Kitsch & Beauty: The Proceedings of The Representational Art Conference 2014

Kitsch & Beauty is a record of 21 speeches and presentations made at The Representational Art Conference 2014 (TRAC2014). Roger Scruton and Juliette Aristides gave keynote addresses, and the artist Odd Nerdrum came from his home near Paris to join in a public conversation with Dr. Scruton.

What readers will not discern from the written record is that this was an extraordinary event €“ a joyful gathering of more than 350 representational artists and thinkers from around the world finding community and relishing the opportunity to share in ideas about representational art. New friendships were made and old friendships reaffirmed; there were strong discussions about issues confronting representation were addressed by thought leaders in media, museum curators, artists, and professors; fascinating demonstrations by skillful painters, sculptors and draftsmen shared technique and nourished the audience€s studio practice. The conference fed the mind, the heart, and the hand.

What readers will discern from this book is that the conversation about representation is broad and deep, with global dimensions. It includes papers by authors from China, Africa, Europe and the United States written about an extraordinary range of topics that concern the representational art community. The keynote addresses given by Scruton and Aristides have been transcribed and edited, and fascinating insights into life in Odd Nerdrum's studio have been included. This is an essential text for readers interested in the thinking that is being shared among people working to establish meaningful aesthetics for representational art in the 21st Century.

176 illustrations

CONTENTS

Preface
Michael J. Pearce PhD MFA

Faking It۬
Roger Scruton

Kitsch As Superstructure€"Comparing the criticism of kitsch and Odd Nerdrum, and explaining the potency of €œkitsch€ as superstructure for representational, narrative painting.
Jan-Ove Tuv

Redemptive Realism€"An Introduction
Alan J Lawson, MA

Big Beauty and Form Sense in Contemporary Figurative Practice
Patricia Watwood

Apollo and Dionysus in the Representational Painting Family Feud
Elana Hagler, MFA

The Sublime: Transitioning Definitions Through History, and Its Place in Contemporary Plurality.
۬Guy Kinnear, MFA

World Disclosure Through Paintings: Can Phenomenology Provide A Basis For Making An Argument For The Importance Of Representational Paintings?
Carl Wegner Korsnes

Creating Truth. The Continuing Value of Accuracy and Sincerity in the Arts۬
Michael Lierly

The Aesthetics of The Idealized Male Figure in 21st Century Representational Art۬
Aihua Zhou, MFA

Selfies: The Self-Portrait in the in the Age of Facebook
Katherine E. Zoraster

The Impact of Atelier Training upon 21st Century Art; Dreamscapes in the Works of Abayomi Barber
Olatunde Barber, MA

Words Against Words
Virgil Elliott

Beyond the Golden Ratio: Composition as Human Perception۬
Ryan Brooker, BA

The Quest for Beauty Through Classical Proportions
Kristie Bruzenak, MFA

Contemporary Chinese Atelier Training and Realist Oil Painting
He Lihuai

Representational Oil Painters Group in China: A Case Study
Nan Liu, PhD, MFA

A Short History of Ornament and Its Relationship to Narrative Painting
Steve Shriver BA

The Medium of Easel Painting in Contemporary Art Theory
Sharon Orleans Lawrence, MFA

Into the Wasteland
Brandon Kralik

The Nerdrum School
David Molesky

The Enduring Value of Art
Juliette Aristides