ART, WHATEVER IT TAKES

Since the early pandemic in 2020, Rome Art Program has conducted a series of interviews, “Art, Whatever It Takes.”
Artists, Art Critics, and Art Historians living in Italy, the U.S., and U.K., share their insights during these powerful times.

Interview with Ann Wegmuller

Ann Wegmuller is a Scottish artist born in Gourock, Scotland.  She lived in Zurich, Switzerland. Currently she lives in Aberuthven, Perthshire. Ann has exhibited widely and is represented in several private collections.  Graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, 1985.  Elected member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, RSW, 2001.  Elected associate member of the Royal Watercolour Society, 2003.  Elected member of the Aberdeen Artists Society, 2003.  Elected full member of Royal Watercolour Society, 2007.

RAP: What is your definition of “art” today?

Ann Wegmuller: Much as I appreciate sculpture and some conceptual art, I am a painter. It is therefore personal to me. I think art is also personal to all who view it. All forms of art are important. For me it is an interpretation of what I have seen and of memories. Colour matters to me more than anything. I love the tools of the trade, the brushes and pigments and have worked in all materials. I have been told for many years that painting is old fashioned but I certainly don’t believe this. The internet has helped people to look at art worldwide and this has been a tremendous thing.

RAP: Art is dynamic and regenerates itself… how does it change, and how did it change us?

Ann: Art is a mirror of its time and is interesting from a historical point of view. It moves with thought an opinion. It gives me a history of my life also and as I have been painting for 40 years I can see myself developing and changing. Art is moving and alive in its time

RAP: When (and how) did you understand that art was becoming very important in your life?

Ann: At the age of 7, I was asked in a shop what I wanted to do when I left school. I know exactly where I was and who asked me. I said I wanted to be an artist. I had decided this because I was reading a history book and all the illustrations were in black and white. They were photographs of paintings with the artists’ names underneath. I often wondered if the black and white world that I grew up in in the 40s instilled in me the love of colour. My teenage years were the colourful 50s.

RAP: What role does art play today? What are the “great figures” who have recently changed it? Do you feel close to any of these figures?

Ann: In this difficult year that we are all in, I think that art has changed in the sense that more people are doing creative pieces that perhaps they didn’t have time for before. I also feel that galleries are being looked at less for obvious reasons. Personally I have no “great figures” that matter to me but many international contemporary artists that I have found on the internet that are interesting.

RAP: Are there still traditional figures such as collectors, muses, mecenate and patrons, in today’s art and society interaction model?

Ann: I think the traditional figures are of increasingly less important today. Even less are the galleries in which you were part of their “stable”. I do have my own clients however and recently a museum has bought from me.

RAP: How have the new technologies and media culture changed art today, improving or worsening it…? What do you feel are your biggest challenges?

Ann: New technologies have improved the art viewing of today as they is more to look at on screen. Where this path takes us is yet unknown. I spend every morning on the computer in my studio doing what the galleries used to do and this seriously reduces my painting time. If you can’t do this you can forget the art world. Technology itself is not necessary in the studio if you are a painter.

RAP: Art as a mirror of man, in this moment of emergency seems to be shattered …what do these fragments reflect now?… Shadow or light of the moment?

Ann: I don’t think this pandemic year has shattered the mirror. The mirror is still there. There are amazing drawings and painting being produced because of lockdown.

RAP: Understanding, interpreting, and then possibly judging the work of art; which is the right path when we are in front of a piece of art?

Ann: None of these apply when looking at art work. Look and remember. If you don’t understand it now you will later.

RAP: Which is the real role of Academies and Art schools today? What can artists learn from these institutions today?

Ann: I think their role now is to create an environment where people who are interested in all the art forms can work and talk freely. If you go as a mature student as I did, I know this is a very precious thing.

RAP: Art too has undergone a complex process of globalization; can having an authentic and genuine style be an advantage or a drag for an artist?

Ann: I don’t like the word” style” that sounds artificial. If you are working and expressing yourself, no matter the subject, your work will be identifiable as yours. I think your work should move and change.

RAP: How do Art Galleries and Museums position themselves today, and, in your opinion, how should they?

Ann: I think Museums in particular have fallen victim to fashion. You should be able to sit quietly in front of a piece of art work without having too much too read about what they think. Why is every child given the impression that if they use the crayons in from of them, they too can do a Rembrandt!

RAP: “Figuration” vs “Abstraction”. Which of the two is better descriptive of the period we live in? Which one will have a better future?

Ann: This depends on what country you live in. At the moment figurative work is seen to be clever and takes less understanding. I much prefer abstract work and am still striving to do it.

RAP: Today we often speak of “emerging artists”; what advice based on your experience do you feel you can give to young artists?

Ann: You have to be tough to protect what you do. If your work is rejected in a large exhibition go and have a look at what was accepted. Perhaps it was the wrong exhibition for you. Art is not a test, you don’t fail an exam when you don’t get in. Galleries too are subject to fashion even frames are subject to fashion!

RAP: Art as a lens for reading the present, can it modify the space and time we pass through? …will art save us?

Ann: Art makes life richer in the best possible way. It brings unseen joy to millions and this is worth something. If people clapped at paintings the world would be full of clapping and bravos.

www.annwegmuller.com

www.rsw.org.uk

www.royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk

www.kilmorackgallery.co.uk

www.facebook.com/ann.wegmuller.7