Alcohol, Drugs and Art: Do They Mix?

The modern art scene was built upon beer, pot and countless other psychotropic drugs. The 60's art scene, even though recently admitted as a government-sponsored project, was awash with crazy geniuses.

In that era of artistic creation, the living was simple and there were two aspects to these artists lives.. art and alcohol. You would paint all day in an apartment rented for $5/month and you would go and drink with all the other artists at night. Cedar bar, Dillon's Bar and the 9th circle were the hot spots and you basically knew everyone in the bar.

Artists used to order 10 beers at a time so that they wouldn't have to keep bothering the bartender. Frank Stella, Jackson Pollock, John Chamberlain... they were all there.

Alcohol is a recreation of sorts for working America. It is our relaxation and our socialization. In the art world, it is a means to a beginning.

You meet people through drinking and you express your ideas through inebriated conversation. Likewise, if you want to go a step further, throw in a little acid or marijuana to get the juices flowing.

Sometimes artists need beer

This level of creative supplementation is a topic often accepted by the art community but never really discussed. It does seem to feel like alcohol and art deserve each other. Many artists are so passionate, articulate and utterly brilliant in their visual expression so why not give them their relaxation juice. True artists are not like everyone else (sorry, but they're not). They are a special breed and they prefer not to sit on a couch after 'work' and watch Super Nanny or some other brain rotting zombie program. Instead they talk, read, drink and create.

But contrary to the thesis of this article, most artists are not alcoholics in the classic sense. Instead, they are articulate, thought-provoking drunks. Wait, that sounds bad.

Which ever way you spin it, alcohol is a good thing for artists... in moderation. Those that go a little too far, like Tracy Emin, need to step it back a bit.

So go on artists, spend your hours drinking beers and talking art, philosophy, science or anything else that comes up. If you are able to use it as an intellectual simulator by reducing inhibitions, it may be a way to allow them to express themselves further...

including the creation of art.