Before I start writing anything about anything I research and as always happens I research until I have completely circled back to where I started. I know I have gone too far when what and who were unfamiliar are now familiar. In this case the subject is Abstract Realism, the title of a course I am about to teach on-line (COVID dictated) for the Kingston School of Art. Did you know that there is no such art movement or trend anywhere on the Internet, although fleeting references and flashes of ideas has kept me searching. “What am I missing?”
Rather than “whipping” up non existing facts and figures in a tour around the Internet, what I really should be doing is “webbing” together the final requirements that will soon launch me into the world wide web of real artist websites. That process and hopefully success when finally accomplished will be a subject for another blog post.
So what do I know about Abstract Realism because tomorrow I teach?
Trying to classify an art movement that is conceptually playing itself out in the present is a waste of a good artist’s time. My theory, if I am allowed to have one, is that we are in the age of Abstract Realism and art movements and trends are only labelled after the fact, say in about 20 to 50 years. So we need to continue to go down our own pathways and let the critics label us later.
Studying the trends and movements of my own chronological time line helped me understand where my teachers’ theories and practices stemmed from and how they have added, influenced and frustrated my own art practice. So all of this research is not lost. For me, my teachers came out of the abstract expressionism periods. Their teachers saw periods of Impressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Pop Art, and later Post Modernism. I was a product of the 50’s, 60’s and my early start as a practicing artist was in the 70’s 80’s and 90’s.
As a good student of my time, I waffled around rudderless in a learning environment of conflicting trends and a teaching environment that asked us to produce something or not, copy something or not, pick a trend and follow it or not or just Sunday paint while we waited for something else to happen in our lives.
Now, in this age of Internet enlightenment, I can pick my influencers from my choices of artists, teachers and critics from all trends, art movements and periods, countries and schools of thought. I can view, follow, listen to podcasts and watch video presentations and drawing and painting demonstration. I can ask my “What if… “ questions and follow my own pathways. I can jump from comic book/action figure drawing skills development to classical atelier teachings from old masters.
So here are my thoughts about the influence of abstract realism on my practices:
Abstract Realism although seemingly a contradiction in terms, is an interdependent relationship between the making of art and the results of that process. This bond is especially evident when an artist draws or paints or performs or conceives or just plain “looks”.
In making realistic works I use the concepts of abstraction to direct the viewer to read the story I want to tell through identifiable objects and figures. In non objective works as in abstraction I bring forward the feelings and emotions I want the viewer to experience by using the same concepts as I would in figurative work. Both are representational and both use the same visual language tools: line, form, volume, colour, tone, space. Both need practice in drawing, form and observation.
So it’s simple:
Forgive the rudderless past, keep learning and expanding basic skills. Allow yourself to be driven by what you need to know to satisfy your artistic output. Stumble on nuggets of understanding as you research, and practice and practice the connections made between abstract and realism in visual art.
Suggestions for further research:
Janet Fish
Alice Neel
Sheri McGraw and David Leffel
Wayne Thiebaud