Abstract Painting is Back

The New Abstraction

I have never moved away from abstract art, either as a viewer or as a painter. Today I came across a quote from Joan Miro that explains this consistency:

"Rather than setting out to paint something, I begin painting and as I
paint, the picture begins to assert itself, or suggest itself under my
brush." -- Joan Miro

I am about to approach a blank canvas and begin a new "aesthetic adventure". Let's see what happens.

Miro was a great artist and his abstract paintings were more than
appealing to a broad spectrum of people.
I'd say, very few abstract painters are good, and what some consider
abstract art, is not necessarily art at all. With regular conventional
art, it is so much easier to separate the good from the bad, with abstract
paintings it takes a while

"Good" and "bad" wlth regard to art, especially abstract art, are very problematical notions. Most people I know do not llike the work of Picasso or Bartok. This is, to my mind, clearly a confession rather than a useful assessment.
When I arrive at the point where I am "satisfied" with a painting, I know that on other occassions I may not be so happy with it, and on another day I will respond even more favorably to it. Beauty IS clearly in the eye and MIND (and even the mood) of the viewer--and so is ugliness. Art is the soul of subjectivity.
It follows that a work of art is both the expression of the artist and the creative capacity of the viewer. I expect that sometimes others are able to do more with my art than I can do, so when others do less with it, I consider that their problem, not mine.

Right, JL, however, there is a general consent of what's beautiful and
what's ugly. Picasso is a master in his own right, there is no denial of
his talent. Dto. for Miro and Kandinsky, and I like Bartok too, whereas
some of the newer artist, like Jim Napierala, I can't get excited about.

Ah, I'm disappointed. This looks exactly like Isaac Hayes.



If you see yourself in an abstract painting, that is what makes it appealing, I think. There must be a connection between the painting and the viewer, right JL?

I agree: Napierala's kind of work (there are many other artists who are making this kind of overall, homogeneous stuff) is not much more than wallpaper--according to my own subjectivity. I suspect that many sensitive viewers find it sublime.

By the way, Letty, I once did a painting (Souls of Mictlan--is that what you are referring to?) that looks--in its overall design--like a somber version of the one you are showing here. Who is the painter?

I tried painting an abstract with my camera this afternoon.

(i guess my code didn't work).

JL, The painter is Chris Martin. I got it from Shapeless' link. <smile>

Shepaints, welcome back. Yep, the page could not be viewed, dahling.

Shepaints is here!!!
How long has it been?
I just saw this morning, on the TV program, Sunday Morning, some photographic art that looked like beautiful abstract paintings. The artist is Joel ? (can't remember his last name), the Broadway musical star who performed in Caberet. Wonderful artistry. I love photos that look like paintings, especiallly abstract paintings.

That performer rings a bell, I think I remember him as very talented - er, is that Joel Grey? (I know, I could google, but I'm just relaxing.)

Shepaints has been back for a bit, shape up, JL and pay attention! See, I bet you never look at the architecture (it is an art...) threads.

Sniff. My bad.
YES, Joel Grey!

HI JL...lovely to see you and mahvellous Letty ! What a great quote from you "Art is the soul of subjectivity". On that note, do you think a painting can be considered true abstraction if based on actuality.... a close up of the cracks on a sidewalk for example?

Yes, SP, the photographs of Joel Grey are OF actual things, but he includes only enough within the frame to make up abstract compositions, i.e., he leaves out properties that would make make the pictures "representational." I sometimes take photos--for future "inspiration"--of cracks, oil patches and blotches on sidewalks, streets and walls. They are often very beautiful (like purely abstract music) in their abstract qualities. And, of course, representational paintings and drawings should have abstract qualities that make them beautiful as well as representative of their subjects. Do you agree?

Yes, I agree JL, representational painters, especilly those like Titian, can have wonderful abstract passages in their paintings.

I am interested in the fundamentally different processes artists use in creating an abstract. You have described painting an abstract as a sort of dialogue between artist and canvas, a back and forth conversation, each part of the dialogue affecting the other.

I suspect artists like Pearlstein (who painted cracked rocks in the tide of Modernism), had a a very visual, analytic approach to the abstract. He represented exactly what he saw in front of him, in the same way that he recorded his rather impersonal images of the figure.

Anyhow, as CJ says, an abstract painting is very difficult to do. I suppose
for viewer, the process is not that important, the painting just has to "work".

I am repelled by advice on "how to" paint an abstract picture. There is no "way", no technique. You do it or you don't. Every effort on my part is like doing it for the first time. It just happens as a hit and miss process. Some of my most satifying efforts have resulted from a painting over of parts of a failed painting. It is always a dialog between what you put down and your reaction to it. This results in a dual process of putting paint down and taking it off.
I have created a simple slogan for myself: "work it until it works."

Plus, the interactive descriptives JL uses for his painting is much what I do with my representational work...

I believe that, Osso. If I had to plan a picture in advance and that stick to the plan, I just wouldn't bother. Now playing music is a very different matter, unless it's jazz. But then I think that abstract art is very much like playing jazz, improvization and opportunism.

I've always thought of music (as separate from the lyrics) as being abstract. Even the most programatic music is abstract compared with representational painting.