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 Judith Lavendar

Judith Lavendar is an American artist born in Detroit. She received a Fine Arts BA from the Kentucky University, studying with Frederick Thursz.    Judith’s art then moved to photography, she received a MA in art therapy before moving to New Mexico, and then to NY where she studied at the NY Studio School with Carole Robb.  Judith also received an MFA from the Massachusetts School of Art&Design; she has widely exhibited in group and solo shows.

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

Judith Lavendar: Art today is like art any other day. Art is often something people do without much of a reason or forethought, so the ideas, methods, and choice of materials are more or less divinely supervised, if you will.

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

Judith: Art experienced by individuals affects individually, but then again entire movements spring from the work of individuals. For the most part art produced at the highest level gives us a good look at what’s going on around us. It changes as the world does. Beautiful, and/or meaningful work affects people through all the art forms one way or the other. (enlightened, offended, entertained, awestruck, promoting memories, and so on.)— as people who make it are affected.

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

Judith: Very early in my life I found that if I disappeared into my room, my mother would not chastise me. Art became a way of speaking without saying anything.

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?

Judith: Art plays the same role it always has in reflecting the culture. One might observe that much of the work seems flat or confused, and if so then our culture is becoming flat and confused – meaningless. Perhaps it is safe to say “don’t blame the art being produced. Blame the culture.”

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

Judith: I believe the art world today is filled with greed and narcissism. The culture itself seems to be losing its soul.

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

Judith: The other day I became frustrated at something electronic. My son was quick to remind me that about a hundred years ago there were more horses used for transportation than cars. Today’s world works at warp speed and I think it’s sad. Anyone can make a bad video and get it put up where bad videos are seen. I’m sort of stuck back in the times when we took slide sheets around to galleries ourselves. I’m afraid soon we’ll all be wearing unisex uniforms and eating fake meat.

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?

Judith: Art is losing its soul one day at a time reflecting the culture.

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?

Judith: Whatever touches us in a work of art is to then understand what that means.

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

Judith: Art schools promote “group think” and so do the galleries. Very sad, but that’s human nature. Students often end up copying themselves or others.

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?

Judith: Globalization of anything removes the nuances of the world. How will we feel if we lose the thoughts of an African elephant caretaker, or the wild “salsa” of a Brazilian dance? What’s interesting to me is our differences and traditions, good, bad, or just interesting. Once those are lost the Globalists will have us under their control.

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

Judith: I’m not sure I know how galleries and museums position themselves but I’m suspecting money needed to sustain them comes first.

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

Judith: Figuration and abstraction have been around since 1910 or before. Yay.

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

Judith: Young artists need mentors who aren’t interested in the end product but in the process of getting there and encourage them to honor that.

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

Judith: No. It’s up to us to save ourselves, stop dreaming, and get to work. Leave the arts alone to flourish or die on it’s own.

www.judithlavendar.com