Friday, January 25, 2008

A Review of Art Appreciation Class for Those of You Who Were Not Paying Attention

The ancient Greek philosopher, Andy Warhol, once said,
Art is what you can get away with.

Well, apparently artist Daniel Edwards, is generating an outpouring of emotions from the Fellowship of Barbaro as well as racing enthusiasts. On April 30th, the controversial sculptor is planning to unveil his artwork of Barbaro in Central Park, provided Mr. Edwards gets around to filling out his application for a special permit or a temporary public art permit. The purpose of this piece of art is to inspire Americans to contact their Representatives and Senators and ask them to help write, sponsor and support legislation that would make it illegal for racetracks to sell beer for more than $2.75. Or something like that.

Currently on the website for the Barbaro “Check It Out – He’s Upside Down!” Memorial, there are over 40 passionate comments posted, and the general consensus seems to be that the artist is a tasteless hack and stupid idiot. Admittedly, I don’t particularly care for the piece, but it’s art, I guess. Well, that’s what Daniel Edwards calls it as well as other art connoisseurs, aficionados, and snobs.


The appreciation of art is intensely subjective and personal. I greatly admire the art displayed Lone Star Park; there are murals by renowned horse artist Fred Stone, and there’s a bronze statue of Alysheba, designed by Lisa Perry, at the East Gate entrance. The artwork exhibits the grandeur and beauty of the horse. I look forward to the day when Barbaro will be memorialized in the same manner, not as some controversial display for political purposes.

Meanwhile, here's some art to appreciate ...

-Lone Star Legacy by Fred Stone

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I suppose you're right in that art takes on hundreds of different forms and is open to even more interpretation. But, frankly, some things seem a bit odd about the whole sculpture. How would Americans react if there was a piece of Art done on Abe Lincoln of him falling from the balcony at Ford Theater? They'd react negatively of course because he didn't fall out of the balcony, much like Barbaro didn't lie on his back in peril.

I thought this was interesting... I posted it at the new Racing Dispatch... I told other bloggers, feel free to post entries you like there!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue,
I couldn't find an email address to contact you on here, so would you please send me an email at denisb@texasthoroughbred.com. We met last year at the sale in Dallas and I wanted to talk to you about something with the Texas Thoroughbred magazine. Thanks, Denis Blake