"Have we lost the ability to see beauty, or is this desire laying dormant, waiting to be awakened and experienced?"
Some say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but is this really true, or have we come to accept such a statement without much reflection or analysis? Are we concerned with beauty in this chaotic, digitized world? Have we lost the ability to see beauty, or is this desire laying dormant, waiting to be awakened and experienced?
In his book Seeing Like an Artist: What Artists Perceive in the Art of Others, the painter and sculptor Lincoln Perry explores such questions by taking the reader on an exploration of artistic expression. Perry is aware of the pitfalls of artists “explaining” art, yet he defends his desire to write about art, which is a “visual meditation on life, available to all.” But Perry doesn’t tie himself in knots by trying to define capital-A Art, and the text is mercifully free from jargon and ideology. Instead, his beautiful reflections offer insight into not only the mind of an artist but also how we, as human beings, relate to painting and sculpture.
Perry’s reflection on beauty turns into an enjoyable travelogue. As an artist, he walks (both in reality and in his imagination) through the museums and galleries of paintings and sculpture. Sometimes he walks with the great masters, sometimes he views them from a distance.
