As we all know, a racehorse runs down the track and at the end of the day appreciates a good rubdown, a nosebag oats kicks back on a fresh pile hay in his warm paddock. This is as he is genetically predisposed.

So it is with an artist. All he wants to do is engage in the creative process – whether it be paint, sculpture or the latest in multimedia, whatever his chosen area, it is the equivalent of the racehorse’s run down the track.

Neither the racehorse nor the artist is in on the bets taking place in the stands. That is an entirely different arena.

The horse is not programmed to do the math, to understand wagering, trifectas, and later the deals that put him in the corral with some nice filly. He just deals with what is placed before him.

Neither the racehorse nor the artist sees the wider picture available to others at a later time. Both are in the arena participating in the moment. Sort of like life.

The Artist is judged at a later time how he fits into his time. The artist does his work based on his abilities, experiences and responses to all whether it be art history, architecture, history, philosophy or politics. That work is very much a product of its time. How it holds up in the future is unknowable.

Now to test out my Racehorse Theory of Art we need look no further than the language surrounding the marketplace of art, the art gallery. Note that the group of artists represented by an art dealer is called a “gallery stable of artists”.

Michael Speaker
Wappingers Falls, NY
March 29, 2004