ART Habens Art Review ART Habens Art Review - Special Issue #97 | Page 181

Maksim Kuznetcov
ART Habens
I do not see much of incompatibility between Tradition and Contemporariness . That which is usually referred to traditional ( or classical ) art is the art of Ancient Egypt , Greece , Rome , The Dark Ages , The Renaissance . The difference , but not a contradiction , in my opinion , is that artists for thousands of years had to obey rules and regulations of the Christian state , or other mono- or polytheistic doctrines ; the repressive laws and ethics of the times that inevitably restricted the dimensions of freedom of expression that artists could develop . It is a great virtue of our time that artists , as well as other members of the society , are free to try and fail , to experiment , to copy and make attempts in high parody . The millennia of the past has produced much artistic wisdom , and many achievements and artistic struggles that we should learn from . These tools should be at the disposal of modern artists , whether they choose to use them or not .
We should not forget that there are still many places on the planet earth where artists cannot freely choose the subject or the style for their art , where societies are not free . And this is rarely due to the myopic attitude of the artist , but rather often due to the dogmatism and tyranny that governs such societies . Could Andy Warhol survive in modern day North Korea ?
21 406 Special Issue