Andy Warhol once said “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” Honestly, looking at life in general and not just about art, not everyone is going to applaud and be happy about what you are doing or even understand it. Some, because they just don’t want to applaud you for no good reason, others because they actually think you are making major steps in life and so they wish you would fall, and others because they think that whatever you are doing is weird and odd so they just don’t get how weirdness earns your cheers. Well, this shouldn’t be reason for you to drop your confidence and lose focus just because you feel you do not fit in like other people want you to. Just do you! Be you! In any case, why fit in when you were born to stand out?
In art, the same thing happens, you do not need to fit in or do what is considered to be the norm of art, in order to be a successful artist. There is literally so much freedom in art; freedom to be unique and even funny enough freedom to be weird. You can create work that other people just won’t relate with or even understand. Yes!! It is actually okay.
Grace Pailthorpe and Reuben Mednikoff can be described as “weird artists.” The two were considered to be the most exciting and important Britain surrealists during their time but unfortunately, few people are familiar with their work today.
They began collaborating in making art in 1935; they were not just making art for the sake, they were doing it as a lifelong psychoanalytical research project. They were known for vivid and experimental works, most importantly they were termed and will be remembered as the creators of “goofiest paintings” in London. Grace and Reuben were praised as one of the best surrealist of all the British artists. The works created by the duo were included at a show at Moma in New York and they had a solo show at the Guggenheim Jeune in London.
Their works were appreciated by those who understood it while others thought it was just weird and tricky, however they still kept on making art.
Grace and Reuben lived together for four decades in London, in the US and also also in East Sussex where they opened an antique shop. The two had a dedicated research relationship but they did not fit in well into normal narratives. In 1936, the duo exhibited in a show at the Burlington Galleries in London but years later they moved away from the movement because they simply couldn’t comply with the instruction to exhibit only in surrealist exhibitions; clearly, fitting in wasn’t their thing.
Their efforts and heroism in art will live on as this year, an exhibition will be organized devoted to the dynamic duo. The exhibition will bring together works from public and private collections. The show will be the first of its kind in 20years meant to celebrate the goofiest London painters. Hopefully the exhibition will be a success and the two will be shown to the world even in death.
Grace died at the age of 87 while Reuben passed on a few months later. The two might not have been absolutely famous but they had their followers in their little world. Goofiness and uniqueness are what impact crowds.
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