There’s this really special feeling when you’re instantly drawn to a work of art. You tilt your head from across the room because it feels familiar–almost “yours.” You walk over to get a closer look and read the nameplate. You’re surprised to discover that the description transports you even further into that familiar world–You knew! It affirms something in you to know that you shared a feeling with the artist. To relate to someone through such complex visual language–to be an “insider”–it’s a sharp feeling. There’s a second special experience with art in which you’re fascinated, confused, or even disturbed. It is just so ugly, but maybe so ugly that you love it? Or it’s so complex you don’t quite get it at all or so simple you feel anyone could have made it.
Again, with piqued interest, you walk up to the nameplate–this time looking for help. The best art will, at this moment, take you somewhere new. You may find that bits and pieces of what drew you in hit close to home, that what once disturbed you was meant to disturb you, or that the simplicity was in itself a statement. You’re given the opportunity to “re-read” the art as if you’d read The Canterbury Tales before realizing the entire book was meant to be satire. Artists, as much as performers and creators, are translators of emotion. It’s a moving experience as an artist to successfully translate and it’s equally moving as a viewer to be able to understand an artist’s language.
While it is said that “getting” art can be an insider sport, I don’t believe that was ever the intention. Artists want to be understood and in raw form. This gap of understanding is what we’re bridging at Bond & Grace. What’s most compelling to me about the Art Novel format is that it is a conduit for understanding. It provides branches for both artists and art appreciators to better understand one another… and to better understand the text as a bridge between them. It is a far more approachable, gradual, and even palatable way to understand the deeper meaning of art than in a typical gallery.
I’ve seen it time and time again with peers, family, and prospecting collectors of my work. They resonate with something they love in the art but can’t pinpoint its purpose—the why for its existence. I’m grateful when they react to what they see, but it is an unmatched feeling when they actually get it—when it needs no explanation. I firmly believe that The Art Novel is what artists have been yearning for. It is a conduit towards people getting us. After all, understanding art is a bonding experience.
As you’re reading The Secret Garden Art Novel, you are also bonding with the text and strengthening your understanding of its themes. By the time you’re lost in the book, you are concurrently prepared to understand and experience the art. The visuals you are presented with are expansions of, or departures from, what you already know. The art becomes both derivative and entirely original. As someone who has both been confused by art and has created confusing art, I’m particularly moved by The Art Novel’s translating effect. It’s a platform to share, receive, understand, and be understood, guiding readers by the beauty of the narrative and opening doors for creatives to teach in their first language.
To Endless Discovery,
Maggie Lemak
ART EXPERIENCE DIRECTOR
