SAVE STRENGTH

Use weakness as a way to people, not strength.
It’s a way of moving.
I want to cry, but keep laughing.

Paul Thek sketchbook page, 1969.

In these tragic times, where we exist in a state of global lockdown, in an unprecedented state of fear (even more so than usual), with countless lives prematurely lost, Paul Thek and his notions of art are more relevant than ever. Yes, we are universally compromised, but out of the heartrending upheaval and sickness, the stream of creativity continues, unabated (or at least only partially abated). This Instagram show of School of Visual Art students from my senior studio workshop is proof that despite the cancellation of their final public exhibition by Covid, we can still wend our way to an audience. And though Insta and digital viewing rooms are in general a (very) weak substitute for looking at art, as Malcolm X said: “By any means necessary”.

These works were crafted in bedrooms, hallways, in showers and on stovetops (literally) but nevertheless they were completed despite the students being robbed of physical studio space. In art schools 20 years from now, I can imagine an assignment simulating quarantine and making do with nothing more than what surrounds them at home. The art presented today is characterized by nothing more than love and blind faith—conviction and devotion make for some mighty effective art supplies.

This class has been eye-opening for someone like me, mired in the daily machinations of fairs, auctions and the market in general. Being self-taught (in what, don’t answer), this is the first art studio class I’ve ever been in, yet taught; and, typically in the art business, no one wants to hear about art, only who’s buying, selling and showing it. I will surely miss the class and students and hope it won’t be the last.

Kenny Schachter