"My three-year-old could have done that," many people say as they look at a piece of abstract art in a gallery or a museum. They believe that a good artist is someone who can create a painting that looks exactly like a photograph.
Abstract art does not try to mimic nature. It has a different goal. Abstract art is about relationships among such elements and principles as color, line, shape, form, and texture. If you look at any great piece of art, from any era, it “works”, subconsciously, because of these abstract design elements, and not because of any objective subject matter.
Serious music is similar. Though sometimes it seems so, it is not descriptive. Rather, it is about patterns, tones, harmonies, dissonances, rhythms, and calculated silence.
If perfect rendering were the measure of great art, all painters would be out of business because cameras would win every time. Abstract art is about spiritual and intellectual relationships. Like science, it is a search for elegance and integration.
It is true that many people enjoy representational art and illustration. That is their right. There are styles of work for every taste. For those who do not enjoy abstract art, there are literally thousands of artists in every region of the world who create beautiful, wonderfully realistic paintings. Visit Scottsdale, Carmel, or any city's art district. You will find galleries filled with contemporary seascapes, landscapes, still lifes, and historical paintings.
As for people who enjoy creating abstract art, I think we have to be confident that our audience will find us. If not, it does not matter.
Now, let me speak for myself. I paint because art is an important part of my own spiritual search. For years, I went to figure drawing groups several times a week. For now, I let color, space, and texture inform me.
Let me tell you a little story. I was at a large Impressionist and Post-Impressionist show in Los Angeles. Two well-dressed and educated women were studying a breathtaking Gauguin. After a few moments of silence, one said, “It’s all right, I guess, but there’s something about the color.”
That saved me! After that, I no longer felt I had to pay attention to anybody else’s opinion. As creators, we walk a tightrope without a net. Unfortunately, many of us are starved for approval. Becoming a mature artist means accepting that approval may never come, yet continuing anyway, and doing the soul’s work, not the market’s.
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Contributor's Note
A portfolio of my figurative and nonobjective originals can be found at Absolute Arts. POD prints are available through Art.com, Zazzle, Redbubble, Imagekind, and Cafe Press.
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