>Expecting visual artists to say/write something interesting about
>their work is like expecting musicians to communicate something
>interesting about their work by doing a watercolor painting.
No it's not. There are plenty of examples, historical and contemporary, of artists writing and speaking eloquently about their work. Those who can should and those who cannot should refrain. But artists talking about their own work is common today because professional critics have been squeezed out.
>Visual artists aren't trained to be writers or lecturers,
Yes they are, just not very well. The majority of people who get mfas wind up teaching and writing. It's expected of them.
>The important, tangible thing is the art work itself; what the
>artist has to say about it is more or less irrelevant.
This is a copout that's availed of all too frequently now.