Aunrico Gatson

In the beginning, I was very confused by the art that Aunrico Gatson showed us. He did not give the introduction of himself that one would expect in a lecture. He simply just got into showing us a ton of his work. I know he was very nervous and that may have affected how much he spoke and what he said. Nevertheless, I thought it was an interesting approach to giving a lecture. In fact, I think it was very brave. I feel often, in class and in the 'real' world, that artists feel the need to explain themselves for creating what they have made. Aunrico approached the lecture so that the art spoke for itself. It was intriguing because it was as if I were in the gallery viewing his art by myself, yet the artist was in the room. However, the entire lecture did not go on this way. Towards the end I felt i was picking up little clues to what his art was about from what he was saying and the questions he was being asked.
     Of the many works of art that Aunrico showed, his video art drew me in the most. I had an unconscionable preconceived notion that video artists were hyper conceptual and pompous bastards making fun of me through video. After seeing Aunrico's videos, I now know i was sadly mistaken. His video art is simply beautiful just as his paintings and sculptures are. They have a tension because they show footage that normally would be scary but are arranged in a way that is more seductive and alluring. I like when he said he used the kaleidoscopic pattern to explore space that is not there.
     Although the video art made sense to me, his paintings did not. His reason for making them was unclear. He kept saying ""I am not a painter," but nothing about his paintings alluded to that. They were pristine and simple yet beautiful and eye-catching. Again this screams bravery to me. He seems like the kind of artist that just wants things to look good on the wall. His(Aunrico's) art obviously has personal meaning but he does not think his autobiography is important in viewing the art. He wants the pieces to be appreciated for their beauty. This is admirable and he pulls this off because his art is so clean that I might question if a human even made it.
    I learned a lot from Aunrico and there is one last thing I found noteworthy. He had so much art work and it seems that all of his art that he makes is to be shown. Each piece is so perfect because he has the intention of showing it from the beginning. I can learn from that because in foundations I think I do certain projects just to get them done instead of having a greater purpose.