- Geometric abstract art: How to Understand, Feel and Reflect
- April 21, '20
by Virtosu Art Gallery
April 21, '20Geometric abstract art: How to Understand, Feel and Reflect
There is a huge variety of styles and trends in the visual arts. Abstract art turned the traditional understanding of art upside down, but this breakthrough was entirely expected. People are always in search of new forms and ideas. However, in our century, this direction is gaining many questions around itself. For many, abstractionism remains something incomprehensible. If this is about you, then in this article we will find out how to understand geometric abstraction.
Basic Theory That Every Artist Should KnowAbstractionism is understood as meaningless art, nonfigurative art, or concrete art. If we consider geometric abstract art, then it falls into a concrete art. This trend arose in the 20th century, and its main essence was the formalization of the main elements of the formal elements. These can be lines, shapes, and abstract configurations.
The direction of abstractionism was formed in 1910 in several European countries. The most famous representatives are Kandinsky and Malevich (Russia), Kupka (France), and Mondrian (Holland).
The method of abstract constructions that they developed was an expression of internal laws and entities comprehended by intuition, which are hidden behind the transient phenomena of the visible world. Abstractionism reached its peak after World War II at the same time, becoming the main direction in the art of the countries of North America and Western Europe.
What Are the Roots of This Style?
The main reason for the development of this style was the changes that dominated the pre-revolutionary society. Some people are tired of the traditions in art, while others had to create, being guided by the stringent requirements of the government. If we consider abstractionism from a political point of view, then this can be called extremism.
In 1910 there was a process of separation of futurism, cubism, and expressionism. The characteristic features of abstractionism were innovative color schemes and the denial of graphic arts.
How to Understand Geometric Abstractionism?To understand the deep meaning of each piece from this style, it is enough to turn off your internal criticism and stop expecting traditional expressions from this direction. In this case, each geometric figure is similar to a figure of speech - we say one thing, but we mean a completely different one.
Geometric art is about hidden meanings, analogies, protests, deliberate simplification to prove that everything complicated is simple. To feel this meaning, it is necessary to disconnect from reality. In reality, you see a set of geometric shapes, points, and lines placed in space. But in the world of art and the inner world of the artist, each of these elements has its own, hidden meaning.
Prompt! To stop looking for a rational grain and begin to feel geometric abstraction, check out the artist’s biography. Try to understand how he felt at each of the stages of development. Catch the connection between his feelings and their artistic expression with geometric elements.
Also, the ability to understand it is a skill that can be gained with the help of practice. View different pictures and reflect. It is not difficult for those who are one-on-one with art to delve into the features of geometric art. Even many artists do not fully understand the features and essence of this direction. Some believe that this is a direction for those who have no talent. Let's see what is the deep meaning of these creations to understand the point with real practice.
The size of this picture is not so large, and the plot of the picture is unusually simple. Therefore, most people, when discussing this picture, are divided into two camps. Some vehemently prove that this is deep and sophisticated work. People admire how the artist put deep meaning into the form. Others are skeptical. They claim that even a child can draw such.
As many experts note, this picture personifies the basic element of being or the first figure. Interestingly, Malevich called his direction not abstractionism, but “suprematism.” His main idea in working on the Black Square was to minimize all objects.
So, how to understand the essence of this picture? Most people make a huge mistake when they try to look at this creation as a traditional piece of art. But the essence of this creation is that it was not a picture when the artist stated the opposite. This is a manifesto. A manifesto that is enclosed in the shape of a black square.
Piet Mondrian Works
Mondrian was not only an artist but also a theorist. So in 1919, he released an essay in which he explains his style. The painter strove for a strict geometric order in art.
This was the case when the artist did everything possible to show complex things through the prism of simple ones, hoping for a response from an audience developed enough to understand this. With this approach, he was able to create a clear and universal language that can be traced in his canvases.
In the period from 1919 to 1938, the artist formed a clear system of geometric abstraction. Compositions are vertical and horizontal lines that intersect, filled squares, and rectangles. The artist defined his favorite colors: blue, red, and yellow.
Frantisek Kupka
This artist created patriotic and historical compositions at the beginning of his career. At first, all his work was academic. His style developed over several years, and eventually, he settled on abstractionism. It is worth noting that all of his works are realistic, contain mystical, surreal themes and symbols. All this was preserved when writing abstraction pictures.
The artist is known for his series of portraits of the girl, where he tried to practically depict her image almost schematically. They were made in a limited color palette of black, white, red, and blue.
Modern Development of Geometric AbstractionismGheorghe Virtosu
At the current stage, the direction continues to develop in new forms and movements. In modern art, shapes and colors have truly significant significance and even a specific philosophical meaning.
Great merit of Gheorghe Virtosu is to question the world, its realities, and its hardship. A symbolist painter, aimed at showing man's thoughts. Through abstractionism and the new geometry of form, the artist asks questions to the observer. The observer has to reflect on the human condition. To characterize his works is the always bright color scheme. In the eternal struggle, light always wins. New ideas are always represented, which aims to find their new dimension in our society.
The Master's works are characterized by their value: cultural and ideological. Ideology is the bases of a brilliant thought the artist decides to share with all of us. A free sign. A sign that has no need to draw rational bisectors. A sign that once freed from the prison of reason, come to inhabit our world. Through the genius of his sign, traces what are the new guidelines of geometric painting. A painting that is no longer forced to follow rigid "academic" schemes, but which, thank the hand of the artist, finds a new Cartesian axis on which to express its power.
He masterfully traces what we call "the most hidden paths of the psyche". A psyche that after wandering for years in the labyrinth of ideas can finally express its truth. Virtosu makes the observer participate in what are his most intimate secrets.
Abstract art of the 20th century was the end of the dominance of realism, naturalism, and academicism in painting. But it is important to note that geometric abstractionism has become extremely popular in advertising and graphic design.
The Final WordsNow you have become a little closer to such a direction as geometric abstraction. If earlier, it seemed to you that geometric abstract paintings did not make sense, then most likely, you changed your minds. This trend is a real contrast with traditional forms of art that convey the familiar reality. But abstractionism goes as far as possible from classics and seeks to display the world completely different from what we are used to in real life.
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