The future belongs to those
Who believe in the beauty of their dream.
--Eleanor Roosevelt
Pablo Picasso once said that "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
Art indeed creates a place that allows you to be just you. A kind of magical area where imagination is encouraged to fly freely and unencumbered."
But what is Art? Quite difficult to define as it is so diverse encompassing as many ways to understand it as there are people. According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary definition, Art is "the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects."
It is also way more than just that. It represents unspoken emotions and is uniquely positioned to inspire and move people, incite new questions, and provoke curiosity, excitement, and outrage. It is often difficult to describe and quantify and is, in my opinion, entirely subjective as to liking and disliking a particular work of Art.
This does not imply that any discussion about Art is absurd. On the contrary, as it represents an attempt to communicate what seems to be hard to say. And there are infinite branches of Art intending to do just that. Whether we speak of impressionists or dadaists, expressionists or cubists, street artists, or others, all seem to move people to action, thus creating new spaces for cultural and sometimes political contributions.
I have a particular fascination with street art and graffiti. Frequently representing a specific segment of the times we live in, political or otherwise, these drawings, paintings, compositions are often breathtaking and worthy of praise.
Take, for example, the Italian street artist Blu, whose aesthetic exploration is primarily motivated by his stance against political events and social controversies in today's world and his belief in artistic open sources.
Check out more @ BLU – Just another WordPress site (blublu.org)
Or Banksy, the anonymous England-based graffiti artist, a political activist, and film director who uses satire and subversive epigrams combined with dark humor to paint over walls in the streets of London and elsewhere. Check out more @ Art by Banksy (artbanksy.com)
Let's not forget Palo Alto, California, born and relocated to Barcelona street artist Aryz, whose murals depict various subjects. His preference to create large character murals has quickly earned him a spot as one of the best contemporary muralists
Check out more @ Aryz
(Be careful with the links as these are NOT secure sites) A few more of their work ....
"Every piece of art in the world was once a blank space that someone chose to fill with inspiration, imagination, fear, obsession, logic, love, or passion." ― Stewart Stafford.
Before I go, and to add weight to my statement that Art is and should be subjective, I'd like to showcase some of the more controversial works of Art just to make a point. What follows is considered Art … Am I then to believe that I do not understand what constitutes Art? Is it elitist? It is definitely a conversation I would like to have with other artists and or patrons someday. As it stands, artists like Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso broke the mold of what became known as Modern Art thence paving the way for Art as we know it today.
By the way, these are but a few of the "strange and controversial" paintings that have been sold for a pretty penny.
"I am not strange; I am just not normal" –Salvador Dali--
I like to think that Art reveals the inner psyche of the artist. My Art exhibits the pitfalls, glories, and utter disasters of the self-taught artist that I am. As the imperfections make "perfect," it remains challenging for a creative person to share works in public. This is precisely why I have become an explorer of things and landscapes of the world I live in, discovering the present, the past, and the future.
And so I believe that we all have a story to tell that someone needs to hear. Because "We are thieves of the moment, taking every instance in appreciation of its true value." --Vic Stah Milien.
As we are slowly moving towards the winter months (Beware Floridians, the 60ies are around the corner), holidays too are upon us. With COVID19 still present (I know, I sound like a broken record by now), consider vaccination, or at the least wear a mask when in large crowds or indoors. I'm vaccinated, but this does not mean I could not pass this disease onto you. I prefer to play it safe. Besides, I haven't had a cold in two years …. There are advantages to wearing it, it seems.
So, be happy, be healthy, and above all, be safe. Said Pat Conroy once: “Why do they not teach you that time is a finger snap and an eye blink, and that you should not allow a moment to pass you by without taking joyous, ecstatic note of it, not wasting a single moment of its swift, breakneck circuit?”
Until next time peoples of the page. Namaste.
Artistic Expression Quotes Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/artistic-expressioote from the author: ALL IMAGES shown in this column are courtesy of NLew/Reflectionsandstuff. All artwork of NLew is ©NLew. All other images belong to the respective artists and/or the galleries/museums that own them and are used here under the creative commons license for instructional purposes/non-commercial use without modifications of which the sole purpose is the sharing of Art only. (In this case Wikimedia Art)
Please respect this and do not misuse them. Please note that if you want to copy/use any material/photo from this website you may need the permission of the owner/s. Again, respect Artists' copyrights, please. Never forget to mention the source. As always, I am thankful for your patronage.
