J. Graden Holmes

The man and his methods are resistant to labels.  J. Graden Holmes came to my attention through a mutual friend.  His website, www.jgradenholmes.com, immediately caught my eye due to the bold claims made on his home page, specifically his rejection of postmodernism due to its commercialism.  Did he have a working definition of postmodernism?  The staff here talked about his philosophy as much as we spoke about his artwork.  I went in to do the interview a little worried.  I wasn't sure if the man could substantiate these claims.

At the cornerstone of Holmes' art is digital technology.  That's not to say his medium is strictly digital.  The internet can influence a Holmes' painting done in the timeless manner of applying paint to canvas, or cardboard, or whatever may be laying around.  Never though does Holmes forget the existence of this tool and the influence it has over himself as an artist, or we as a society of art enthusiasts.  If there were specific points to his philosophy, tentatively labeled post-extra, this would be a major one.  

Says he of the internet, "It's given everyone access to things.  I think that's why defining moments in art right now is hard to do.  Everyone with internet has access to art across the world.  They can see what people are doing in Japan.  They can see what people are doing in Europe.  We can easily talk to the people making it now."  This point of course is neither revolutionary, nor strictly his own.  What is unique to J. Graden Holmes is his admittance of how much of an influence this tool has on him at every step along his art-making process.  Let me show you this by first describing his artwork, then his methods, and ultimately his philosophy.

He is a poet, a painter, a sculptor, and a mixed-media artist with a digital paintbrush.  His artwork sometimes can be a combination of the above-listed mediums.  Drawn to faces, specifically eyes, the paintings in his living room/ personal salon are a mixture of abstract, realism, and impressionism.  Despite his open-ness to all things being art, what he creates does not push the boundaries of art's definition nearly as much as his theories would imply.  These are for the most part 'traditional' paintings that surround us.  His poetry, found on his website, does not make the reader question if this is a poem or not.  It is.  Ascribing a label to his artwork is not difficult.  The problem lies in keeping it there.

J. Graden Holmes seeks to convey feeling through his artwork, not literal representation.  Says he, "I want to give you the impression of the mood."  Going further, "I'm really big on feeling something rather than have it be described."  Consequently many of his pieces are not titled.  They may be, should they go to competition/exhibition, but those labels are subject to change.  Moreover, he purposely titles things ambiguously based on how he feels at the time.  If you ask him about the subject matter of his piece he's more apt to ask you what you see it as than to tell you what he sees.  "I like people to look at my stuff and make up their own opinions.  If they really ask I'll tell them, 'well, here's what I was thinking when I did this.'  that doesn't mean I think this 'means' this.  It's just how I felt when I created it.  Ultimately the idea you have of it is your own."  That goes for artist as well as observer.  His interpretation of his own work might change along with the viewer.  Despite being the creator he does not think of himself as the authority on the work.  No one is in J. Graden Holmes world of art.  Says he, "You have no greater opinion than anyone who can look at a painting."

This is made more evident as we discuss the purpose of his artwork.  Like most artists, creation can be an act of therapy -- he feels the need to have a creative outlet.  While he suggests that he would one day like to show his work in a gallery, he does not paint, write, or sculpt with that end in mind.  The artwork on his walls are there to incite conversation.  "I want everyone to talk -- I want everyone to participate," Holmes says.  He, himself, is open to the idea that there is more than one view.  I ask him which piece generates the most conversation.  He picks one above his head that I would say is my second favorite in his collection.  I find it to be very dark and brooding.  He admits to me, after I tell him what I see in this painting, that he created this during a break-up.  His favorite, a piece that I feel is neither the most realistic nor the most dramatic, is his favorite because of the mood he was in while he painted.  He was in love, and missing his fiancée.  After hearing that I do find myself liking the piece more, but I'm grateful that in his personal gallery I was first given the chance to talk about how I felt before he told me how he did.

Recent work by J. Graden Holmes is largely digital.  He has already listed the internet as an influence on his painting, drawing, and poetry, but that influence is no greater perhaps than those influences found in the 'real' world.  A significant portion of his poetry, for instance, is based off of the people he encounters as he traverses the city.  Those encounters though, can be supplemented by information taken off the web.  Moving beyond the computer as influence, we begin talking about his use of the computer as medium, and the internet as a means for distribution.

Says he, "What I see is more people able to do art because they have the internet as a tool."  He will create art simply to post on his Facebook page.  Holmes is keen on taking photographs, self-portraits sometimes, other times of the paintings he has done, then altering the image via the computer.  As you look at his website, again www.jgradenholmes.com, the first few pieces in his portfolio are un-altered representations of the physical work he has created.  I have seen the painting third from the left on the top row (this is my favorite), and it does not appear to have been changed in any way from the original.  As you go further through his collection you will see that the work becomes almost entirely digital.  "I'll take a photo, throw it on the computer, and play around with colors and [then] I have something completely new," he says.  He will also take backdrops from such websites as YouTube then place an image on top of it.  Of this style he says,  "I don't know how to describe it, especially taking something I've painted and then changing it into a photograph, and then changing that photograph into something I can consider a completely different piece of art."  He states, "the internet allows for really great use of multi-media," and he is well enough versed in art theory to see that this style of art production is at least loosely definable.  Calling it "digital collage", or labeling it in any way, is not desirable to Holmes though.  Moreover, he does not like to 'deconstruct' his artwork into components.  "Whenever you try to break things down like that I feel you really lose something," he says.

Holmes' use of the internet does not detract from his work in other mediums.  I ask him if he feels that as we as a society become internet-based will our art suffer.  Says he, "Painting is not going to die out.  Drawing is not going to die out.  Why not use the tool you have?"  Going further he says, "I don't like the resistance to digital.  The stuff people do with computers and the art they generate can be fascinating and amazing just as much as a painting."  This does not mean he wants to eliminate painting or the traditional gallery.  He is aware of their continuing presence and that they can offer the viewer a different and beneficial experience.  "I guess you lose the sense of standing in front of a painting -- but the image of it can have just as much impact," he states.  Later he says of digital artwork, "I don't think it's ever going to kill out the art gallery." 

This is the part of J. Graden Holmes' philosophy that I think is relevant to the world of art today.  There is a reluctance to use the internet and computers in general when it comes to fine art.  Some fear it has the potential of decreasing or eliminating the role of the gallery/museum, and consequently the loss of culture.  Holmes, though, has a different opinion, one of acceptance that is very common-sensical, and multi-faceted.  He still creates art traditionally while also utilizing the new technology to both display and create something new.  He does not fully plunge into the Matrix.  In fact, he sees the internet as a way to explore the world at hand.  Says he of one of his favorite past-times, buying records, "I love going to a record store, but I can use the internet to influence what I buy."  The internet is not to be used as replica but as supplement.  Denying its existence is not an option for Holmes.

For J. Graden Holmes the internet cannot help but provide influence as it provides knowledge.  This is no greater than real-world experience, but no less either.  Secondly there is the ability to create based not only on information found via the computer, but on the computer itself.  It may not be painting, but that doesn't mean it's not art.  He does both, and more.  Holmes refused to answer my question, "what is art?" during our interview.  In fact, it was the only answer he gave that was absolute.  He is aware that this technology is relatively new and its potential has yet to be fully realized.  That's not a conclusion, mind you.  That is the jumping off point for his philosophy Post Extra.  He is asking a question and seeking feedback.   That question, like the man, contains many parts.  From an outsider's perspective let me tell you that the best way I can describe that question is "What is now in the art world?" and it has been asked by many an intelligent man long before J. Graden Holmes.  Foucault talks about this after all.  Holmes wants to know what is going on in the world right now, how does it apply to me, and how does it apply to my art?  His theory exists, as does his artwork, to incite conversation.

So what is Post-Extra exactly?  Holmes answers that question indirectly himself on his website by saying, "I'm still trying to figure that out."  He claims though that you and I are Post-Extra, or perhaps could be.  We receive that moniker because we are participating in the world of art today.  The advent of the internet has resulted in a new era of art, according to him.  Those creating in a style similar to a school of the past, Dadaism let's say, can't be Dadaists because the Dada Movement did not have the internet at its disposal.  Holmes can replicate the Dadaists by bringing in a piece off the street, driving his fiancée crazy in the process, labeling it and displaying it as art, and still not be a Dadaist because his computer is on across the room.  It's both an interesting and bold claim, and not all that hard to agree with.  His saving grace is recognizing that this is not yet a fully defined theory.  That might be his greatest offering to the world of art -- his questioning, not his answering.  The internet and computers as artistic mediums are not going to die out.  J. Graden Holmes is asking how best we can utilize these tools.

Check out his work and see what he's talking about:  www.jgradenholmes.com

Send us an email if you'd like to comment on his philosophy:  chris@thefifteenbeforefifteen.com, subject line: letters to the editor

Article written by Chris Davis