For the New York-based Israeli artist Ken Goshen, painting is like listening. In a world where art is taught as the quintessential vehicle for self-expression, he challenges the notion that our self-expression has substance unless we do not first learn to observe. During the Sixth NTD International Figure Painting competition in New York City, where Mr. Goshen submitted two award-winning portraits, I sat with him for an interview.
Building a Foundation
Interested in drawing since childhood, Mr. Goshen was often frustrated and disappointed by how little was actually taught in his art classes. All the teachers told him to “express yourself,” but the lack of a foundational artistic language rendered him speechless, like a musician who has not yet learned the notes.
His journey in search of this language brought him to the Hatahana Studio for Figurative Drawing and Painting in Tel Aviv, Israel. There, he met artists who possessed the magical technique of traditional realist painting. It appeared to him almost like some secret knowledge.
“One night a professor was demonstrating how to paint a piece of bread. It was just amazing to me that no move he made seemed like guesswork. He just knew what he was doing. He just looked at the thing, and he knew what color to mix. He knew how to apply it. I definitely understood that if there’s a methodology to this thing, it can be learned.”
Thus, Mr. Goshen became increasingly committed to mastering this technique. To him, painting was more than a platform for self-expression. It was a laboratory for learning and perfecting the art.
After spending three years in the studio, he decided to enroll at the Parson’s School of Design in New York, where he sought to understand the operation of the contemporary art world. Here, he has stayed—painting, exhibiting, and just last year, founding an art school for all who are keen to understand and bring back classical aesthetics and techniques.
“Teaching has become as enjoyable and as important as making art itself. ... We need to work together to make an actual impact on the art world. In the grand scheme of things, if we are trying to revitalize the importance of beauty and the impact of aesthetics, it’s really important not to only be alone in the studio ... but also to interface with the younger generation of people who want to learn this knowledge.”
In addition to his classes in New York, Mr. Goshen also teaches classes online to over 400 students, where he demonstrates the artistic skills of classical realism and imparts his understanding of art as a practice. He insists that in order to express oneself, an artist needs to learn the basic mode of visual communication and achieve a satisfactory level of eloquence.
More important, is the ability to look inward to know yourself, and know what’s there to express. Rather than self-consciously projecting our own thoughts and feelings, Mr. Goshen advocates for a more humble approach to art-making.
“If we say the goal of art is to express ourselves, it presupposes that we know ourselves. There’s great narcissism to this claim because to know oneself may be a lifetime pursuit even for the most deeply introspective people. When art students are asked to express themselves from within, they may find some superficial emotions like anger, frustration, satisfaction, or love. But are these really insightful and profound enough to be the subject of great art?”
Mr. Goshen stresses that although a person may think they are not born with anything inherently worthwhile to express, they can be an empty vessel capable of absorbing higher values by listening and observing intently.
Self Discovery Through Artistry
Rather than a means for conscious self-expression, Mr. Goshen believes that art-making is more of a process of self improvement and discovery, which may then be communicated through paint for the inspiration of others.
“In the studio, we might encounter some kind of artistic challenge, which makes the painting really difficult but exciting and interesting to pursue. It’d make you ask yourself: Why is that challenge interesting or difficult for me? What’s preventing me from achieving my goal?”
Mr. Goshen uses every painting as a way to recognize his own own shortcomings and tries to overcome them. Through making an effort to resolve the challenges, he grows as an artist. The process, he says, turns him into “a more competent painter, and indeed, a stronger and spiritually richer individual.”
“This process of self discovery and improvement is then embodied through the painting, because it records my every move, every mistake, [and] every correction onto the physical canvas. The journey through which I am learning to know myself becomes available and exposed and vulnerable for everyone to see. Hopefully, this process of spiritual and intellectual growth may resonate with the people who look at the painting. Everyone may discover and improve themselves in their own ways and through whatever they do, but painting makes this process visible and allows others to be inspired by your experiences.”
