Apologies for my absence on Substack - September proved frightfully busy. I spent the beginning of the month in England, and although now I am back in Budapest, I will go abroad again soon and be away for much of the rest of this year.
I think this will be quite fun for my Substack as I will write from whichever city I am in. So, stay tuned for where I am and what I am thinking about.
In September I had art on my mind and I attended The Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation conference A New Path for Beauty, at Peterhouse, Cambridge which you can read about here. This conference was a brilliant close-knit meeting that felt very much ahead of the curve when it comes to events that take on the ‘culture wars’.
I find most conservative jamborees that bang on about ‘culture’ perplexing, not least because the pundits are almost always cut from the political class, with some academics and the odd Christian thrown in. These people of course have their place when it comes to questions of beauty and truth, but when it comes to art—in which these values find their finest expression—surely it should be artists who are front and centre?
The lack of attention paid to new art by big-ticket conservative pundits also speaks to the fact that many on the right have fallen into the left’s ‘postmodern’ trap and they are tired. Endlessly preoccupied by restoring statues that have been torn down and the like, conservatives are predictably too conservative in that they forget that there is new conservative art being produced too, and this is of course where any ‘culture shift’ originates.
At Cambridge there were artists, as well as curators and critics, and some of the best new art is coming out of the UK. One such case is the group of artists that make up THE EXHIBITION — Matthew Fall McKenzie . Fen de Villiers . Ferro . Alexander Adams . Harald Markram . Samuel Wild . Vladan Pejanovic . Columba — who are doing tremendous work. You can view the online gallery of the first exhibition, which took place at Fitzrovia Gallery last year, here. You can also read the statement from the artists here, which outlines the principles they collectively stand for.
This is where the culture shift is and it is where we should be firmly focused.
Anon,
LS
& if you wish
Great to see you back Thanks for the post. Yes new art in its purest form is completely original.It has to be always searched for and knowledge of which has gone before has to be used so that any type of imitating is recognised…….ln your future travels i hope you get a chance to visit southern Spain . I would be very interested in your observations on the impact of the two cultures.Moors (Islam) Christian (Catholic) The Moors disappeared in the 13th/14th century on orders from the pope but somehow left a legacy behind Looking forward to the next post Safe and interesting/ happy travels .