Figure 1: Nude with Cat Lino-cut by Ben Lau 2006
Like the ancient Greeks I am fully aware that the quest for beauty is within
the human soul.
The soul yearns for enlightenment so eventually one may find true beauty within ones own intuition. Instead of becoming the blind followers of some art impostors (or artist- wannabes) the soul can make the right choice by rebelling against false authority while seeking the enlightenment from the Alpha Seers (bona-fide artistic geniuses.)
Equipped with the appropriate mental tools, an enlightened spirit can tell true art from mere illustrations–i.e. great art from the mediocre. The goal of this forum is to unleash the amazing power of the intuition, and to open the reader’s heart and mind
to true art and poetry.
Today, I will discuss a lino-cut produced a while back. It is entitled “Nude with Cat”
Hardly the popular idea of a beautiful nude: her
grotesque, if not ugly looking face–her dangling breasts,–an over-sized hand
capping her own head,–the much too familiar domestic setting with a cat
sniffing a familiar floor… .
To a contemporary public, it involves a mundane
subject matter unworthy of a second look–with the way
of its composition too dangerously close to the
consuming styles of Matisse or Picasso!
No wonder an MCAD student triumphantly concluded on
www.mnartists.org with this review:
“Ben Lau is the worst artist in the
universe.” (***1)
Indeed! Its subject matter is so unexciting that the
thought of discussing it in a public forum can
easily be perceived as worthless, especially to a
postmodern crowd…. .
Nevertheless, this is precisely the sort of work that I would
give a 9.8 out of a possible 10.
The potential in any work for the DIRECT and IMMEDIATE
revelation of the Supreme Mathematical Relationships
(***2) within the composition is fully
indicative of its artistic merits.
In this piece, for example, that potential loudly
proclaims itself. Its artistic merits cannot be
denied.
The powerful calligraphic elements rules the field–
with the unseen brush movements perpetually
imparting energy to it,thereby lending it
life for a timeless existence.
An innovation (invention) is also obvious here: the
face of
the nude is defined on the terms of her own arm
framing it.
Like Knox Martin’s extremely poetic argument :
“The face is the painting”,
Ben Lau’s invention has succeeded in sublimely
upholding itself to the status of great art.
The Alpha Seer
Notes
(***1): On www.mnartists.org, an MCAD student laid down
his/her review as follows:
“Ben Lau is the worst
artist in the universe.”
That comment is immediately reversed by Knox
Martin’s:
“Ben Lau is an artistic genius, unknown,
unsung…”)
(***2):
Supreme Mathematical Relationship: the great harmony
divined in the Yin and Yang, the building blocks of
all universes.