Art Theories and Influence on Artists - How Theories About Art Influence the Practice of Artists And/or Art Critics or Historians

Art Theories and Influence on Artists

Essay Question: Discuss how theories about art influence the practice of artists and/or art critics or historians

Practice in art refers to the decisions and actions that affect choices, perceptions, ways of working and views of an artist or art historian. Tim Storrier sums up the practice of an artist by saying that “A painting is really a graphic illustration of where a particular artist is at that point in his life and the art encompasses what the artist has gone through in their life.” On art historians and critics he says “Other people come along and interpret the painting with their own life experiences” The subjectivity involved in a critic or art historian’s views are extremely high.

The practice of Tim Storrier is informed by the theories of painting an idea with a poetic edge. This idea then goes searching for “totems” to portray itself upon. Storrier speaks about this theory: “My paintings don’t start with visual stimulation, it’s usually an intellectual idea with a poetic edge, then the idea goes searching for different totems to portray itself upon.” Storrier elaborates further that “The bottom line of my paintings is that they are trying to come up with totemic images about Australia. We don’t have many, for me the true totemic image of Australia is the horizon.” A totem is a natural object that is usually the emblem of a clan in a tribal group. Storrier’s totems are a natural object that he can apply his poetic idea to.

We see from these quotes that the theory of Tim Storrier’s art is concerned with the idea of painting “totemic images” and that the paintings are trying to come up with totemic images about Australia. Storrier believes that the totemic image of Australia is the horizon. Storrier is using both the Subjective and Cultural frames in his artwork. Storrier uses the cultural frame to emphasise the point that his belief is that the horizon is the totemic icon of Australia. The horizon is included in most Australian paintings and has become an integral feature of Australian artworks. Storrier was influenced by Australian artists Russel Drysdale and Sydney Nolan. Both these artists use the horizon as a key feature of their paintings. Storrier incorporates the horizon in almost every painting and the main idea of his paintings are the horizon, not the actual objects he portrays in them. Storrier’s theory on the horizon being the totemic image of Australia stems from his love of the horizon, even as a child “I was always gazing at what lay beyond the horizon... The beauty of distance.” This shows that Storrier is working from the subjective frame as well as the cultural frame. An important quote from Storrier is this: “My burning rope pictures, the series called Point to Point, are totemic images of a journey from one point to another in