Research Part 4

Abstraction

Abstract art is a departure from the more traditional art of the everyday object surrounded by background and detail, to one of simplified blocks of colour, shape and texture.

It is an exploration of the shape, colour, marks, line, form and texture of the chosen subject that is then presented in a simplified form where the detail has been eliminated. How much of this detail is eliminated is down to the artist and it may be only a small bit of the original subject that remains.

Alternatively, the artist might choose to work without any subject, but instead, experiment with and record shape, colour and textures from imagined and remembered visual experiences.

In both cases emphasis needs to be placed on being experimental with such aspects as colour, pattern & shape to convey an intended message where the artist plans for the viewer to become engaged, analyse and explore with their own emotions and interpretations.

There are many variations of abstract art, for example Cubist, Fauvist, Colour Field & Orphism and a good reference of types can be found on the Tate website https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/abstract-art [accessed 16/01/2020]

Another article on artsy.net by Rachel Lebowitz explores ‘How to Be an Artist, According to Wassily Kandinsky’ by looking at 5 lessons.

  • Lesson #1: Express your inner world, not the latest artistic trends.
  • Lesson #2: Don’t paint things. Paint in abstract form.
  • Lesson #3: Approach color as a window into the human soul.
  • Lesson #4: Inject rhythm into your painting, like a musical score.
  • Lesson #5: By creating original work, you will further the cause of humanity.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-artist-kandinsky

“Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot see physically with his eyes… Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an exploration into unknown areas.” – Arshile Gorky https://www.art-mine.com/collectorscorner/understanding-abstract-art/ [accessed 16/01/2020]

Points to consider:

  • Subject matter – analyse & select features, make rough sketches
  • Shape – build composition from a series of shapes, distort, enlarge, reduce
  • Relationships – distribution of shapes generates impact
  • Simplify – shape, colour, detail
  • Colour – use blocks or broken areas of colour
  • Emphasise – make something stand out
  • Contrast – between bold dominant and subtle elements

Use different:

  • View points
  • Media
  • Colour combinations
  • Working processes
  • Scale

Artist Research:

I have chosen to look at the work of three artists who work(ed) in abstraction, Wassily Kadinsky, Barbara Rae & Claire Harrigan. Examples and a short description of their work are below along with some bullet point / descriptive points that came to me when viewing their works either on-line or in books.

Wassily Kadinsky – Post 1920

Images left to right – Bright Unity / Several Circles / Sky Blue

During this period the work of Kadinsky is far more abstract and geometric, and suggests to me ‘order’ and ‘structure’ but a little bit of playfulness as well.

  • Colours are bright
  • Often Geometric
  • Line, Shape and Form
  • Space on the canvas
  • Line, shape and colour merge and combine to create new shape, new colour and new form and composition.

Kandinsky – a core of his theory of colour; contrasts that of ‘warm v cold’ – ‘yellow v blue’.

  • Yellow – expands and moves towards the viewer.
  • Blue – recedes and moves within itself.

Barbara Rae – While this work is termed abstract, the theme or an object is often visible within each work and there is a journey of discovery exploration and imagination for the viewer. The influence of the historical landscape is important to Rae; historical as in how people shaped the land, what they needed to do to survive, and the influence, marks and patterns that their need for survival left on the environment.

Images left to right – Ballinskelligs / Red Sky / Winter Almonds

  • Dynamic movement
  • Overlapping layers of colour
  • Contrasting and bold colours
  • Playful (love the dancing olive trees)
  • Visible story
  • Texture, pattern & structure
  • Landscape interpretation
  • Journeys
  • Horizontal merging layers with vertical structure that brings layers together

Claire Harrigan – I have chosen to look at Claire Harrigan because her work is not entirley abstarct, but halfway between abstract and realism, almost collage in appearance and for me offers another way into the world of abstraction.

Images left to right – The Gardeners Bicycle / Yellow Roses/ Hibiscus

  • Vibrant contrasting colour
  • Shape and structure
  • Space on Canvas
  • Texture
  • Collage
  • Subject obvious within the abstraction, abstract elements

7th March 2020 – I have just picked up a copy of printmaking today (winter edition) and see that there are two articles that I could research further. How untimely that I have found these after submitting Part 4 with my themes of fire and ice.

  • World on Fire – Dianne Fogwell
  • Cornelia Parker’s etchings of Transparency & Ice

Bibliography

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