We are In the Midst of an Artistic Revolution

It may not feel much like it when you sit in your quiet studio painting, but we are in the midst of an artistic revolution. I would go so far as to say titanic. We are in the midst of a titanic artistic revolution. A revolution as big as the revolution that brought about some of the worlds greatest art movements of the 18th and early 19th century.

We rarely see when we are in the midst of such momentous times until they pass us. But they are there nonetheless. All it takes is to look a bit closer at whats going on within the art world to shift our world.

Part of it is a paradigm shift. We are "seeing" art in a different way now. Cities around the world are shifting quickly from an industrial dirty boxy feel to artistic wonderlands where artists are encouraged to share their visions. We are taking more pride in the art that our part of the world represents and we are beginning slowly to start to view the artist as a revolutionary, an enlightened guru and a creative genius. We are perhaps finally putting aside the stereotype that artists are nothing but hippies who believe in free love and live off the government.

We are finding that creativity in every form is the mechanism that makes the world run. Creativity is being encouraged more and more rather than shoved aside and replaced by efficiency.

The next 20 years will see a massive shift in the respect and need for creatives in every field. 

Most important we will look back at this time as the emergence of several new art movements. Like Dadaism in the 1920's and Impressionism in the late 1800's, we are surrounded by potential art movements. We are looking at the whole art world in a different way and both being influenced by those changes and influencing the field ourselves. 

The most influential will be those artists that go a step further and become the leaders of this revolution. Some will do so willfully, others reluctantly, and most won't even realize they are influencing the future until long after they've done so. 

Now is the time to choose whether we become passive artists who follow the trends or we become artists who create those trends. There will never be a better time to do so or a more opportune time in our lives. 

What we wouldn't give to have been a part of one of the great movements of the past. To sit and paint with Manet or Degas during the impressionist era or help form the expressionism era if the early 20th century with Munch or El Greco. 

But the simple fact is that we are there right now. They are influencing us even now to create something new and begin a movement that may be just as profound. Look around at the artists you know and the ones you do not and realize that they are the Degas and Munch's of this era. 

A hundred years from now there will be artists who will look back with yearning to have played a part in whats happening now. 

Are you ready? Think about it carefully. Its easy to miss this boat. But you still have time to hop on before it leaves the dock. But don't wait too long. The ship is bound to depart with or without you. 

Creatively,
~Grey~