What’s the worst insult that you can receive as an artist? Is it that someone doesn’t like your work? I don’t think so. Art is subjective. We don’t all agree on what makes good art. I am never insulted if someone doesn’t get what I’m doing.
What if you worked on a piece choosing your palate, choosing your subject, putting your energy and your fingerprint and brushwork into it only to have some one decide to “fix” it? It is a horrifying thought for any artist. This is what I recently experienced.
The original painting is done in acrylic, cement and spray paint. Notice the limited palate and the angles on face. Notice the body position of the legs tucked under the body and you can see the feet.
Then we have the vandalization. In the “fixed” version the vandal airbrushed the figure, punched in the face and then put makeup on it.
In the end, I couldn’t sleep knowing that it existed in the world. I took back my painting from the wall it was on and threw it in the trash.