Should an artist ever speak ill of another artist?

Pablo Picasso once held a party with the sole purpose of mocking another artist's work, work that Picasso, himself, deemed horrible and laughable.

So first of all, everybody get off their high horses. After all, Picasso did it.

When it comes to artists speaking ill of one another's works, there are two schools of thought:

1. I'm an artist and I'll do and say as I damn well please, because that's what makes me an artist.

2. I'm an artist and understand the struggles of an artist, so we should all support each other.

To be candid- and a bit obnoxious- I find myself ascribing to both camps. Although to be fair, if I had to choose a side, I would choose the 1st argument every time.

I'm an artist. I don't filter. I don't censor. And I don't apologize. I only grow and then reflect that growth through my art.

“I’m an artist. I don’t filter. I don’t censor. And I don’t apologize. I only grow and then reflect that growth through my art.”

I believe that anything can be the springboard to great art. I once had a piece get damaged and I used the broken-off bit of paint to inspire a whole new painting. Anything can be used.

Criticism can be used. Backlash can be used. Anything can be used.

So first I'll say, to any artist like myself who has received negative feedback: Use it. Waste nothing from your time here or else your time here will be wasted.

I see bad art often. I see it on Instagram. I definitely see it in galleries. And I sometimes see it in museums.

My approach to bad art is this: Everyone is entitled to have and express their opinion, no matter how wrong, mean or horrible. That's freedom, and as an artist, I must protect freedom because freedom is the only thing that protects my ability to create art.

“Waste nothing from your time here or else your time here will be wasted.”

Most of the time, I choose not to vocalize my negative reviews.

I would never volunteer negative feedback on Instagram. Unless another artist asks for my opinion on a piece, I certainly wouldn't offer negativity to them. I would, however, volunteer unsolicited positive feedback. (Who doesn't want that?)

But in a gallery or museum, I am not as trained to hold my tongue.

I don't blog about it or tweet about it.

But, if I came with someone, I do remark to the person I came with my distaste for said piece or artist and why.

If I am alone, I simply scrunch my face and silently ask "Why is this here?" followed by a mature "Yuck."

But my point is this: There is no hard and fast rule.

Do what you want as an artist. We're artists; dishing it and taking it is part of what we do. It's part of the artistic process.

“No publicity is bad publicity. The absence of publicity is bad publicity.”

Anecdotally, in throwing his party to mock another artist's terrible work, Pablo Picasso succeeded in making that artist famous.

Not for being a terrible artist, but the mocked artist saw his sales soar for the rest of his career.

Another reason why I do not publicly decry terrible art.

No publicity is bad publicity. The absence of publicity is bad publicity.

I tend to ignore bad work. Because, as we've spoken about, that's the easiest thing to do with bad work, anyway.

TRISHA WILES