Patrick, thanks for posting your work in progress. I apologize that we ran out of time in class.

The distinction you perceive between art as "a means of illuminating critical thought oppose to a simple recording of the everyday of our society" is understandable but maybe not completely true. In fact, both of these things are at work in your paintings. Your works are recording events taking place now in public life, but rather than using video or digital images or press photos (the default image formats of contemporary life), you've chosen a very specific method of depicting these events. Your choice to paint and to use pictorial references from medieval art are conceptual decisions that are very much idea-based. Maybe your criticism lies with art that doesn't manage to balance its conceptual and critical dimension with an appropriate formal and visual craftsmanship.

I think the paintings are at a good but critical stage. You need to think now about the audience and whether or not they will be able to follow your various references to art history and contemporary new events. Figure out how symbolism worked as a language in the medieval period and the possible parallels/differences to contemporary readings of symbols. This comparative thinking will also be crucial as you start to make decisions about display - from framing to how the paintings will hang in a room or in relation to furniture.

Will