The Artist - The Timmy 1979

I do not have an axe to grind with anyone who is a Foot or Mouth painter. The issue for me is the quality of work, which many of these artists and their patrons hold up to be art. For the most part, this art is not only inferior, but it acts as a type of buffer, further cultivating a malevolent ignorance in society towards the capabilities of the handicapped. I mean really, think about it for a minute: what's the first thing which pops into your mind when you think of Disabled Art? Yuk, right? Nevertheless, as stated above, I think of Matisse as a physically challenged artist. Yet Matisse's work is never defined as physically challenged art, and rightfully so - it doesn't need to be, it's just great art. Sardonically, I might say that Jackson Pollack didn't use his hands or brushes in all his paintings either, but he still made great art - yet we don't define him as a tin can and string painter - as in foot and mouth. In my opinion great art is great art no matter who makes it.

I do look at the term "Foot and Mouth Art" with a jaundiced perspective: to me it is solely a moniker used to cultivate sales based on sympathy. They prey on our sense of guilt 'those poor people deserve more and so let's be good and by a few boxes of their cards'. Sadly, no one looks at the merit of the art except for me and other artists. Anyone who is creatively involved in their life is enriching their life and so too then is the sick and infirmed, but to call this "art" on the same level as Chuck Close, to me, is anathema.

I also have an issue with the organizations which perpetuate the continued use of this "fill in the blank challenged" language, even if their aim may be altruistic to those who may lack ambulatory skills. At what point are they driven by their fiduciary needs of budget and or actually doing well? The road to hell is paved with good intention! What they should be doing with their monies is setting up scholarships to send these individuals to art schools or receive personal training from serious local artists in their community, if that student can't wheel their way to classes. This would not only benefit the individual more than entrapping them into a commodity situation of selling their handicap but also inform society, in a more positive fashion as to the true value of art - be it personal as a catharsis, or professional as in making a living for artists such as myself. Teach a person to fish and they eat forever, give them a fish in a tank and they salivate or drool in front of the glass if their famished!
If it's just the sales of greeting cards which are the concern: think of the individual whose purchase stunning card astonishment, when they realize it was painted using the feet to hold the brush. That's enough to wow me but not this myopic fleecing of sympathy to sell a few ugly and often saccharine images.

The following anecdote conveys my aforementioned point all to well. During the time I was working on these mouth paintings, I was contacted by a huge multinational drug corporation. They wanted to purchase art for their recently built headquarters in Europe. Putting art collected from all their national regional divisions on each floor. They thought to patronize the disabled and show their civic mindedness by purchasing works of art created by the same. After they had consulted with a well respected Canadian Museum, I was contacted to see if I'd be interested in selling them some art. I adamantly insisted that I didn't make ??????? challenged art, rather I made art about being ??????? challenged. In other words I didn't paint beautiful escapist landscapes, clowns, etc. They insisted that based on my international reputation and recommendations that they wanted me to seriously submit work. I said "You don't get it: I don't do paintings with no hands but rather I do paintings about having no hands." A slight degree of difference but large enough to make a paradigm shifting hell of difference if you don't have them - hands that is! Furthermore, I could predict what their interior designer consultants would say of the work, once they saw them: I suspected they weren't looking for good art but rather the same works which I so elaborately describe above.

Vision of Utopia 1986

Humorously, after telling me they may want to purchase as many as six or seven major works, I not only submitted by I submitted. I sent examples of my Red Blue Paintings. A few months later a letter arrived from them. There in stated and I paraphrase "We can see why your very provocative works come so highly recommended. Alas, we are unable to purchase any of your astonishing works of art, as we believe they would not be conducive to the work environment." What I fool I was, to think they might actually want art and not just something to place over the sofa of a waiting room to make the world think "My, my their also helping those poor people!" They didn't want to think or their workers to think in the work environment! Why think? Indeed why think and why should they think: art is just a decoration which can also be used to advertise their good intent. 'Think of a Van Gogh painting hanging in the lobby of any psychological drug manufacturers headquarters - I like the idea, and it's probably safe to do so now. When Van Gogh was locked up in the asylum, they would've sent him the same type of letter. I can imagine reading it now "Very provocative work Mr. Van Gogh, in fact maybe too provocative." It's too funny and yet so sad!

This is what happens when this whole "Foot and Mouth, etc. Art" is taken to its final logical conclusion. This above company actually couldn't see the difference between ??????? challenged art and great art made by the ??????? challenged. This is what angers me so, as it doesn't have to be this way and the solutions are so easy to grasp hold of. The financial resources combined from all the money drives, cards, Christmas trees, lottery tickets, television shows, etc. surely far surpass the cost of education. The cost of educating first the lame about their creative potential, which will then trickling down to educate all the rest! Capitalize instead of Capitalization!