{"id":44268,"date":"2016-04-13T16:33:16","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T23:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=44268"},"modified":"2016-06-10T16:37:22","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T23:37:22","slug":"rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/04\/13\/rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Barker next for ICC Speaker Series: Explores the future of art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Author
Author Rick Barker talks art at the next Idyllwild Community Center Speaker Series on Thursday, Jan. 14 at the Silver Pines Lodge. Photo by Marshall Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Richard Barker is not a painter or a visual artist. But he has developed a theory about how art can influence and shape us. In his talk, Barker will review recent history and the future direction of art, using painting as the medium for his discussion. Barker speaks as part of the Idyllwild Community Center Speaker Series from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with a reception at 5:30 p.m., free to the public at the Creekstone Inn, Thursday, April 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic, literature, paintings and films play such important roles in our lives. What need in us is fulfilled by art as nothing else can?\u201d asked Barker. He believes that art has long had the ability to lift us, to inspire us and to cause us to experience a state of shared sublimity.<\/p>\n

His 2014 book, \u201cTranscending Evolution: A Christian Guide to Understanding, Accepting and Transcending Evolution,\u201d is an examination of how, with awareness and recognition of our long-held personal patterns, we can overcome hard-wired perceptions and consequent choices. Using his understanding of neuroscience, Barker also will show how awareness of our hard-wired patterns can open us to a wider appreciation of art and a greater connection with our fellow humans.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery painting is an invitation to linger a while and take a closer look, which rekindles your connection with the external world and with others,\u201d said Barker. \u201cIf I focus on the differences in another\u2019s story, that can be distancing,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if I choose to focus on what we share, that can promote a sense of connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barker believes current trends in art are creating distance rather than connection. \u201cThe history of fine art painting reveals that over the centuries, artists developed ever better techniques for rendering the world and humanity\u2019s place in it,\u201d he noted. \u201cBut the mid-1800s saw the beginnings of a radical shift in the intent of the artist \u2014 focusing less on the external world and more on the artist\u2019s internal impression or reaction to the world. Many modern painters completely ignore the external world altogether. What caused this shift? Where will art go from here?\u201d<\/p>\n

In his presentation, Barker will diagnose a current trend in art away from using the external world and our shared humanity to bring us together, to a postmodern trend toward fragmentation and \u201canything goes\u201d pluralism \u2014 accentuating differences in our personal stories rather than commonalities.<\/p>\n

For Barker, finding commonalities in the external world we share leads to empathy and understanding. When artists begin to ignore the external world and our common experiences, the result is a cultural moment with less empathy for and connection with others. He believes that is what is happening in the postmodern movement in art.\u00a0 He sees current trends in art as a reflection of growing fragmentation in our social structure and political discourse, \u201cI think postmodernism is an accurate reflection of this age and my question is, \u2018What has happened to us?\u2019\u201d he posited.<\/p>\n

As part of his presentation, Barker will feature paintings of a local artist, Michael Newberry, as an antidote to what he sees as current ego-based and divisive trends in art. \u201cI developed my theory of art back in the \u201990s,\u201d he said. \u201cI did not know which direction art would take in the future, but I did know the direction I hoped it would take. But after 20 years of waiting, I was starting to lose hope of it happening in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barker will feature Newberry because his paintings mirror the direction Barker had hoped art would take \u2014 celebrating humanity\u2019s place in the external world and elevating the viewer\u2019s experience to one of sublimity.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of our global problems will be solved from the top down,\u201d said Barker. \u201cMeaningful social change can only happen from the bottom up so that people feel more connection and more commonality.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no charge for Barker\u2019s presentation and everyone is welcome to attend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Barker is not a painter or a visual artist. But he has developed a theory about how art can influence and shape us. In his talk, Barker will review recent history and the future direction of art, using painting as the medium for his discussion. Barker speaks as part of the Idyllwild Community Center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRick Barker next for ICC Speaker Series: Explores the future of art • Idyllwild Town Crier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/04\/13\/rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/\",\"name\":\"Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"description\":\"Almost All the News \\u2014\\u00a0Part of the Time\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/04\/13\/rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/rick-barker.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/04\/13\/rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/04\/13\/rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2\/\",\"name\":\"Rick Barker next for ICC Speaker Series: Explores the future of art • Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/04\/13\/rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-13T23:33:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-10T23:37:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/800eebb80d1e5e36859dc6c5cb500784\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/04\/13\/rick-barker-next-icc-speaker-series-explores-future-art-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/800eebb80d1e5e36859dc6c5cb500784\",\"name\":\"Marshall Smith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f832ebbb90c77ae40e932b1b868a8db?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Marshall Smith\"},\"description\":\"Marshall Smith has been writing for the Town Crier since 2005. His favorite quote is: '\\\"Some men see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.\\\" Robert Kennedy quoting George Bernard Shaw\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44269,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44268\/revisions\/44269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}