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| MacDonald-Wright. Conception Synchromy, 1914 |
This review by Jerry Saltz of the "Inventing Abstraction" show at the MOMA is right on. He gives a frolicking run through the developments that led to abstraction in Western art from 1910-1925. His main criticism of the show is that abstraction was not "invented" in 1910:
"Yet even with much to love, there’s something demented, even dangerous about this show... Abstraction wasn’t invented in the West in those years...[It] is there in the caves."
I saw the show this week and was bowled over by so many amazing works of art, but similar to Saltz, I felt that the language framing the show was oversimplified and gave too much credence to White men. I'm sure these artists were exposed to abstract art that was made in other non-Western cultures. For example, Picasso owed a great debt to African masks and basic abstracted human forms in African art in general. The show is definitely worth seeing, but take the history with a grain of Saltz.
Check out this amazing interactive graphic of the artist network:
Inventing Abstraction at MOMA
New words:
demented; synonymous with mad, crazy, insane, lunatic, daft
to take something with a grain of salt; to view something skeptically, to not take something literally
Understanding abstraction is one of the hardest work to me, especially who don't have interest in an art history. However this article gently gives me about unknown part of art and guides how to follow abstraction artists' process. It gives reason why artist, who lived in 19th, tried to find new way to illustrate their on views depending on timeline and shows how their process were changing. Of course, in earlier time when this art style came first, it wasn't stunning and popular to most people. They have been keeping and developing their style and now a days the abstraction art become one of the biggest part in art history and lots of people love and respect to their works including me. Also this article has a lot of information about exhibition happening at the MOMA, at New York. So if there are any people want to visit MOMA to see these artworks, it is time to move with me !+_+!/
ReplyDeleteAbstract art changed people's perspective thought to be more abstraction back then. Changing perspective leaded to invent and develop abstract art. The features in abstract art don't look like not real-world things. And I think authors concern that meaning of inside in their artwork is more important rather than visual elements. Before I read this article, I always tried to find some features when I saw the abstract art, so it was very difficult to understand meaning of it for me. Now I can little bit know how I can feel and enjoy them. I think it is close rational eyes, and then opening inner eyes and accept them.
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ReplyDeleteIt is true that abstract art is hard to deliver artist's idea to general audiences. Depending on people, Kazimir Malevich's white square painting might be considered just square!! But, I think abstract art possibly can have so powerful to audiences, not just visual elements. It could give us various and different feeling, also their unique ideas can make something new (motivate from the art work). Although I don't agree with Saltz's opinion that abstraction art is not invented, his writing was so useful for me. (I think that these abstraction art works in this show are new genre of art)
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