I joined the National Gallery as a member last year to visit the hugely popular Vincent Van Gogh ‘Lovers and Poets’ exhibition, which was a good call because, by the time I did, it had basically sold out.
The exhibition did not disappoint. I agreed with the critics - this was a once-in-a-century gathering of an incredible and unparalleled number of his paintings together.
The galleries were hot, sweaty, very crowded and not at all pleasant to be in, but somehow the show stood head and shoulders above it all.
The way the exhibition was put together was breathtaking, laying out a compelling case for how Van Gogh was much more than tired old cliches of ‘went mad’, ‘cut off his ear’ and ‘painted sunflowers’.
The exhibition revealed that Van Gogh’s expressive talent was beyond measure for his time. And what was most impressive and that I’d not appreciated before, was that Vincent Van Gogh was an activist artist.
Art capable of ‘putting a dent in the universe’, as Steve Jobs used to describe it, is rare and magnificent.
Artists who encourage people to think and see the world differently have my unending respect, because that option is the true alternative to totalitarianism and groupthink.
Cultivating individuality has never been more crucial to the human race and its future than it is now, when an AI and algorithmically-driven world is knocking on our doorsteps.
In some ways, it’s a good thing that the planet is becoming more joined up and interconnected.
Being able to be online anywhere on the planet means technology is powering a kind of coagulation that aligns with natural laws of physics, for example, laws of gravitational aggregation and intermolecular forces, as well as statistical mechanics.
While the web was designed by Tim Berners-Lee ‘for everyone’, commercial and state-funded technology and the interests behind them are defining how and in what way we wire up the world.
With the benefits and conveniences of increased global congruence, there also comes the risk of monotheism, the uniformity of thought or belief, a single, dominant way of thinking that everyone is encouraged to adopt. In other words, being encouraged to conform to the algorithm, and that might fundamentally alter and perhaps also short-circuit what it means to be human.
As the world becomes more globally congruent, we face a significant risk: a kind of cultural monotheism where everyone is pushed toward the same uniform way of thinking and behaving. Conforming to the algorithm. The pressure towards limited dominant mindsets could fundamentally alter, or even short-circuit, what it means to be human.
This post is a shout-out and a personal bookmark about a few of the activist artists I respect and admire, and who inspire me. Each one of them has demonstrated a measure of courage, singularity of vision and artistic talent that is awe-inducing.
Your mileage may vary, but I would suggest that perhaps we all need to be activist artists, in some form or another, today. It’s increasingly a reality that daring to envisage and fashion the futures we would like to see for ourselves is an act of courage, bravery and sometimes defiance. The system cannot necessarily accommodate it.
So, these artists are celebrants of individuality. Their work arrived on the scene with a cultural agenda for change that has seeped into social consciousness. They are pathfinders for the peaceful opening up of alternative narratives. And may there be many more like them.
