Abstract art is one of the most common terms used in the art industry where it is used to depict a type of visual language which is known to be somehow independent from the logical world. In simple terms, abstract art is typically one which does not attempt to try to symbolize the message that it is trying to convey.
That means, one would need to actually read the title of the artwork or understand the artist’s intention to fully comprehend the piece of work.The main subject of an abstract painting for instance is normally found within its colour and form instead of the images used.
In other words, abstract art is totally non-representational which is known to be the very ways of known artists like Pollock and Kandinsky
Where this is concerned, art is commonly used to express a certain emotion or experience and abstract art sort of differs from these where figurative abstractions are used. This is where a painting depicts only a certain degree of its recognizable form while the more recognizable or associated objects are not used.
Much have been said about abstract art where it is known to have caused the development and growth of various known art movements like Fauvism, Cubism and Impressionism as well as others which proposed art work which were unconventional and different from the norm.
Hence, one gets to appreciate a different type of art methods like Impressionism where the artist purportedly did not ‘complete’ their paintings while Cubism came about where the artist painted an object from more than one perspective.
Meanwhile, Fauvism introduced the use of colours through a non-realistic way and all these paved the way for colour, form, texture and lines to be the main subject of an artwork instead of the objects concerned.
Perhaps one of the most known names in this art form is Jackson Pollock where his introduction of Abstract Expressionism during the 1940s used Expressionism in abstract art. He used a different techniques in his paintings that include dropping, smearing, spattering and dripping on the canvas which have become one of the most ‘copied’ techniques ever since.
What then is abstraction? Abstraction is typically deviating from imagery in any art from
This type of ‘departure’ need not be complete and can be a part of the original intention and can often times be debated or refuted. When one says that appreciating art means to be able to interpret a piece of painting, that is abstract art in practice. This leaves the artist with a certain conundrum where they can either apply total abstraction which leaves no reference to the subject matter they are painting or partial abstraction where you can still see or perceive what the artist is trying to portray. Among some of the main notions against abstract art is the loosely defined and depicted messages where they are often ‘open’ to interpretations. Hence, a dot of black paint can be said to be abstract while even a blank piece of canvas too can be interpreted as such.
