While art is an expression of one’s own ideas, good art is what the world wants to see. Perhaps what makes Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting so enchanting for many is the usage of shapes and colors you wouldn’t typically see in a realistic night sky. So why are some art pieces with odd colors and shapes not as appealing to look at?
Art is a generous title as it encapsulates so many different tools and materials. As I’ve grown older and started to develop my own taste and opinions about art, I find myself circling back to the same question: why am I seeing so many plain and unappealing art pieces on such high platforms?
Typically, the best of the best is what should be up in the museums or displayed walking up the steps of the Met Gala, but instead, I’m looking at pieces that make me wonder: what is good abstract art?
I believe the answer to this is because it is not art. While a bold accusation at first, this is why.
Too many art pieces that don’t follow the fundamentals of art making are being praised. To list a few principles there is rhythm, value, harmony and principle of design. These are just a few out of many that I notice being neglected in modern day art.
Other subsets of art have criteria that the artist needs to meet in order for it to possess higher platforms, but modern art limits it’s criteria. For example glass blowing is a form of art that can by no means be thrown together in an angsty attempt to convey emotion, the artist will be at great risk of injuring themselves. There has to be a followed criteria and a reliable skill when an artist is working with a 1,600-1,900 degree hot oven. Not only that but if they don’t plan ahead or understand the steps necessary to make what they imagined, they don’t have any chance at being able to just wing it. You can’t have a masterpiece if there is no standard and there is no skill if there’s no scale.
Modern art is often exclusive, if the art is in a museum or any high platform it should relate to the audience in some way. If people won’t be able to relate to the art piece then it needs to be appealing to look at. Either way, art on a high platform needs to serve a purpose for the audience. Modern art has made an inclusive criteria which has resulted in exclusive art.
When art making has a question mark around its criteria, we are robbing ourselves of the potential for greatness. Art is a wondrous asset to our world, but its title has withered and bruised in the beating of modern day. People need art, we need it to speak words we can’t express, we need it to lift our gaze from the grays of everyday life. Art should not make one feel uneducated or shallow minded, but rather, art should enhance your view on life and allow you to appreciate the beauty in someone’s craftsmanship.
