Forget the Horse (Do you like what you feel?) The Art of Marty Campolo March 10, 2007

From the artist:


It was hard for me to accept the fact that I am an artist, I think, because I had no clear definition of visual art. I was afraid to admit that I didn’t see the deeper meanings more educated people kept referring to in describing the works of celebrated artists. It took me a long time to realize that what matters most in a painting or a sculpture is simply whether it somehow pleases or rewards me to look at it. If it does, it’s art. And if I made it, I’m an artist.


The people who look at my paintings are often similarly insecure. “I don’t really understand abstract art,” they say, or “I don’t know what to look for.” I try to reassure them that they don’t have to understand or look for anything, but only to decide if they like it. If they don’t, that doesn’t mean they’re stupid. It just means it’s not for them.


There are no horses in my paintings, or sailboats or faces for that matter. Each one only represents what I was feeling about color and light and movement at the moment I painted it. Of course, underneath that moment are layers of paint from a lot of other moments, when I wasn’t yet satisfied. Even when those things don’t show through, they’re still part of the painting, I think, the same way my past experiences are part of who I am today.

In a museum the other day I couldn’t stop looking at this big, bright blue painting by an artist whose name I unfortunately can’t recall. There were light and dark shades and shapes coming through and all kinds of things going on on that canvas. Part of me wanted to pull it apart, layer by layer, to find out what was happening back there, to see the brushwork, to get the whole story. The other part of me just enjoyed the view.


Two years ago, after nearly twenty years in Philadelphia, my family and I moved to the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati to live and work in community with friends. Most of the paintings in this show were made since then. Trust me, there’s nothing in them to figure out. Let’s just hope you like one.

Opening March 10th with live music from Ric Hordinski.