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Abstract art attack...
11/6/2022
ONE RAINY EVENING in a student art gallery at the Massachusetts College of Art, I had an epiphany. Previous to this moment, what I considered to be good art was work created by the likes of Sargent, Paxton, Gerome, Hals, Vermeer, Rockwell, Wyeth, Klimt, Mucha, work that was supreme, done with such technical knowledge, skill, and precision, work that I knew was out of my reach.
On this evening… there was a girl. It was opening night in the student gallery, her work was in the show, and she had invited me. With a broad grin, she guided me over to her larger piece, it was a 6 x 8 foot monstrous painting. It was abstract, with large paint strokes seemingly placed randomly over and under blocks of myriad colors, and at a glance, I was bored. It was not “skilled”, I thought. I tried to look enthusiastic, but… I was in awe of her, and not her painting…
We chatted for a few minutes, after which, she artfully slipped away towards other folks, and I stood there sheepishly awaiting her return…
for 30 minutes… or more, who knows…
There I stood next to this painting, It’s presence looming behind me, as I looked around at the scene… occasionally my eyes would brush over the painting, and i’d get lost once more in the buzz of movement and noise in the gallery.
And then... at first from out of the corner of my eye… I saw movement… a movement emerging from her painting… a scene was developing……
It was a lively city street, with people of all different shapes and colors… engaging with each other, with vendors, at shops, perhaps a street market, perhaps a parade with streamers? The painting had come alive, It was visually arresting, I was arrested!
What did she have in mind when she painted this? Was it a street scene? Had she chosen these colors for a reason, they seemed harmonious, and tuneful, like a symphony… as the courageously placed brush strokes flowed with energy!
Was there a specific thing, emotion, feeling she was trying to evince? Or had she been overcome by instinct, that trance like state of in-the-moment creation? She had thrown her self into that painting I could now clearly see, I felt her energy there, her spirit!
My imagination was engaged, I was fully engaged!
Was that her intention?
Sadly, she never did find her way back to me…
On this evening… there was a girl. It was opening night in the student gallery, her work was in the show, and she had invited me. With a broad grin, she guided me over to her larger piece, it was a 6 x 8 foot monstrous painting. It was abstract, with large paint strokes seemingly placed randomly over and under blocks of myriad colors, and at a glance, I was bored. It was not “skilled”, I thought. I tried to look enthusiastic, but… I was in awe of her, and not her painting…
We chatted for a few minutes, after which, she artfully slipped away towards other folks, and I stood there sheepishly awaiting her return…
for 30 minutes… or more, who knows…
There I stood next to this painting, It’s presence looming behind me, as I looked around at the scene… occasionally my eyes would brush over the painting, and i’d get lost once more in the buzz of movement and noise in the gallery.
And then... at first from out of the corner of my eye… I saw movement… a movement emerging from her painting… a scene was developing……
It was a lively city street, with people of all different shapes and colors… engaging with each other, with vendors, at shops, perhaps a street market, perhaps a parade with streamers? The painting had come alive, It was visually arresting, I was arrested!
What did she have in mind when she painted this? Was it a street scene? Had she chosen these colors for a reason, they seemed harmonious, and tuneful, like a symphony… as the courageously placed brush strokes flowed with energy!
Was there a specific thing, emotion, feeling she was trying to evince? Or had she been overcome by instinct, that trance like state of in-the-moment creation? She had thrown her self into that painting I could now clearly see, I felt her energy there, her spirit!
My imagination was engaged, I was fully engaged!
Was that her intention?
Sadly, she never did find her way back to me…