During this summer school, English artist Clive Head and Anglo-Cypriot writer and art theorist Michael Paraskos conducted a joint class.
While some of the sayings in the pamphlet were intentionally humorous, such as "Beware the Swiss bearing sausages," the majority of them conveyed what the authors considered to be the essential elements of artistic practice.
Although some of the ideas associated with the New Aesthetics can be observed in the earlier works of artists like Clive Head, among others, the concept itself gained significant traction with the publication of Michael Paraskos's booklet "The Table Top Schools of Art" in 2008.
[4] This standpoint inherently rejects Conceptualism, as conceptualists not only adhere to a non-material philosophical tradition but also prioritize immaterial ideas over the material object.
[6] One notable instance is found in the article on Clive Head, where Paraskos argues that photography poses challenges as an art form due to its immaterial nature and the intermediary role of the camera, which prevents direct physical engagement with reality.
[7] A similar emphasis on materiality is evident in the articles on Hughie O'Donoghue[8] and Van Dyck,[citation needed] where the critical analysis centers firmly on the physical qualities of the paintings rather than their narrative or conceptual meanings.
In particular, Head's introduction to John Russell Taylor's book "Exactitude" highlights the importance for realist painters to move beyond relying solely on the camera and instead engage directly with the physical world around them.
Their collaboration was further solidified through a joint teaching session held via internet video link in early 2011, where Paraskos and Pocaro instructed students at Miami University.
This is evident in several of his writings for AEQAI, including his assertion that the discourse of art is not an unrestricted realm where anything goes, but rather, as Paraskos suggests in his book "Regeneration,"[12] an activity with specific parameters.
[13] Robert Neffson is an American painter who has engaged in a longstanding correspondence with Clive Head regarding the role of realism in contemporary art.