Kitsch for the Sake of Art

"Past Expressions" by Tim Carroll

Defining "art" has always been difficult and controversial. But who's to say whether art has to be used as some profound tool for the representation of man's innermost feelings, or used just as an adornment to pleasingly accent a room.   My renderings as shown on these web pages  tend to slant to the latter.  I have difficulty defining my art, partly because I never intended it to express a lot of  hidden messages or for it to be sophisticated or complicated.  My works might be better called kitsch since I don't really subscribe to the formalities of "art". I do hope though, that my works stimulate your imagination and allow you to insert and entwine your own experiences which could undoubtedly be far more interesting to you than my original premise for producing the picture in the first place.

I like art that is pleasing to look at. The picture above, I call "Past Expressions" is an example of  the beauty that can be found in the mundane. When visiting another artist's studio I would never think of photographing his artwork without permission, but I figured this collection of used paint tubes over in the corner was fair game. 

Lids missing, dried out, and mostly spent, they are of little value when you consider their intended use.  Are they just worthless garbage?  Or are they like we humans as we age? Think about what they were when they were "young". All different, vibrant and colourful. All of them contributing with their own unique and special hue.  What stories they could tell. Even though they are worn out and tattered, they have a beauty and a history that new paint tubes do not have. Is that art or kitsch?

My love of history drives my interest in Genre art. My Industrial art background piques my appreciation of Commercial art, Architectural and Decorative art.  Almost all of my pictures have a story. Even the ones inspired by vintage postcards, were selected because they stirred my imagination and drew me into the scene.  I invite you to browse through and I hope some images catch your imagination the way they did for me.

 "Must one become seventy years old to realize that one's greatest strength lies in creating kitsch?"  - Richard Strauss

Please don't use my images for any purpose, including on websites or blogs, without my explicit permission. Copyright 2006 to 2022. Tim Carroll. All rights reserved.
Thanks, Tim Carroll