Misunderstanding Modern Art

I will never forget my experience of being educated about modern art. It was almost a defining episode in my existence.

Being a part of a team which was working with an NGO to put up an art show, I was organizing and coordinating the installation of panels. This show was being held in a leading 5 star hotel, where use of the hall was being allowed, free of charge. Hence, it was made available at the last possible moment as a paying guest’s function went on later than scheduled.

The artist was a famous modern artist and the patron of the show was a leading personality, well known for a volatile temper. So, one can imagine the stress levels of people putting up the panels who were desperate to avoid any mishap that could trigger a temper tantrum. Given the time constraints, instead of standing around, I decided to help by hanging some paintings. Just when I was through with two or three of the paintings, the patron walked in with the artist. Their flight had arrived early, confirming my conviction that Murphy’s law does in fact exist and affects my reality.

Thankfully most of the work was done and there was not much chance of any unexpected problems popping up. The artist was walking around admiring his work when suddenly he gave a yell and shouted, “Who has done this?” We all feared the worst and rushed to his side, expecting to see some tear or damage to the painting. After a few minutes of tense silence, during which we could discern nothing, someone ventured to ask what was was disturbing him.

Full of emotion, he very informed us of the tragedy…. someone had hung his painting upside down! That’s when I realized that the culprit was none other than yours truly. While I was trying to figure out how he knew that the painting was upside down, someone else voiced my question. The artist very scornfully pointed to a scrawl and said, “That’s my signature and it is always on the right hand bottom side of my art.”

I almost felt like Buddha as enlightenment dawned on me. I now knew how to discern if a painting were right side up. This meant, I would actually get to understand what the artist wanted to portray and not get a distorted, upside down perspective. Imagine that!

Once I got past my initial discomfiture, I actually began to look forward to helping organize an art show again. Unfortunately, I have never had an opportunity since then to use my newly minted education. I suspect that my ignorance was detected and has been telegraphed to all the artists, advising them to avoid my help.