The "Yes, But Is It Art? Gallery" presents the art of Michael F. Nyiri. Fond of calling himself a "failed artist", Mr. Nyiri showcases the many reasons why on this part of the AllThingsMike Universe of websites. I also am fond of using the phrase "art exists". For as long as man has graced the planet Earth, he has added "decorations" and "illustrations" to his world, in an attempt to describe and explain it, but I find art in random acts of nature, the weather, and in time and existence itself. From early cave paintings, through painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, video and film, mankind has used art to instruct, entertain, propogandize, and entice spirituality. Here will be examples of my art, from early pencil sketches, to the elaborate composite illustrations capable with image editing programs.

The AllThingsMike website contains poetry and prose, but was also designed, back in 1999 to be "an electronic experiment" in art. Immediately after I found I could "create" a website, and even before I had any specific idea as to the content that website would contian, the idea of "site as art" intrigued me, and even before I actually knew how to structure the HTML elements to create fields and tables, I put up "pages" on Homestead which announced the "grand experiment." These first pages were created on the Homestead server, and as I manipulated each "element", background, image insertion, text boxes, etc., I figured that even without knowing exactly what I was doing, I would be able to summon my creativity to "place" the elements on the "page" in cyberspace in an "artistic" manner. The basic "images" were in a database on the Homestead server, and introduced me to copy/paste imaging. I used the images in the Homestead editing program, borrowed from the web, and bought many clip art programs. These images at first merely illustrated the "articles" I wrote on the website. With the addition of a scanner in order to insert more media into my computer, I discovered image editing software. In 2001, after the website had been up for over a year, I actually used the computer images and the editing program to "create" new images from those copied and pasted. The program also allowed one to "draw" using the mouse. I am still a budding artist concerning this "medium". The images chosen can form "ideas" and can also be completely manipulated. These days, my "talents", if any, are being utilized in computer compositing. I learn new and exciting ways to use image editing software each time I open a program. I am slowly beginning to summon my muse for drawing purposes as well. The computer can be used to implement and enhance one's own work in interesting ways.

In 2009 this website will celebrate it's ten year anniversary online. The early babysteps of my computerized "experiment in art" are now full of youthful swagger. There are now whole galleries of composite artwork I have created over the past decade. First a trickle, now an avalanche of artistic expression. It is up to the viewer to ascertain whether the art works. As the artist, I will only admit it exists. As does all art.

I have been drawing for almost as long as I have been writing. As a child, my brother, sister, and I frequently gathered round the kitchen table with pads, pencils, and crayons, and created not only pictures, but magazines, storybooks, and comics. Media was always of interest to my brother and me, and we found ways to "present" the art. My website could be a 'receptacle' for my latent "failed" artistic talent, both by displaying past drawings and photographs, and also by displaying any new styles of artistic endeavors as they arose. My first pages in 1999 did not have an "art" section for express purpose of displaying pictures I had created. The "Yes, But Is It Art?" Gallery grew out of a "joke site" I created for the Komedy Komedy Komedy section. The joke site became a real AllThingsMike section in 2000 when I got together with Regina during the summer. Regina was a painter, and I developed an interest again in drawings and paintings.

My liason with Regina didn't last long, and the impetus for constructing the "Yes, But Is It Art? Gallery diappeared entirely. This site existed for almost three years under construction, and while there was content, most of the pages only announced what soon would grace them. In 2003, I "took up the paintbrush" again, as it were, and worked on this part of the experiment, expanding the page design, creating more elaborate galleries for the images, which now could be enlarged, and establishing what only began in 2007 as a recurrent theme for the site, which had different sections, which all looked dissimilar.

I don't have any early drawings I made as a child, although I wish I did. I can remember elaborate story books and magazines. I did save my "MFN Handbook" magazines from middle school, which were like Motor Trend and displayed the automobiles I designed. A friend at school and I both designed our own car lines. An early comic I might be able to locate is "Arnold" my cartoon character created in 1968 when I was in hgh school. The "Arnold" comic book is the only attempt, other that my high school newspaper single pane comic, to actually tell a story with my many "Arnold" characters. In high school, I really began to cartoon, more than to draw. I liked hard, solid lines. And a lot of the "instant art" I would create was in response to a "situation" either historical or political. I was editor of our high school newspaper, and "Arnold" showed up in some of the editorial cartoons I drew. I didn't "study" art in school. I did study journalism, drama, and most of all, literature. I always held a great appreciation for art, however, and still love to wander through art museums. Before photography, art served the purpose of illustrating existence. After photography became popular in the late 19th century, the idea of "art" as more that representation gained a foothold. In the 21st centruy, anything can be art, and we're full circle to the fact that "art exists".

Attempts are being made to expand the drawing section. The composites section was given a complete overhaul in December of 2007, adding over 15 more images. The photography section contains the best photographic images I had taken in 2004 and 2005. I will soon be adding the best photos up till 2007. The philosophy section contains one of my signature essays on my "philosophy of art." . The "Yes, But Is It Art? Gallery" actually encompasses more than a passing fancy for Michael Nyiri, artist. As the electronic experiment expands, and as the artistic muse continues her mentoring, more and more art work is added to the Yes, But Is It Art? Galleries. They're just another place for art to exist.

Yes, But Is It Art?

MFN 12/31/04 (Revised 12/31/07)