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The birth certificate says he was born
July 4, 1935, in Moscow, Idaho. But Gary Kaemmer reckons it should’ve been earlier. Much earlier.
“I was born 500 years too late,” he explains – a wry smile belied by an almost imperceptible hint of exasperation
in his voice. “You know what art was back then? Magic. No cameras, no computers. You had to draw and paint, baby. And if you could draw and paint the pope, or the king, you were important. That’s magic. And that’s worth a lot. Now? We’re so saturated with imagery that it has no value. It’s lost its magic.”
Kaemmer’s preliminary study for his portrait of Joan Miró.
It’s not just the times we live in, though. Kaemmer also has some choice words for artists. “Here’s one,” he says. He grabs a back issue of ARTnews and starts reading: “She drapes 16 mature white women in raw animal flesh, from tripe to chicken heads, and then she photographs them.” Kaemmer tosses the magazine aside. “This is what they call art nowadays. It’s nothing but hype. Shock value and hype. It’s all showbiz.”
But Kaemmer’s real ire? That’s aimed at the “money boys” – the agents responsible for the dreck that passes as art these days. “They take an artist who might have some potential,”
he says. “They hype him, they throw all kinds of money behind him, they put him in New York City in all the right galleries, they make him a star. They’re investors. It’s purely money-driven.”
Blame Picasso and Dali, says Kaemmer. They started the whole thing. “They ruined it for the rest of us,” he says.
At this point, you begin to wonder whether Gary Kaemmer is truly as jaded as he sounds, or whether he’s having a little fun at your expense. Mocking Dali is one thing, but Picasso? Turns out he’s serious. And it doesn’t take long before you start to agree with him.
“You can’t do this for a lifetime without becoming a little cynical,” he says. “Look: you can’t possibly make a living today unless you’re hyped. The galleries take 50 percent. I can’t make a living like that. Could you? Can you give away 50 percent of your income? Think about it for a second. No – you can’t.”
Part of the problem, says Kaemmer, is that there’s too much talent out there already. And people are busy paying for college tuition and mortgages; they’re purchasing big cars and bigger boats. They’re buying everything, that is, but art. “It’s not important to people anymore,” he says. “We’re not educated in the arts, so people aren’t buying it. Except for the investors and promoters. They’re manipulating the market. Donald Trump is right: contemporary art is a con.”
So what does Gary Kaemmer say to someone who wants to pursue a career as an artist? First, he laughs. Then he shrugs: “I say good luck. Oh – and what’s your day job?”
MIRÓ
PROOF! is a free publication distributed twice a year by Johnston Printing in an e ort to bring to light the contributions of area artists. To receive additional copies by mail, to sign up a friend, or to share a story that you’d like to see in PROOF!, visit proof.johnstonprinting.com. Founded in Spokane in 1947, Johnston Printing is a family-owned, full-service print shop o ering both o set and digital printing, along with binding and mailing services, for every printing need.
(facing page) Kaemmer thinks of Joan Miró (1893–1983) as “basically a cartoonist. He likes to have fun, which is an unusual mindset for a ne artist.” As for Miró’s fellow surrealist Salvador Dali, however, Kaemmer is less kind: “Talented, yes – but essentially a commercial artist.”
(cover) A leading exponent of the French New Realism movement, Yves Klein (1928–62) was best known for painting large-scale abstract images in black and white. “He’s not into nit-picking,” says Kaemmer. “He goes for broad strokes, energy, impact.”
Cover photography of Gary Kaemmer, as well as that of all paintings shown, by J. Craig Sweat Photography.