Do you overlook the demenor or behavior of the artist for the quality of their art?

Jackson Pollock was one of my favorite artists because he revolutionized the splatter style in such a way that no matter how many people try, you can STILL tell if it is a real Pollack just by looking at it, even though it is for all intents and purposes really just paint splatter

It was said that he “danced” around the canvass.

He was a red rager… He was a bitter alcoholic and had severe anger management issues. He was still so well liked by most people that knew him no matter how problematic he could sometimes be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otBdXcWOELY

I just assume that really creative people are weird. Lol.

Seriously, though, I once read that writers, painters, musicians, etc. often have more mental problems than the rest of the population because they “go way out there” on a limb to explore what’s in their imaginations. When they do that, they take enormous risks with their mental health, and some actually “lose it” and never come back to reality. Take Franz Kaftka for example, who wrote “The Metamorphosis”, or writer August Strindberg or the ballet dancer Nijinksy. All ended up in mental asylums. Yikes.

Maybe it doesn’t pay to be too artsy or creative. Hehe.

Some fifteen years ago I had a friend who was a floor and wall tiler and who liked to believe that his works were art, but that is just a coincedent in that your question is (also) about art and pretty good at it.
Me and my former girlfriend asked him to tile our bathroom.
Turned out later, that he became more and more a racist.
The friendship ended the racism being one of the reasons, but the tiling was still pretty nicely done and I didn’t destroy it (obviously).
In other words, I see the work and the artist as two seperates that is, if I learn that the artist was racist after I viewed (and appreciated) his/her work.
If I know, beforehand, that an artist is racist (or other -ist that I don’t like) then I’ll most probably cannot appreciate any work that he is going to produce.

I, too, often equate great artistry with great mental illness ;-) Generally, I’d rather appreciate the artistic work and ignore the artist, that is—forgive any frailties.

As with all things, it really depends. For example, it’s become increasingly difficult for me to separate the addictions and behavior issues of many celebrities (arguably, all are NOT artists), and if ever a true artist had such alarming behaviors whereby they routinely harmed others, I’d likely have a hard time making the separation between the person and his/her art. But our darkest recesses can harbor our brightest creations, oddly enough.

@rebbel I suppose that’s why someone turned me into a supposed racist (which I am NOT) for their intended purpose of getting people to hate me… It seems to be the very worst thing anyone can be these days. It automatically discredited everything good I might ever again do because people believed him.

How convienient the go-to hate machine weapon of choice. (That’s his art… hate, he is very good at it.)

You clarified that for me in your answer, I was wondering why he placed such an emphasis on that specific thing. Now I know…

Thanks!

@GabrielsLamb I am not totally clear on how to read your reply to me (English being not my first language).
Would you like to simplify for my benefit, please?

Wanneer een persoon u een racist maakt, maken zij iedereen haat u om uw art. te wantrouwen. Iemand begon dit gerucht van me

Het was een gerucht, en niet de waarheid, en ik zie van uw antwoord waarom zij dit plukten

Hrmmm, quite a reasonable translation, @GabrielsLamb, but I am afraid I still don’t understand it really.
You think I ended my friendship with him for no (real) reason, or do you think I was in my right to do that?

No no no… I was looking at my situation through your answer.

It is a perfectly acceptable reason for you to end a friendship with a racist.

*I used the help of a translator… I have forgotten my Dutch I am afraid I never get the opportunity to use it so I haven’t in many years.

Thanks for clearing it up for me!
I thought it was done by a translator indeed…., I put a Dutch text through one myself this evening, to translate it into English and it appeared as ‘woody’ as did yours :-)

No, I do not. It is why I dislike Wagner.

At this point I have to use a book and that just takes too long so it is an easy way out I’m afraid. But it serves it’s purpose I suppose?

@marinelife Yeah, I too don’t tend to enjoy Hitlers contemporaries… He stole art and was a fruestrated artist himself.

Have you seen this? It is a brilliant depiction of the truth behind all of the missing art of the world and why he was motivated to allow himself to be used the way he was. He was a very sick man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV_uGuu1Cz0

Wonderfully disturbing true film. Hitler allowed himself used as a war machine because he was a man who felt abused by a Jewish art dealer a portion of his hatred was for this specific reason. Not many people know that.

Yet many people erect his image and use it in their own art as an acceptible expression of self that I for one do not understand on an artists level. Some things are NOT acceptible.

I admire their art, not their personalities or problems so no, it doesn’t really matter… to me anyway.

I too try to separate the art form whatever dysfunction, however, if these artists/actors were in my personal life I’d probably have to give ‘em the axe.

Recently I watched a Mel Gibson movie and the Michael Jackson documentary “This is it” and all through both I kept seeing the polarities of the artist and the art. In MJ’s case I just think he was too much of an empath for this world, in Mels case, I think he’s just a run o’ the mill asshole narcissist. haha

I can see quality in art but I don’t have to like the artist. It doesn’t seem contradictory, to me.

@Coloma I don’t consider either one of them to be artists honestly. Why? Because there are too many people in their lives that aided and assisted them in the end results of their creations. There are many unnamed, faceless faces behind the art they created that have an equal right to creative license. I see them more as managers than artists.

Some artists are their own satelites, their own moon so to speak, and I prefer that. They suffer alone, as well as create on their own.

My sister refuses to listen to the Doors, because Jim Morrison behaved badly.
I have no issue here. I understand artists are often crossing the line of madness.

Funny… I listen to the doors BECAUSE Jim Morrison behaved badly. Your poor sister… I feel badly for her.

@GabrielsLamb

I see your point, yeah, well, for lack of better examples, just pulling out the two most recent exposures I could comment on. :-)

I don’t think you have to admire the artist as a person to admire their talent but I wouldn’t be happy paying an artist to admire their talent if I felt that they had a certain trait/habit that I strongly disagreed with. For example: I can admire Michael Vick’s talent as a sports person but I would never pay to see him play because I don’t like certain crimes that he has comitted outside of his sporting life. For that reason I refuse to put money into his pocket.