[bener]

"As an artist ... Art isn't really about ..."

These sort of phases have always bothered me.

Art if about whatever you want it to be. My kid painting a dinosaur that looks like a scribble is art. A masterful recreation of a photograph in oil paint is art. T shaped lines on a page that have 'hidden meaning' is art.

Portraying someone realistically is as much art as throwing paint at a canvas with a particular meaning in mind is art.

It's all art. There's nothing wrong with enjoying art that doesn't have some hidden meaning. I love realism for the skill involved. I love abstract art for the ideas involved and the thought it provokes.

Enjoyment of visual art is entirely subjective, you like it or you don't, but it's still art.

There is so much of a "gatekeeping" sense when it comes to the question of "what is art", especially in the sense that "if you don't understand it your not appreciating it". You are allowed to like it just because of the way it looks.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Well, I've sold a few pieces (not for megabucks). I also don't feel at all "snooty" about it, as it's been a long time, since I did any real art. I have had training, but I have family that has far more training than I. My wife is a very good photographer and watercolor artist. She is also more in touch with the structure of the art community, than I am (I went geek).

It does, however, give me some insight into the community and mindset.

> Enjoyment of visual art is entirely subjective, you like it or you don't, but it's still art.

100% agree.

In my heyday[0], I was actually considering becoming a professional artist, but I knew that there are a ton of folks out there, that could blow me away, and didn't have programming to fall back on, so I went geek.

I used to get sneered at a lot. Fantasy art isn't really considered "art."

[0] http://littlegreenviper.com/art (I did these in the late 1980s. There's a bunch more, and I might end up putting more of them up there. My FB page has them. Feel free to judge whether or not I qualify as "artist." I couldn't do this again, right now. I'm out of practice).

[bener]

I really like the artwork you've done.

I was getting at the points I've quoted below [1] - it may not even be your opinion, you say "there are many that would argue", but in my opinion art does not need a story or any emotion to still be art.

Some amazing artworks are just people trying their best to create something that looks good.

[1] "But there are many that would argue that this isn't necessarily "art," as art is an interpretation of an emotional experience, as opposed to simple documentation.

...

Art is a story, not just a document, and that story includes many components, including the artist's own story." https://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-117.php

[3] https://rogerdean.com

[4] https://www.borisjulie.com/product-category/prints/boris-pri...