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June 29, 2008

White AND Square, What a Concept

Contemporary art seems pretty stupid sometimes doesn't it. However, sometimes it's in the abstract, or in this case, the minimilism, that we can see a point being made before us. It was in Picasso's exaggerated lines that we saw desperation or anger, in Dali's work we saw a man observant of the violent nationalism of Spain, with Duchamp we are able to ask the question, "What is art and what is not art?" It seems that Robert Ryman might challenge that same debate some 60 years after the first urinal was purchased...but unintentionally. Ryman's "Midland," which was created the year I was born, 1976, seems pretty absent of anything creative or artistic. At first glance it's just a board painted white. Wow! That's interesting, right? Welp, it's actually an aluminum sheet to which white paint has been applied to it using a brush. I know, I'm not helping any am I. What was Robert Ryman trying to say with this piece of artwork? I wonder. He believed that much could be said without abstract expressionism. Thus, no weirdness, (other than the fact that it's a white square I mean). I believe he was encouraging people to think about the actual process of making art. He wanted to think about the various ways of using a brush, and daringly enough, he wanted to use the color white, or shade depending on who you talk to. At this point in his career he was also concerned with the way it fit into what was going on around it, such as the wall, the lighting, and the elements that go with the artwork.
I tend to be an appreciator of art that is obvious, or loud, or entertaining. Why else would I enjoy Gaudi so much? However, if I just take a second to think about the artist and the context of how and why the painting was made...there might be more to it. Could a painted white square be stupid? I don't think so...

| By Nathan Gemayel | 6:29 PM

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