The Art and the Artist (2024)

Art is an inseparable part of our existence. Throughout our lives, we build our own imaginary kingdoms through the books we read, escape into different fantasies through the music we listen to, and become intrigued by the stories that paintings and sculptures tell us. We watch dramas, performances and movies; laugh and cry as the artists take us on a rollercoaster ride. Millions derive a sense of nostalgia from this.

For some, it could be Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ series that made their childhood memorable; a great many would have relished countless days revering and celebrating the legacy left by Picasso, and maybe few others would have found solace in Charlie Chaplin’s timeless works. Now, if I told you that one of them was openly racist, one was a misogynistic womanizer and the other married minors and ill-treated them, how would you feel about them? Do their works still hold as much importance to you, or will you never be able to view and enjoy their works in the same way again?

This leads us to the question of addressing the complexity of the relationship between an artist and the works they produce and how it can, will and should be perceived. There rarely is a binary answer to the question posed.

Ever since the dawn of humanity, art has been an expression of the wonders of human creativity and imagination. For many, it’s a getaway from their monotonous lifestyle, for some others it has been a tool for emancipation and for a few more, it is their life.

Whenever we celebrate art, we never appreciate it separately. We see ourselves growing closer and getting attached to the artist. For many, the art becomes the artist themselves. Art is an abstract concept, but the artist, nevertheless, is a human. It’s far easier to love a human and identify with them rather than a concept or a piece of work.

Whenever we listen to Taylor Swift’s latest album, read Riordan’s books or stare into Van Gogh’s masterpiece, we secretly celebrate the artist and their ingenuity. What is ‘Starry Night’, if not a reflection of Van Gogh’s masterful mind captured on a canvas?

But now, we come back to the question. When we realize the artist is not really a good person; for they’ve done a misdeed or are openly racist, hom*ophobic or sexist, how would we feel?

What follows a sudden expression of disgust and disrespect is the dilemma of whether their artwork is still worthy of all the appreciation. Suddenly, we no longer view their art in the same way we used to before. The more additional information we get about art, the more clouded our perception of it becomes. Undoubtedly, it’s hard to erase the fact of how Picasso disrespected women whenever we stand to interpret his paintings or to turn a blind eye to the racist remarks used by Blyton or Twain while reading their books.

There is no justification to think less of any other human or to belittle them. However, human ideologies and value systems are not all black and white. If we consider the times Blyton or Twain lived in, it would make more sense that their opinions were nothing but a mere reflection of the society during that era. Maybe in such cases, we don’t need to completely boycott their work. We just need to neglect the parts that have no relevance in today’s value systems.

Coming back to today’s world, there are still a considerable number of artists who have made unforgivable mistakes and this is exactly when it becomes a more pressing issue.

Though it’s easy to say that one can still respect the artist for their talents but disrespect them as a person, that’s not really how it works. Say there is an artist who harasses his co-workers or a singer whose Twitter handle is filled with radical posts. Would you still want them to enjoy the limelight and be celebrated? Even though we buy their works with the intention of only celebrating the ‘art’, they still financially benefit from it.

In a way, it is still a version of validating their wrongdoings, echoing the idea that ‘even if your values are skewed and you’re a bad person, you can still enjoy fame as long as you have something valuable to offer us’.

In a twisted way, when we still subscribe to that YouTuber, or continue to follow that influencer who has erred, we are sending a message to all the other artists out there that they don’t really have to worry about the consequences of their misdeeds. In an age where every click on the internet is closely monitored, what content and more importantly whose content we consume also plays a huge role in the dynamics of the artists who are available in the market.

There is another side to this argument too. Even though it’s difficult to completely take the artist out of the art, at the end of the day the audience plays an even more important role in its interpretation. In fact, in the process of enjoying art, it’s more about the personal bond we form with the art. The magic of producing such works often happens in a realm of its own, and generally, artists shun all their values and prejudice when they produce these works and pieces. Any work of literature, music or dance we completely disregard, we also destroy a part of human history and culture. In a way, we rob future generations of enjoying the legacy the art form leaves behind.

The renowned poet T.S Eliot once said, “I have assumed as axiomatic that a creation, a work of art, is autonomous.” In the long run, the artist’s value systems will and should hold no relevance. Man’s connection to art should be viewed as an individual one and the artist should play no role.

To sum it up, when someone does something wrong, they must be held accountable in the eyes of law. No matter how much they’ve accomplished, we should refrain from using that as an excuse to hide their misdeeds. After its conception, we need to treat art as a separate entity, not as a product or reflection of the artist’s persona.

Whatever the artist feels, says or does, is outside the realm of the art they’ve produced. It will be difficult to look up to a piece of work with no preconceived notions, but at the end of the day, art isn’t all about viewing it from the eyes of an artist. Art is all that we make of it.

As long as the work serves the true purpose of art: to uplift, entertain, empower and emote, it deserves to make its mark in human history.