I’m a hater but I don’t want to be
I really don’t like cubism/expressionist art. I have talked about my dislike of these art styles at great length in Jeff’s class (my opinions always seem to cause a bit of a stir.) Over the last couple of weeks, I have really tried to understand both of these art styles and find appreciation for them. I understand that this art style has changed the world and profoundly impacted so many people. At the moment, I don’t really know why I don’t like the style, it is not one thing in particular. I just don’t like looking at them. As an art student, I need to open myself up to different media, artworks, and methods. In PowerPoint 7, don’t particularly love the work of the artists that were shown. Because of my distaste towards the artwork that has been shown to me recently I have done a little bit of research on how to evaluate art. I understand that I do not need to love every style or artist. But I want to understand how to look at art thoughtfully and be able to articulate a grounded opinion.
No Picasso, please
I find Picasso’s work very hard to look at. It is very busy and the colours look like they were chosen by a 6-year-old. I watched this video called “How to understand Picasso” while watching this video I started to understand that context is VERY important for these more abstract styles of art. In the video, the speaker talked about one of Picasso’s paintings called “Picasso’s Night Fishing at Antibes”. As the speaker explained how this paining is could be a representation of Picasso’s feelings towards the devastation happening in Spain around the time this was painted, I immediately understood the colours in this dark piece. The odd use of colour in Cubism and expressionist art has always made me feel uncomfortable. I see how events around Picasso’s life were represented in the colours. Another video I watched was called Cubism in 9 Minutes: Art Movement by Pablo Picasso Explained, the speaker talked about how in Picasso’s later paintings, he used less colour because he wanted the viewer to focus on the shapes. I really love the painting of a guitar player show because when I look at the shapes, I can just barely tell it’s a person. This painting makes me feel like I see the world through someone else’s imagination.
Where to start
Next time I critique modern art, I will look to further understand the context, colours and shaped in the artwork as a starting point. There is a lot more for me to learn, but I think this is a good starting point.