No Actually 15 – Artists That is

FourteenTriumphRed, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

I’ve been asked, of sorts, to name 15 artists who have influenced me. I’ve been asked to name fifteen artists who’ve influenced me and whose work will always stick with me.

1. Robert Mapplethorpe
2. Andy Warhol
3. Cindy Sherman
4. Julie Blackmon
5. Claude Monet
6. Vincent van Gogh
7. Joyce Tenneson
8. Sharon Kyle Kuhn
9. Barbara Hagen
10. Michael Kenna
11. Elizabeth Opalenik
12. Robert Polidori
13. Uta Barth
14. Leonardo Da Vinci
15. Stephen Shore

For me, it’s not so much about naming the first fifteen that come to mind, rather it’s narrowing down the list. Some are people I’ve studied with, some are famous, some are living, some are dead, etc. It’s a variable mish-mash of artists, a smattering of creative thinkers, photographers, painters, etc. but that’s who it is.

I sort of started out in chronological order. My earlier influences were people like Monet and Warhol, also Keith Haring (although he is not on the list.) Even Mapplethorpe, and I keep him on the list for an important reason. He’s my one connection to my past-he’s the photographer I liked most before I became a photographer myself. Since I now participate, since I now do this myself, I have to wonder if my selections are in some way tainted by my own artistic vision. That is, am I picking people that I want to be like on this list? Or am I picking people who are just my favorites? While I love Warhol’s soup cans, I don’t want to make them myself, but he’s one of the few connections to my past, so I leave him on the list.

Other people, like Uta Barth and Julie Blackmon, well, I just want to be all like them when I grow up, don’t I? So why shouldn’t they be on the list. Yeah, they go there too.

And some names you might not recognize. Teachers, mentors, people like that. We’re all in this together, right?

Who would make your list? Do you even have one? What kind of art do you like?

Until next time…