8. März 2008

Apotheose einer kranken Sportart

Ein Maler, der sich für den Radsport interessiert und deshalb die Helden der Landstraße auf die Leinwand bannt, muss nicht unbedingt ein Auge für die Legitimität ihres Schaffens haben. Allerdings taucht die Frage womöglich dann später trotzdem auf. Sagen wir mal dann, wenn es ums Verkaufen der Bilder geht. Oder anders formuliert: Wer bezahlt wirklich 1600 Dollar für ein Gemälde wie dieses, das einen als Dopingsünder überführten und gesperrten Radprofi zeigt? Ein Maler namens Steve Dennis aus Brooklyn, der seine Bemühungen auf der Webseite www.velopaint.com präsentiert, scheint das zumindest zu hoffen. Erst recht, nachdem die Blogger-Firma Gawkermedia ihn im Rahmen einer Goodwill-Aktion als Hätschelfall eingestuft hat und nun dafür sorgt, dass einem 'Kessler' (die Anführungsstriche sind vom Künstler persönlich) im alten Magenta-Trikot immer wieder von den Seiten der Firma entgegenbrüllt. Lang soll er leben, der 'Kessler', genagelt an irgendeine Wand, hoffentlich unverkäuflich, die eingefrorene, kunstgewordene Apotheose einer kranken Sportart, in der offensichtlich alles ging, solange niemand genau hingeschaut hat. Steve Dennis betrachtet seine Arbeit als Versuch, "den Geist, die Emotion und die Essenz des Radsports einzufangen". Wir sehen das ziemlich anders. Solange jemand nicht auch die Werkzeuge und die Helfershelfer der Doper widerspiegelt, hat er die Essenz des Radsports nicht verstanden. Und die von 'Kessler' auch nicht.

5 Kommentare:

Anonym hat gesagt…

Was ist denn eine Blogger-Firma?

Jürgen Kalwa hat gesagt…

Aus der Selbstdarstellung: "Gawker Media is the publisher of 15 of some of the web's best loved publications including the eponymous Gawker -- as well as Defamer, Jezebel, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Jalopnik, Kotaku & Fleshbot. With a readership in excess of 30 million monthly uniques, Gawker Media marries a traditional publishing model and an all-star editorial masthead with the audience engagement borne out of the candor, frequency and hyper-linking of the blog format." (http://gawker.com/advertising/) Auf der Seite findet man alle Logos und kann sich durchklicken zu den 15 - darunter auch Deadspin, dem erfolgreichsten Sport-Blog Amerikas. Gawker Media verdient übrigens Geld und hat ein knallhartes System entwickelt, wie man die Mitarbeiter bezahlt (wer mehr Klicks generiert, verdient mehr).

Steve Dennis hat gesagt…

At the time of painting that piece I had no idea Kessler was doping.

I was painting an image of a rider showing the ecstasy of victory and my enjoyment of that image is shared by the collector who has purchased the piece and commissioned another.

I will not be painting dopers by choice - if I later find that they doped am I to burn the painting and lose a possible sale? Who then is the victim of the doper's crime - I am.

I will continue to paint images that do indeed capture the spirit of a wonderful sport. This will not include modern era dopers. Like everyone I am willing to dismiss the acceptable and ineffective doping of the earlier classic era by riders such as Coppi, Simson and probably Merckx.

Before you accuse anyone of profiting, misunderstanding and discrediting the sport they love you should firs find proof or allow the accused to respond. I had no intent to profit from an image of a doper and therefore I am guilty of nothing more than believing in the riders and the sport

Jürgen Kalwa hat gesagt…

The nuances of what I wrote might have been lost in translation. I did not accuse you of profiting. Actually, I did not accuse you of anything. I questioned your claim that you capture the essence of the sport. The essence of Kessler's sport is steroids, EPO, testosterone. And the mysterious deaths of young riders. In my humble opinion: I don't see any of that in your pictures.

While it is your choice to paint whatever subject, motif, style etc. you like (and to make money by doing so) I reserve my right to criticize any work in the public arena. Especially when it is supported by a statement on a web site, which probably gets a lot of traffic due to the helping hand of Gawker Media.

Apart from that I quoted/translated your mission statement without misrepresenting it. I linked to your website so that my readers can see for themselves and make up their own mind. What else do you want? More space to talk about your idea of "the ecstasy of victory" and you believing in athletes who either have been caught being liers and cheats or admitted their doping offenses later or will be uncovered one way or another in the future? You just used it. And of course, you can always respond.

Steve Dennis hat gesagt…

So the translation did not help me understand your comment.

You say "I questioned your claim that you capture the essence of the sport. The essence of Kessler's sport is steroids, EPO, testosterone. And the mysterious deaths of young riders. In my humble opinion: I don't see any of that in your pictures."

Kessler lied to us all and does not embody the qualities of sport that we love. At the time of painting that 'one' image which you refer to - I had no idea he was doping. His doping was not in the public domain.

Perhaps you are being sarchastic - and are showing your distaste for cycling and question why I celebrate this sport?

Cycling is trying to clean itself up. I do not know if it is doing a good job. But it makes the news and other sports see how much financial damage this cleaning up is doing and are refusing to allow other sports to suffer the same damage. We are naive to believe that soccer, US Football, skiing, basketball, rugby are clean.

I apologise for any intended or implied accusations or fight! Merely trying to understand your original post. Thanks, Steve