Theodore Waddell and the Urgency of the Real

Theodore Waddell and the Urgency of the Real

In an art world drunk on theory and spectacle, a Montana painter insists on snow, cattle, and weather—and on the discipline of seeing. Most contemporary art has forgotten what a cow looks like. While the NEA funds performance artists smearing themselves with chocolate and major museums celebrate bananas duct-taped to walls, actual beauty goes unsubsidized. The art world has become a massive grift populated by many who mistake cleverness for wisd…