It seems to be common, and there have been a few comments on this list,
amongst musicians to say, "oh those lucky painters,
they don't have theory forced down their throats like we do . . "
But have you ever noticed that most recent art is ALL theory?
90% of all new works I see today come with some explanation like
"In her art, ____________ explores issues of ________ and _________."
(society & culture, gender & hegemony, femininity & domination, or
whatever).
It's all about making some philosophical statement. Or not even. It's
just "exploring issues of".
I'm sure you'll never see a program note for an art show that says,
"__________ just thinks that swaths of intertwined shades of blue are
simply so @#$% delicious, she can't stop painting them."
Well, perhaps I'm exagerrating, there are always exceptions.
But maybe art is in its "theoretical" period????