It is simply a privilege.

Dimitris Mytaras, Zografos, 2007