Friday, July 25, 2014

Abstract Art (pt. 2)

Klee let his imagination run free in this innovative style of hyper-expressionism.  Working on scraps of burlap, paper, glass, linen, and other materials, he created a collage of works that, each and every one, expanded the notions of what art could accomplish.  He created almost nine thousand paintings and drawings based solely on his own imagination and wit.  As with this wholly abstract work, Ancient Sound, the artist brought philosophy and artistic theory into his works on an unprecedented level.
All that is really here are squares of color, applied paint on a canvas apparently not even trying to embody subject matter either impressionistically or realistically.  The title suggests that this is something "ancient."  A fundamental construction as simplistic as this marks this painting as a staple work of Primitivism.  Art (at least, the kind we are looking at) is, in its most fundamental definition, colors and shapes.  Going back to these most basic elements of art—deconstructing the painting to its simplest, most primal elements—is not merely a venture of Expressionism, it's a philosophical endeavor.  The ultimate metacritical move for art in the Modern Era was its progression to self-analysis and art about art.  All formalities break down, and we enter into a world of abstracts in order to experiment with the techniques and applications of various art forms.  This is Abstract Art.

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