Ten points in defence of Abstract Expressionism
The Way Forward
Ten points in defence of Abstract Expressionism
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I have decided that I have been needlessly harsh on abstract expressionism
in the past, so I've decided to present this list in AEs favour, just to
show that I can be fair.
1. It is modern. At fifty years old, Abstract Expressionism is still
newer than some of Alfred Hitchocks movies. It is often created with
modern materials, such as household paints and acrylic, as well as other
synthetic paints. Also, it never has any old-fashioned subject matter
that is likely to date.
2. It is innovative. Although its roots in the surrealism of Matta are
obvious, by dropping the surrealistic elements while keeping the painterly
approach, it introduced the a significant novelty. Since the invention of
the style, many AE practitioners have done amazing new things with it,
such as monochrome painting, colourful painting, thin painting, thick
painting, smooth painting, rough painting, crowded painting and empty
painting. They have also used a lot of different techniques and materials
such as brush, knife, crayon, roller and various bits and bobs from the
junk shop. Each prominent abstract expressionist is responsible for just
one of these innovations, which is remarkably fair, when you think of it.
3. It is honest. Just as the best books do not pretend to be anything
but ink on paper, and the best cinema films do not pretend to be anything
but celluloid, AE does not pretend to be anything but paint. It isn't
saying anything, but at least it isn't lying. (By contrast, realistic
painting perpetrates a fraud on the viewer by seeming not to have been
painted at all.)
4. It is expressive. Unlike other styles of art, abstract expressionism
enables painters to express their individuality to the full. One can
easily as an abstract expressionist convey one's feelings about living in
a particular city, about local and national politics, about religion,
friendship, love, morality, the environment, philosophy and science. The
viewer of an abstract expressionist painting is able to pick up all of
these from the nuance of colour and texture of a painting after only the
briefest glance at the essay in the exhibition catalogue.
5. It is satistfying. Nothing brings greater joy to the heart of an
artist than to be free to paint huge canvases in the same trademark style
week in and week out, year after year. That is why so few abstract
expressionists turn to drink.
6. It is skilful. The challenging decisions that face the artist about
whether to drip, splash, scrape or smear the paint on can occupy an artist
for days at a time, and further days can be spent deciding what bits to
scrape off. Most difficult of all is knowing when to stop. The skills
required to do all this successfully are enormously complex, which means
that most people who try AE give up in despair after many unsuccessful
attempts, while a small, talented few show remarkable improvement during
the course of their career. Mark Rothko is a case in point. The
paintings he produced when he was in his late fifties were vastly superior
to those he produced a decade earlier, though only a critic with a very
skilled eye could possibly tell.
7. It is various. Unlike other styles of painting, which are restricted
to cliched subject-matter and hackneyed mannerisms, abstract expressionism
can take a huge variety of forms, as long as they are flat and don't
involve any optical illusions or complicated geometry or precisely drawn
lines.
8. It is spiritually uplifting. While Zurbaran's still-lifes and
Rembrandt's religious scenes distract viewers from spiritual matters by
drawing into the material, the non-objective nature of abstract
expressionism ensures that the viewer's mind is free to wander where it
will, whether to spiritual planes or to the subject of what will be for
lunch.
9. It challenges the status quo. The Mexican muralists, Orozco and
Siqueros misguidedly used a figurative style to get across their left-wing
ideas. They would have achieved much more had they adopted abstract
expressionism.
10. There is nothing better. What more can I say?
Bruce Attah.
Bob Speel
As a staunch believer in the merits of abstract expressionism, may I
join Bruce Attah in singing the praises of what might arguably be
described as the best art since sliced bread. It is widely acknowledged
that had Rembrandt, Canaletto, Leonardo, Vermeer and all those other
Continentals who covered so many yards of canvas with their
well-meaning but unprogressive daubings so many years ago been alive
today, they would unquestionably have become abstract impressionists.
Indeed, it is a great tragedy that they died and missed out on this
marvelous opportunity we all have today. Imagine - if Durer could have
got over his draftsmanship fixation, if Rodin hadn't been obsessed with
the human form, if Turner and Constable hadn't bothered with landscape,
what they might have done in Abstract Impressionism.
When Bruce gives 10 points in favour of the medium though, I have to
argue with him. There are not 10 points, no, I'm not even going to say
50 points - ladies and gentlemen, there must be at least 100 points,
yes, one hundred, that make Abstract Impression so good. To mention
only one of them, we have to remember that Abstract Impressionism works
in any medium. An Abstract Impressionist painting can be reproduced as
a carpet, a wallpaper, a souvenir mug, a sweet wrapper, as camouflage
paint for military aircraft, as a useful aid to psychiatrists or
opticians, and still keep the essential beauty and essentiality of the
original.
bob
(Abstract Impressionism Appreciation Alliance)
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Bob Speel b...@speel.demon.co.uk
http://www.speel.demon.co.uk
"ignorant (except regarding Abstract Impressionism) but never silent"
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Mdeli
Bob Speel <b...@speel.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>As a staunch believer in the merits of abstract expressionism, may I
>join Bruce Attah in singing the praises of what might arguably be
>described as the best art since sliced bread. It is widely acknowledged
>that had Rembrandt, Canaletto, Leonardo, Vermeer and all those other
>Continentals who covered so many yards of canvas with their
>well-meaning but unprogressive daubings so many years ago been alive
>today, they would unquestionably have become abstract impressionists.
It is rumored that a large rag on which Rembrant wiped
his brushes hung in Clement Greenberg's office. A
carefull look at the map in Vermeer's "The Artist's
Studio" reveals a touch of Pollock. It is obvious that
Vermeer had to add all that detailed kitsdh surrounding
this map in order to get a decent price out of his
philistine patrons. Canaletteo actualy wanted to paint
his skys with black schmiery clouds in order to
anticipate Kline but was prevented by the Venetian
senate. Leonardo never understood that the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts so he just wallowed
in kitschy detail. Although he anticipated "Picasso's
"Mother and child" he never got any futher toward
honest modernism. Strangley, that artistic criminal
Bouguereau did a bit of AE in his backgrounds and even
his forground detail. Had he not wasted his talents on
the rest of the paintings he might even have been
considered honest. And then there is the detail in Van
Huysam's flowers etc.
None of these guys could really freely express
themselves. Perhaps it was because booze was expensive
in those days and nobody spoke Artspeak.
Mani DeLi
(Abstract Depressionism Appreciation Alliance)
...the artist with no skill can only express
frustration.
kashur peter james
In article
<Bruce.Attah-07...@support-saturn.isltd.insignia.com>,
The most important contribution that the AE movement (pun intended) brings
to the creative process, is that it allows primates like myself and
several other species to participate and be judged according to the merits
of our work; and not summarily dismissed just because we are monkeys or
babboons, donkeys or elephants. AE is art for all species. Of course we'll
need some human help; to type our manifestos so the less sophisticated of
your species will understand the conceptual nuances of our paintings; and
then there's the agents and the critics....
Congo the Monkey
R Blanchard
The Way Forward wrote:
>
> Ten points in defence of Abstract Expressionism
> ===============================================
Which cheek is your tongue in? (Are you a leftist or a rightist?) :O}
--
Rick Blanchard
Jose CanuC.
In article <Bruce.Attah-07...@support-saturn.isltd.insignia.com>,
Bruce...@insignia.co.uk says...
>Ten points in defence of Abstract Expressionism
>===============================================
MANI MANI THANKS BRUCE for creating and inspiring some of
the funniest and imaginative writing I've seen in this forum in a
L-O-N-G time. Seems the Fall season's advent is inspiring
everyone to new seemliness.
--
Jose CanuC.