After reading through Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art’’s Gestural Abstraction section, I chose Joan Mitchell, Louise Bourgeois, and Alberto Burri as the three artists whom I can identify with in relation to my own work. I was intrigued by Mitchell and Burri because they both touch on the role of expression in their work- how they use it to express thoughts and emotions dealing with existence and the difficulty of placing their work into any categories. I chose Louise Bourgeoise because I have found her process to be influential on my own work and because she discusses the role of materials in her work.
I was interested in gestural abstraction as a concept because I have wanted to become more expressive in my work- moving away from rendering exactly what is in front of me. After viewing works by these artists ( reviewing works by Bourgeoise), I have concluded that they are either on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, or they contain certain elements which I would like to bring into my own work. I was particularly interested in Burri and how his writing explains such an inability to fully articulate what he is trying to do- that he fully expects his art to explain itself to the viewer- and how that is what is so liberating about it. He calls his paintings “a reality which is part of myself [himself],” and that is something that I can certainly agree with in reference to my own work as well: I make it for myself, to create a space wherein I am familiar, even if it may not exist in others’ realities. Mitchell, I found to be interesting due to the fact that she does not constrict herself to creating only one type of art. Her sunflowers and cityscapes, though containing certain similar elements, still stand very well apart from each other, and she even admits in her interview with Yves Michaud that her objectives are very broad. She paints what she has reactions to and stops when she has no more questions that need to be asked or answered. I have a great respect for that instinctive approach and find myself doing the same thing when not painting representationally. I believe that it that kind of spontaneity is very important to creating quality gestural abstraction because it prevents the painter from having to be confined by any certain structure. While there may be a vague objective in mind- to capture a feeling or motion, it is still important, as Kanefsky stated in his interview on Painting Preceptions to let the art know when it is done. Louise Bourgeoise’s interview with Donald Kuspit touches on an aspect of art which I believe to be even moreso important to gestural abstraction than to any of the other categories that we were give. This is because a material can only be worked on to a certain extent. It more ofter forces its handler to work with it and that can often lead to the same concept being represented differently throughout various mediums. While she is predominantly a sculptress, I am aware that she has drawings as well and I believe that it is those quick sketches which help her decide which material will be most suitable for representing her vision.
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AuthorArt Student at Flagler College. I am frequently instructed to write blog entries about my artistic thoughts and process. Archives
April 2017
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