Thursday, April 2, 2009

Can We Appreciate Abstract Art Without Understanding It?...

By Anna Meenaghan

You could be excused for looking puzzled when viewing sculpture forms or abstract drawings and sketches. This is not unusual as they can be a puzzlement to us all! Maybe this is because it is the artists mental or spiritual conception!

We cannot always see the artists insight on the given subject and, at the end of the day, we can draw our own conclusions as to what we may think it represents. When artists paint, they often get carried away and decide on a title afterwards.

Choosing titles can be very hard. In some cases you may find it interesting to ask some of your friends and see what answers they come up with. More eyes sometimes helps you to make a decision. Therefore, you might say, abstract work is difficult to describe, particularly when they often do not seem too real!

Artists alike often just work on the feel of something, intuition if you like! Being creative souls they do not have to have something that is real in front of them for them to get to work. Thank goodness, as we live in a very real world!

Many people do not understand abstractionism or in fact try to! You often need much vision to be able to and it is quite possible the artist maybe didn't need us to. If you look at the forms or shapes in front of you, you may have come to that conclusion.

Any artificial type of forms made are what we call abstractionism. If we study the work of Jackson Pollock, he certainly knew what abstract expressionism was and still is. He let rip on his canvasses with paint dripping and dropping, smearings, spatters and even chucked the paint on his works.

Really, I would say you need a great degree of sensitivity to comprehend this style of art as it may contain only the essence of the original subject, but yet will emit emotions.

However, I find that on the whole, this type of work usually holds your interest. As an example, if you see one of these works in a shop, or say on a company wall, you will probably realise that you cannot take your eyes off it. It sucks you in, there is just something about it. In other words, it gains an emotional response from you.

So, when abstracts are your choice to paint, you maybe have to answer your own questions! Was the end result what I originally intended? Perhaps I just thought I was on a winning streak with a knockout painting!

Do I really need the buyer to make up their own mind up as to what I have painted? What was I really thinking about when I did this? Did I really have a subject in mind at the time or was I simply distracted and being creative. So, do I really need a title for this or should I leave it untitled as I maybe don't know where this vision originated.

You, the artist, may not be phased as to whether anyone has an understanding of the meaning of your painting, but whether and where you sign it can be another issue.

The buyer can choose which way the painting hangs if you leave the option open to them by signing it on the back!

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