You have bits of canvas that are unpainted and you have these thick stretcher bars. So you see that a painting is an object; that it's not a window into something - you're not looking at a landscape, you're not looking at a portrait, but you're looking at a painting. It's basically: A painting is a painting is a painting. And it's what Frank Stella said famously: What you see is what you see.
Frank StellaI like real art. It's difficult to define 'real' but it is the best word for describing what I like to get out of art and what the best art has. It has the ability to convince you that it's present - that it's there. You could say it's authentic... but real is actually a better word, broad as it may be.
Frank StellaAny artist can't get away from the way the world works, which is that it wants to know what you did, and you're only interested in what you're doing right now.
Frank StellaI don't like to say I have given my life to art. I prefer to say art has given me my life.
Frank Stella