Abstract art by definition “does not attempt to represent external reality, but instead, seeks to achieve its effect using colors, shapes and textures.”
We enter unfamiliar territory when asked to make sense of an image that does not literally depict the outside world. Since our lives are saturated with pictures specifically designed to communicate content such as signs, advertising, illustration, emojis, we have come to expect concrete visual information from pictures - even from art.
If a work of art has no definitive meaning, then what are we expected to make of it?
Like a metaphor, an abstract artwork speaks through associations. Sometimes these are unexpected, even ambiguous, and as the viewer we must project meaning and draw our own conclusions.
We shouldn’t feel intimidated by this process. There are no right or wrong answers. It’s one of those rare spaces where we have the ability to exercise judgment without consequence. Abstract art celebrates this freedom and as the viewer, we are entitled to form our own opinion.
If we look at this piece by Mondrian, Broadway Boogie-Woogie from 1943, it may just look like lines and squares on a canvas at first glance. However, if we look closely, it's obvious that Mondrian loved painting, the painted surface is gorgeous! The composition reminds me of an urban landscape; the vertical and horizontal lines that I imagine connect buildings, roads and other elements of the environment around us. I imagine the way traffic lights work, the flow of cars and pedestrians and the rhythms these movements create. I see Mondrian's love of music and his ability to find a beat in the rhythm of the city. Suddenly the painting comes alive, the lines, forms and colors begin to take on the meanings that I assigned to them.
It can be tough, but take time your time and really look at abstract art. Rid yourself of expectation, and you'll be surprised how a great work of art will reveal itself to you!
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Abstract, 2014. Limited Edition Print by Gert Geyer[/caption]