The magic of art

AMONG the more inspirational experiences I have had in the art world was an encounter with a young security guard at the former Lannan Foundation’s gallery. In his uniform and looking stolid until I passed and said hello, he came to life when I asked him what it was like to view the Gerhard Richter paintings every day [“Drawn to the Badge,” by Diane Haithman, April 16]. I took the young man to be more from a “street” background rather than privileged and art-savvy. He seemed to have little if any art background, but talked with increasing passion about how much the paintings communicated to him each day as he studied them more and more, how they yielded all kinds of complex and subtle meanings for him. My thought at the time was, if this is what can happen when someone untutored in art is exposed to it and allows the art to work its magic on him, it suggests that the most important thing in learning to appreciate art is to give close attention and be open to the experience.

I think it’s fine that some security guards are artists who want to be around art, but I thought it was much more uplifting when a guard was “converted” to art appreciation by soaking up the imagery through his presence in the gallery.

TIM JAHNS

Upland