Recently I had a long discussion with a friend, about modern abstract art. He is one of the most empathetic, smartest and most successful people I know. Yet when it comes to abstract/modern art he simply says he doesn't get it. He isn't a fan of the abstraction in the Banksy art piece attached to this post. When he looks at Banksy he sees scraps of paper and poorly articulated barely recognizable images.
Now, there have been times when I've looksed a modern/abstract art and I think, I don't get this either. What fascinates me is how a painting created by Banksy, similar in design to the one posted here, in May of this year, could sell for over $110,000,000.00. The $110 million dollar price tag makes the sale of that Banksy the most expensive piece of art , created by an American artist. The sky high price for that work exceeds the next highest priced piece sold at auction years earlier, that artist was Andy Warhol.
So what is it about abstract/modern art that inspires people to spend a king's ransom, to own them? I understand the investment perspective where fine art is always appreciating especially when the artist is deceased. I do not understand the art appreciation part of the equation any better than my friend does. His position is more clearly stated than mine, he likes none of it.
I like some modern/abstract art, here is why. I believe when I have the good fortune to visit an art exhibit, I take my time strolling slowly through the gallery, gazing at paint splattered across canvas or on a board. Perhaps the art is so modern it includes video, canvas, real people moving into and out of the field of view, all at the same time. What I've discovered about abstract/modern art is, when the art stops me in my tracks it is because I am in awe of how the image is composed or the image startles me and makes me wonder how or why on earth they presented those textures, images, colors together.
In the final analysis my appreciation for the great museums i have found around the world is, I visit art galleries seeking to be delighted by something so special, something so unusual that I leave the museum seeing the world around me differently.
I've talked to friends that have sky dived or simply parachuted out of a plane at 3,000 feet above the earth. When I asked them what it was like more often than not they have replied the free falling is amazing however the lasting effects of their high altitude jump adventure is how it expanded their field of vision. They all said it is as if they now see more, they can take more in at the same time. I guess seeing the world at 3,000 feet, then 2,000 feet, then 1,000 feet does change what your eyes are able to see.
For museums provide me with the ability to see more. Museums provide me with a slight nudge off of what I believe a face should look like, or perhaps a shove away from what a building should look like and with each nudge and shove my sense of creativity and my ability to innovate grow too. Why do I feel more creative because museums force me to look at things I see everyday and then process them in new ways. That is what happens when you are on the third floor of MoMA and you gave out of the window into the atrium and there just inside your field of view you see a giant red rose standing three stories tall.
I love museums and the artist we find performing on stages around around the world fascinating. i appreciate the art and the artist because the modernist, the artist providing the abstraction, provides me with those nudges and shoves that help me maintain and nurture my creative edge.
The something about museums is they inspire, they allow me to nurture me personal sense of creativity..