Stop and Smell the Flowers or Explaining Modern Art to my Mom

James enjoying a Joan Mitchell Pastel Drawing

I love Modern Art.

Motherwell, Dekooning, Mitchell, Newman. Heroes!  They’re my jam!

Do I understand it? Yeah, somewhat. But understanding is not where most of the enjoyment lies for me. I like the attraction I feel to the something unknown. I approach Modern Art in much the same way I try to approach life, by appreciating it while striving to make it less about understanding and more about enjoying the mystery.

Many wonderful works of Western art have dandy literal narratives just waiting to be understood by the viewer, but that’s not the art I’m most drawn to and that’s not the sort of art I make. I love Modern Art (1860ish – 1970ish) and especially Abstract Expressionism and Non-objective Art.  And the art I make is, in part, inspired by Modernism.

But what does all that Modern Art mean?

Pollock supposedly said something about his own work along the lines of:

“It’s like looking at a bed of flowers, you don’t tear your hair out over what it means”.

I’ve always found that sentiment useful.

I get that some viewers are frustrated by Modern Art. To want to understand art is natural and a lot of Modern Art is challenging with that goal in view. To be totally bewildered by some of the art that winds up in museums is quite understandable. Understanding Modern Art (or any art) can take a bit of work.  It takes learning some context.

Onement 1, 1948, by Barnett Newman.
Metropolitan Museum of Art – fair use

OR:

Say you’ve just encountered a particularly difficult piece of art on the wall of some world class museum. My invitation is to consider art as the story of humankind’s continuing attempt to explain ourselves to ourselves. In this context, each piece of art might be just a sentence, a word, or even just a letter on a page of that story.  When you encounter a piece of art that you find perplexing or not implicitly beautiful, remember that it still may be important.  Maybe even explore why.

I don’t necessarily try to understand Modern Art myself, I just try to understand my relationship with it.

I don’t attempt to understand God and the universe either, just my relationship with God and the universe.                                  

In my practice, I often reflect on the Nasadiya Sukta.  It’s one of my favorite verses in the Rig Veda (10:129). The last two stanzas as translated by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty read:

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced?
Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of
this universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen – perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did
not – the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows –
or perhaps he does not know.

It soothingly reminds me to be comfortable with non-understanding.

So, when confronted by some work that seems totally inscrutable, try looking for the mystery in it.  Sink back into that and just float for a while.

Smell the flowers… Count your breaths… Relax……..

Beast/Angel – Keven Lock – Acrylic on Wood Panel

Thanks for stopping by!
Kev