Abstract Art

(a very small collection of abstract paintings)

“I've been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No brush, no paint, no canvas, I just think about it.”
Stephen Wright

I got to admit that for the most part I agree with Al Capp who classified abstract art as “ a product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered". I have little interest in abstract art with very few exceptions, such as the work of Joan Miró, Paul Klee and a few Russian avant-garde painters. I like art that tells a story or at least allows me to come up with a story of my own. I’m not looking for a Romain Rolland novel; just for something that will make me think and unfortunately it’s not often that I find that something in modern abstract art.

By now you probably wondering what would posses a person with my views on abstract art to create abstract art of my own. Let me explain. I’m one of those people who want to try everything (as long as it’s not utterly pointless or overly dangerous). I wanted to try creating abstract art that would illustrate my thoughts. It turned out to be somewhat of a challenge since I had to think in different terms as I normally do; I had to come up with colors and shapes that tell a story as opposed to representational objects that I usually employ in my art.

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I also had a hidden motif. The truth is that I managed to accumulate quite a few canvasses from my college days that were so boring that they could easily serve as sleeping agents. I banished them to the basement and tried really hard not to think about them. I struggled with myself because I didn’t see a point of keeping these paintings and I didn’t have the heart to throw them out. I finally decided that I should recycle my dull creations because no canvass deserves to be forgotten. I looked at each one, and tried to think what kind of thoughts the colors on each one evoked in my mind, while completely ignoring what was actually painted on the surface. I assigned a theme to each piece and started working. It’s hard for me to judge whether anybody would get what I was trying to convey with my abstract art, but I hope that he/she would still be able to at least see some thought behind it… or they can just read my explanations as to what it was that I was trying to paint.

*The painting above is called "Everyday Joy" (oil & collage on canvas, 18X24, 2009)