Some may say that an artist's role is to push the boundaries of conventional thought, provoke and awaken the senses in his or her audience that have otherwise drifted into hermit inertia.
Others may say, "I don't care what the painting is supposed to be telling me on a sensory level...
it matches the sofa and that's all that matters to me".
Even I would agree that's a fair enough statement to make.
After all, any given piece of art is always going to be valued at different levels of opinion.
I recently heard someone mention that perhaps modern and contemporary Australian art was (or had become) too conservative.
Perhaps it is.
Perhaps this conservative nature that fuels the psyche in the Australian art being produced is merely an undetected desire to achieve a greater balance in our lives.
Could it be that new unconventional forms of social expressionistic art such as You Tube have stolen the spotlight on conventional provocative oil on canvas art? Does that mean You Tube should really be called "You Art"? Is it really worth debating? After all, You Tube is just a collection of social and visual journals isn't it - "Journal Art"? Would it be fair for us to suggest that perhaps some of the alleged conservative art in Australia is being produced at a subconscious level as apposed to being a deliberate act to be conservative? Maybe people are looking at art as a means to feel comforted as apposed to having their sensory channels challenged.
It could be that there is enough "organic chaos" in people's day-to-day lives as it is.
As a result "provocative art" in the twenty first century looks no more challenging than the sugar plum fairy when compared to what exists in the reality of many peoples lives today.
If Australian art has become conservative then it could just be a case of life having now caught up with art...
even surpassed it.
Then there are the folk who will add, "Does it really matter if it is too conservative?" I suppose not, especially if you are looking for decorative canvas office art.
That kind of painting doesn't really need to speak back to you on a political or provocative level.
It just needs to help make your day in the office chair more bearable.
It probably just needs to help you see a place that exists outside of the office - like Fiji perhaps.
If modern and contemporary Australian art has become conservative, that doesn't necessarily mean the life that exists in and around the hand that painted the work isn't.