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"The bilateral symmetry of Voice of Fire confirms each viewer's own upright stance in the world in a straightforward and comforting manner. Although simple in form, it is a complex painting that can convey a range of meanings for those viewers who are willing to slow down and approach it with an open mind.
Voice of Fire is not an abstraction of something, nor does it refer to anything outside of itself. It is an objectification of thought - a concrete embodiment of Newman's reflections on his existence and an acting-out of those reflections in paint on canvas. Although the presence can induce different responses in each viewer, the resulting experience will be grounded and focused in the work itself, and will correspond somewhat to Newman's own feelings and thoughts at the time Voice of Fire was conceived and painted.
Looking at Voice of Fire, it is apparent that ther is no hierarchical arrangement or dominance of one part over another: the three equal parts exist alongside each other. The only differences are in their relative position and colour. And while there is twice the quantity of blue, the red band is just as important (hey! It's worth $617,000 according to my calculation!) and distinct as the two blue ones. Each part remains separate and yet all coexist as a whole (how romantic!). As we struggle nationally and internationally with our individual and collective identities, Voice of Fire acts as a reminder of what it is to be independent and free of domination while at the same time part of a larger world."
This is absolute bilge, a perfect example of the very worst kind of deceit in the business of art: a connoiseur/poseur insisting he sees something that by any objective standard really isn't there (something purely imaginary) and suggesting by implication that anyone else who doesn't also see it is somehow lacking. This is out and out fraud. The writer is reaching almost frantically for something/anything approaching significance to say about this painting, and, once he gets past the colors and the few simple details about their arrangement, there really just isn't anything to say. There just isn't.
"Gosh, it's big."????
Unfortunately, that doesn't deter him, because he has to somehow justify the outrage. Luckily, he has jargon...vast resources of copious, blithering jargon...to fall back on. Everyone's eyes will glaze, and he will happily continue to blither them senseless until they finally stumble wearily off, leaving him the field and the victory, knee deep in his own bs. |
