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 Jonathan Harkham

Jonathan Harkham was born in 1972 in Sydney, Australia. He immigrated to the United States and his early education ranged from Jewish yeshivas, to clothing factories in downtown Los Angeles. He Studied extensively at the New York Studio School where he currently teaches painting.

RomeArtProgram: What is your definition of “Art” today?

Jonathan Harkham: Life is meaningless without consciousness. Art is the exploration and communication of a language that coveys our deepest experience and connection with the universe, the only thing that Science and Math alone cannot accomplish.

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

Jonathan: Art changes as our consciousness evolves. Regenerating modes of storytelling about actual experience through the ages. Cezanne, Van Gough and the artists they inspired could see their stories through natures eyes with a higher awareness and depth than our ancestors. We are mapping the evolution of collective consciousness through our arts.

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

Jonathan: It was actually at NYSS around 1996, I was 24 years old that I had a total paradigm shift after seeing the Giacometti retrospective at the Royal Academy in London. I remember trying to unlock the mysteries of his marks and forms, read “the intention” especially in his sculptures. I could actually see the manipulation and creation of space around the forms. That moment marked the beginning of seeing the intentionality of the whole experience and process becoming everything all the time.

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?

Jonathan: It is so beautiful that no matter the nationality, gender or race the work is finally being explored and celebrated. As though we are finally coming out of the real dark ages. My good friend Clintel Steed is perhaps one of the most powerful painters on earth today. He is there in every mark no matter the “theme” of the painting whatever it may be pertaining to. Every mark matters and his cosmic potential is reached in every moment.

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

Jonathan: I think they are out there but an artist has to be tremendously lucky to find them. Remembering that so many masters and savants met with misfortune and haplessness is important. That is to say it has never been the true measure of an artists success that they had external support or recognition. Rather to possess a personal compass to navigate safely through the realms of the ego and the zeitgeist of our societies, to go beyond the veil of half truths and into honest experience and directness. Where an artist can face their own truths and relationship with the universe.

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

Jonathan: There’s so much phenomenal work coming through the digital realm. Artists like “ClownC0re” and “U M A M I” exemplify awesome creativity on YouTube. Imagining how it continues to evolve with V/R and AI and the fact that pretty soon we will have sentient digital robotic beings capable of creative power is astonishing! All technology has a dark side and its how we choose to utilize it ultimately. Sometimes it takes a period of acclimatizing oneself to new kinds of social media, because the ego can really go berserk. With some temperance and patience these things become valuable tools.

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?

Jonathan: It seems what has shattered was the idea of a purely empirical physical universe and the ego structures that tried to subvert and control it through the abject re-purposing of mans image and a model of the universe bereft of any real meaning. The emergency was to actually accept and recognize the unbelievable consequence of quantum theory and the impact it would have on our lives. As a result of this we can now accept as a matter of fact that consciousness travels faster than light in a transempirical universe. Everything is nonlocally interconnected and every mark, gesture or word a painter, sculptor, photographer, potter, filmmaker, musician, writer or dancer makes in an honest and direct moment of awareness that has the potentiality to connect to the great oneness of the universe.

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?

Jonathan: When a person applies mindfulness towards a work of art, they can respond with a deep sense of connection that goes well beyond a viewing experience. It is the recipe for great meditation and understanding. Consider Morandi’s still life paintings actually resonate with his personal life story and experience. No one would argue this, although what you are looking at are merely painted marks building up the simple forms.

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

Jonathan: To study form and build a relationship to “looking” from observation first and foremost. It is vitally important to know who looked and learned from who. This grounds students enough to start extrapolating and building a solid personal language. It’s really important to find teachers that can draw and paint from observation and look at the arts throughout history in order to take ownership of ones ultimate goal be it formal or abstract, even conceptual.

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?

Jonathan: I don’t adhere to the idea of a “style” in the real domain of art. To be authentic in your work is to believe that what you are doing actually matters. Regardless of what others deem “worthy” in the current market.

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

Jonathan: The big players have to set the precedent on so many levels but what’s annoying is that their need to stay relevant becomes the driving force behind almost everything on show. With such massive amounts of money at stake it would take a miracle to change the narrative. But despite the mind boggling stupidity often on display in social media I still believe there is a growing awareness among people.

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

Jonathan: It comes down to how much information gets transmitted through the marks. It’s not relevant whether the created thing resembles life or abstract forms. The evolution of a genuine language of art becomes realized through pure experiential process, because that carries the actual personal information into the art much more so than the finished image.

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

Jonathan: Engage the process of making from direct experience in the moment. Not giving in to the cross talk in the head whilst waiting for ideas to percolate. Rather work towards them through constant, mechanical and physical work. One is much more likely to stumble on a great discovery if there is a building momentum already engaged in the doing. At the very least integrity and a certain level of personal success are attainable.

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

Jonathan: Art is our own unique personal language that explores and conveys our conscious awareness and connection with the universe. Not only does it save us but it has the potential to deliver us to the highest realms of consciousness.

www.jonathanharkham.com