"The Thinker" Acrylic on canvas, 24"x20" Dele Olusanya, 2010

"Beauty is Truth,                       Truth Beauty;                         That is all ye know on earth,           and all ye need to know!"

-John Keats (1795-1821) 

Art - Beauty or Truth?

What images, passion or dreams are aroused in us when we peruse these images?  What secret pleasures, desires, or even disgust, rise up, struggling for expression?  Indeed, what is the nature of that 'beauty' men call Art. 

"Beauty is truth," Keats, the English romantic poet of the eighteenth century told us.  But is Art or Beauty ever objective? Or does it hold a different meaning for each individual and each age? These are the questions I have hoped to engender with the presentation of these works on this Charter Art Center website.

The age old quest for artistic expression made passionate individuals abandon position, wealth and comfort to pursue the freedom of a 'bohemian' life. Or, like Van Gogh, transmute the  demons of  schizophrenia, rejection and isolation into a blaze of genius.

Whatever motivates us to love or appreciate Art, we are free to interprete it our own way. For not even the artist  can predict the outcome of his work. Who, but the beholder, can decipher the meaning and complexity of those artfully created lines and pigment on paper, board or canvas. 

For me, over interpretation or overanalyzing any art work for its meaning should be avoided and left to the avante garde academics and critics. Each person should know what he or she likes and let art speak to that part of their humanity that yearns for beauty and order and majesty. Thus, Art is to be enjoyed and appreciated in all its forms,  without restraint, judgement or inhibition.

-Dele Olusanya, January 2013