A work of art encapsulates human experience from the time it was created. Seen in the flesh it can have an immediacy that stirs something in us, as though a frozen moment from a time perhaps very different to our own has come unexpectedly to life. As an artist with a background in Art History, I have spent many hours in Art Museums, and find the people who visit them and the places themselves just as interesting as the works of art they house. An Art Museum brings together works of art from very different times and places, and is visited by an extraordinarily diverse range of people. This can make for some interesting combinations.
As they wander through the environment of an art museum, with its grandiose architecture and dramatic lighting, spectators can inadvertently become part of an almost theatrical scene, where the works of art imply an unspoken a commentary or even become players in a dramatic tableau. A person can stand in front of a painting that seems like the doorway into another world; a sculpted figure can seem to yearn for the life that those who view it take for granted. The boundary between art and reality can seem to break down, with artworks seeming to interact with gallery visitors, and both appearing to be equally alive.
In paintings, the picture frame marks the symbolic boundary between everyday reality and the imaginary pictorial realm. In a painting of a painting, that boundary can be violated; and when that happens our senses can begin to get confused about what is real and what isn't. Breaking the unwritten rule that separates art and reality can result in images that disturb our sense of normality: they look real but simply do not make sense. This can make us question some of the conventions governing the way that art is presented and viewed, and reconsider our most basic assumptions about its limitations in space and time.
Art has an extraordinary capacity to stimulate the human imagination; and looked at with fresh eyes, traditional art forms can take on a striking contemporary relevance, and present us with new and exciting creative possibilities.
Yet some contemporary artists isolate themselves from this rich artistic legacy, without which their work would not have existed in the first place. The pursuit of originality at all costs and the thirst for sensationalism has led to the belief that traditional art forms are outmoded and lack a contemporary edge. Yet there is no reason why traditional forms cannot be used in a contemporary way; bringing together old and new can have interesting results...
In the Picture
Solo Show, ArtDeCaf, Glasgow, 9-23 November 2008
Click the link below to visit my blog, where I explore the issues about picture frames and the nature of art galleries in my articles Salvador Dali in the Zoo, and Mark Rothko? You've been Framed!
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