Today I had the opportunity for the first time to sit down and read through the comments which visitors had made to my two recent exhibitions, at the Manor House in Ilkley and the South Square Centre in Thornton. It was a surprisingly encouraging experience. I feared that comment in this kind of setting might be just anodyne, along the lines of “Nice work, John”. In fact a significant proportion of those who wrote comments had actually gone to the trouble of stating what it is about my work that they noticed.
This is an interesting corrective, perhaps, to the somewhat negative view of gallery visitors recorded in earlier postings on this blog. Although I would not want to retract my observations about the way in which visitors often confront my work it is evidently the case that a significant proportion of people who go into galleries to look at art do so in a far more active and engaged way than I suggested. What struck me in particular, reading reponses in the comments books, was the fact that in many cases the people who did take the trouble to record a thoughtful remark were not just my friends who might have been attempting to be supportive. Some of the most interesting comment came from people who were completely unknown to me, and I am inclined to value that kind of observation precisely because of its independence.
So: next time you go into an exhibition of art, and you are invited to express an opinion about what you have seen, can I encourage you to do just that. It can be very helpful to the artist, even if it is not entirely positive. The few moments required for you to form and express your response will be time very well spent.