They Did That With a Box of Crayons

September 6, 2009 10:16 AM

Previously we saw those who make art out of the wax crayon. The crayon is the simplest of mediums, one that we’ve all used at one time or another and most likely have lying around the house. There are also those who make art with the crayon: Jeffrey Robert | Don Marco | Tiona Marco.
posted by netbros (15 comments total)

I am under the impression that most artists can't take this kind of stuff seriously. Every medium has this right? Most of the people who know how to do X think style Y is crap, but a majority of people ignorant of the field love it. I would like to see some sort of chart of that, showing a breakdown of taste in a medium based on level of expertise of the medium in question. Perhaps it would be a good Askme "what is notorious in your artistic medium for only being liked by experts in the medium / only being liked by those who are ignorant of the medium".
posted by idiopath at 10:55 AM on September 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

well they are pretty pictures. a kind of art i suppose. but certainly middle brow at best. it's related to encaustic art. they would do well to study the works of jasper johns. a true american artist who employs colored wax as a medium.
posted by billybobtoo at 11:13 AM on September 6, 2009

Further: I think I have seen a pattern where people less technically versed tend to take notice of details that the more experienced would barely find remarkable.

I shared some music with a friend because I was interested in some compositional aspects and stylistic references, and he was distracted by the fact that "rock and roll instruments" were used to play "serious music".

Or here, "a medium for children" is being used to make "neo-19th century realist art". I think the art outsider would be more likely than the insider to see the use of crayon as being the salient aspect of what these people are doing.
posted by idiopath at 11:14 AM on September 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

So, these artists are incarcerated, I take it?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:46 AM on September 6, 2009

What a peculiar thing to say, AV. Am I too dense and missing some wordplay, or are you serious in that mistaken observation?
posted by hippybear at 11:55 AM on September 6, 2009

Crayon Angels. Crayon Angels.
posted by wemayfreeze at 12:01 PM on September 6, 2009

hippybear, go look at some prison art sites, and you'll see what he means. lots of "western" theme stuff, dreamcatchers, feathers, nubile indian princesses, etc. it fascinates me, really.
posted by billybobtoo at 12:05 PM on September 6, 2009

Crayons are no more or less serious than any of the other hundreds of media being used to make art at the present.
The linked artists suck not because of the crayons, but just becaus of how lowbrow their art is.
posted by signal at 12:19 PM on September 6, 2009

There is no novelty value in drawing with a wax crayon. Because children use highly coloured, branded varieties doesn't mean they are some sort of wacky outsider medium that can't be put to serious use.

These are truly terrible, however.
posted by fire&wings at 12:21 PM on September 6, 2009

I posted askme about acquired tastes inspired by this post.
posted by idiopath at 12:21 PM on September 6, 2009

hippybear, go look at some prison art sites, and you'll see what he means. lots of "western" theme stuff, dreamcatchers, feathers, nubile indian princesses, etc. it fascinates me, really.

Here is an example from Texas.
posted by Tube at 12:45 PM on September 6, 2009

Here is another example of what I think Ambrosia Voyeur had in mind. An inmate's painting of RFK.
posted by Tube at 12:55 PM on September 6, 2009

He!?!?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:12 PM on September 6, 2009

That's funny. We have prison art hanging on several walls of our house, and none of it is nearly that pedestrian. But then, we're a couple of odd ducks and that probably self-selected us toward going for the more abstract or psychedelic of the pieces for sale.
posted by hippybear at 1:16 PM on September 6, 2009

Here is an example from Texas.

From the Texas Prison Museum. Apparently they also do wedding receptions!
posted by pwnguin at 2:09 PM on September 6, 2009