My Struggle

One of the realities of pursuing artistic avocations is the inevitable sense of frustration, bewilderment, disappointment, and resignation at the process of attempting to gain recognition or cash from the product of creative pursuits. Egged on by a supportive and enthusiastic audience that found his work to be nothing short of extraordinary, Garrett Fisher set aside his calloused cynicism with the art world and actually bothered to make a submission to the Luxembourg Art Prize in 2020. Admittedly, a 50,000 prize for the winner was compelling, as were published statistics that revealed the chance of being selected as a finalist were adequately high. As lockdown continued along, the submission grew larger and larger, with more works and more text explaining artistic process behind the acquisition of a large collection of aerial photographs from two continents. Worried that the process had gotten out of control, Mr. Fisher decided to put the submission into a book and release it, no matter what the outcome. Spoiler alert: He did not win, nor was he selected as a finalist, which gave his sardonicism renewed vigor. Nonetheless, 100 images with adjoining text for each one, including the introductory essay written to the Art Prize has been included, along with a "love letter to the art world" identifying the complex, contradictory, and otherwise impossible facets of attempting to get noticed while at the same time causing explosions of glee in the minds of the viewers of his work. Spanning 2014 to 2020, "My Struggle" is the most comprehensive, varied, and thorough demonstration of Garrett Fisher's artwork, with the largest body of explanatory text yet in existence related to his images.