Confessions of an Art Judge

I recently was tapped to be the judge of an abstract art contest. I agreed to do it, but wondered, "Am I art judge material?"
Apparently, I am not.
But this was great opportunity to think about how art SHOULD be judged as well as to CONFESS some of my other failures and sins as a citizen of the art world.

[@clintatk]

The simple fact is that art isn’t a competition. One can critique, offer personal opinion, dismiss, but awarding “First Prize”, etc. has always been a humorous act at best. Art judging has a long history of derision of the judges by future viewers.

[@StephenHeigh]

John you could have taped a banana to the back of you canvas and submitted it as an assemblage. I do think your stamp idea is an outstanding thought and made me smile and think. I really enjoyed your video and yes, I too have been in art shows where I got in mostly because the judge had an art installation idea in their head and just happened to fit the vibe of the show as it was curated. I have also been excluded from shows because my work was two inches too big. I give you so much credit for reaching out to others for their thoughts. You are a brilliant painter and a brilliant videographer. I would not be a good judge either and have worked in various genres of art. You are absolutely right on target with the breakdown of abstract art in categories. I have been painting abstractly now in recent years and for most of my life was a contemporary realist. The weird thing is my abstract work is getting more attention than any of my realist work ever did and that is odd to me because it was something I never had much interest in and getting attention with that at age sixty four? I'm thinking now that most relatively good to great realist painters can be good abstract painters because they work with shapes, color, composition form and texture and the surface. I would say judging from flat digital photographed images of art is pretty much impossible. The lack of seeing a piece and feeling it up close in the real is lost. I'm just glad we have art to talk about and not politics and our current crap show going on with that. Artists have better things to do and that's sharing beauty with the world and acknowledging the efforts of our fellow artists. You are a noble man John and have a wonderful holiday season. Stephen Heigh

[@genevievemurray7743]

Subjectively speaking, I liked every art piece submitted. That’s why I can’t judge. My son asks, what IS bad art? He doesn’t believe that there is any such thing as bad art and he’ll talk around you until you submit. That is his art. 😅

[@mpockley]

What a beautifully honest presentation. The world needs more people like him.

[@isabelgore]

As always, I loved the video and its content, particularly your confession, the way you describe the various forms of abstract art, your concept of art judges and their role in that capacity. Thank you John :)

[@chantalrochon3566]

Well explained! You touched all aspects that touches artwork.❤❤❤❤ thank you for this video😊😊😊😊

[@elizabethheller2831]

Really enjoyed this. It was great to see more of your work, and that of Walter Stuempfig.

[@valeriachilders]

Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing.

[@chantalrochon3566]

Loved your personal prise story❤❤❤❤

[@larsickenroth7169]

Reminds me of that pivotal scene on Hemmingway in 'Midnight in Paris', where he goes: 'If it's bad I'll hate it because I hate bad writing, if it's good I'll hate it because I'm envious all the more. You don't want the opinion of another writer. (...) Writers are competitive. You're too self-effacing man, it's not manly. If you're a writer, declare yourself the best writer! But you're not as long as I'm around, unless you want to put the gloves on and settle it.' Then he leads the author to Gertrude Stein, the person whom he asked for frequent critiques. This perfectly illustrates the distinction by the way, between a critique/opinion and a flat-out competition. The first are (or should) always be done with the artist's future development in mind only. (which is why we talk of 'constructive criticism for example). Yet, a competition is not necessarily about individual artists and their works, but at how they measure up at that exact moment in time, in context of the environment they operate in, the temperature, the culture, etc. . In other words: if you're looking for a pat on the back, or looking to grow: ask someone whose opinion you value to provide some honest critique or opinion. And if you're sure of your work and you want to see where you rank up against other professionals: participate in a competition. While I understand your hesitation about rating - because you are close to the process of development yourself and know how fragile it can be - it is actually a very good exercise to have to articulate what you see (or see lacking) in other's works. Which is interesting, because you'll encounter works that 'tick all the theoretical boxes' for being a good work, and yet still are missing that extra factor. Speaking for myself: I would only ever enter any competition if there were judges whose opinion I valued, and who would provide a full report. Because, as you say: it is extremely subjective. Tomorrow, it might be an entrely different outcome, Which brings me to the last bit: no, this Stuempfig-man was not a good judge. Even if all the artworks were - in his eyes - extremely terrible, then you'd want to provide some proper comments in order to nudge them in the right direction and development. Or you'd accept that the local quality was a bit lower, and made a ranking within that context. Simply announcing 'it's terrible' and storming out, only indicates one thing: this man urgently needed a snack....

[@carlaharder5078]

this was so enlightening and as an artist I totally relate to this confession...Judging is so completely under discussed.

[@francam853]

Great video. Thanks! And made me laugh. I didn't enter a show where a former teacher was a judge, because she knew me and liked my artwork and I felt the judging could be skewed by that. I don't like politics. I love the way you were judging the show. Do it again and this time solicit the other informal art judges to--aside from offering feedbck--remind you of the time!

[@GailBurfoot]

Thank you. You’re a gem.

[@mariemaber940]

John, you and your videos, help to reinforce my ties to PAFA and the circle of artists drawn to it, close to my heart. Thank you. M Naples Maber

[@grandpa_eric]

Here the ‘common man’ was asked to judge. IMHO the winning entry ought to be based on your personal desire. That’s why you were chosen to judge. Forget the art & croissant, wine & cheese cult of know it alls. It’s an honor to judge, to be you, not them. Forget the drama and the critics looking over your shoulder. It’s not about them and their artist feelings, it’s up to you. Make your choice. Done.

[@paulembleton1733]

Judging abstract art objectively seems impossible beyond judging technique. Rothko framed print looks great on our bedroom wall, but in an art gallery they are mostly boring imho. Abstract for a specific space attracts me most. Painting with someone specific in mind best of all. The huge variety in the slideshow, any of which we could easily imagine a space for.

[@matineesonmainstreet2005]

I did this kind of thing for several years when I ran an art organization in Wisconsin. One thing I can say, from the samples you showed, the work out East was a lot better than the work in the Midwest.

[@whathappenedtoqualityart]

Shouldn't there be a category 'Pretentious Nonsense'? No, probably not, that would have nearly all those shown fighting amongst each other again. Does that make me 'a very good judge indeed'?

[@dawnemile7499]

Loved the painting of your wife.

[@OptimisticSatellite-zn1yn]

Nuts Like Art History Majors Who Never Had The Talent To Produce Any ART

[@kcirful]

I really enjoyed your video. Judging art is very complicated. It makes me question what the purpose of judging is? Art is so subjective, why must we need validation at all? Having your art seen and experienced by others should be enough. Competition just changes the experience between artists.

[@JayBenedictBrown]

Crowdsourcing the judging is brilliant. Art is so subjective the opinion of any one person would seem to be not as good a predictor of success as the opinions of many.

[@ltwig476]

I'm not much for judging art nor scoring athletics. If there are winners, then there must be losers. I fantasize every viewer leaving the stadium claiming "What a bunch of heroic efforts we just witnessed" For most artist, the life in the thing is that of working to discover something, mostly bits and pieces during, somewhat less upon completion. Should we record what's on their minds as they paint and judge them for how many times the discovered and how pleased they were on each separate discovery? Maybe folks need to check themselves how well they fit into groups. Therefor as John proposed, how many people in that artist group liked that one better?

[@djsnyder001]

Apologetics for taste aside, it is too bad that the works that were seen by the named critic/judge, Walter Stuempfig, cannot be shown. I have never known of this artist until this video, but upon looking at his referenced works online he was obviously an artist of quality, and would know quality work when he was presented with it. This makes me wonder what the woodcut he endorsed looked like . . .

[@TomMallonpage]

Hey John, perhaps you were doing a subconscious 'Stuempfig' when you missed that deadline? Still, it got you thinking and, voila, you shared those thoughts. I would also make a terrible judge of work outside my purview. Nevertheless, I feel strongly about the need for competition and discriminating judgments. Recently, I've heard protestations like "Artists shouldn't have to compete." I responded, "If we're going to eliminate competitions, why not grading as well?" Why bother to have instruction? Why not just supply a studio and demand galleries sell everything, without discrimination?" Walter Stempfig judged hundreds, possibly thousands of works he was an expert in over his lifetime. Win or lose, those artists were better for his involvement. However, in the end, we must be the best judge of our own work, but only if we've walked the walk and been honest with ourselves.

[@duncanhewitt6557]

I am up to 183 in William gompertz 150 years of modern art which covers many things in this video.

[@lisengel2498]

Thank you for your very nuanced reflection and dialogue about quality in Art. I find it very interesting and important 🧡🩷♥️💜🙏 And Of course quality both in life and in Art can not be measured as the time it takes to run from A to B. That can never be the point. It depends on your values, what you experience as important. What do you judge as important values ? So you might agree on some values and disagree on other, and your way of experiencing and judging values can change during life. But the values, whether conscious or intuitive, cultural and historic will always be important for the choices we make- both in life and art. Art is a way of communicating about something you find isignificant - in that way Art is a multidimensional language inspired from all sides of life and invites us to experience deeply and with an open heart mind. 🙏for your inspiring video 🧡🩷❤️♥️