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Abstract Realism - A Primer
Abstract Realism: The infusion of elements of design with the depiction of real life in visual art.
We (human beings) feel a need to categorize all things. There used to be one kind of rock ‘n roll – now there are two dozen categories for it. Since the expressionists of the late 19th century (some would say further back than that) there have been a score of defined styles – expressionism, post-expressionism, cubism, post modernism, surrealism, art nouveau, abstract expressionism, pop art, etc., etc.. This obsession is detrimental to the purpose of art. Art seeks to perceive existence beyond categories. Art is a personal reflection. There could be as many forms of art as there are individuals practicing it.
Abstract realism is a new term that fits my own perception, and it is a term other artists have confirmed for me. The above definition is written by Elizabeth Reoch, a superb Canadian artist and teacher. She goes on …
“Abstract Realism is an art movement that is not easily defined because it is a marriage of two contradictory terms, Abstract art and Realistic art. Abstract art has no reference to real objects. … Realism attempts to capture real life moments in time, an image and the personality of individuals or objects who resemble real life.
“After the invention of the camera, artists moved away from realism and experimented with depicting feelings and concepts in their works. Those first playful and emotional experiments were called Expressionism and Impressionism. Artists infused their thoughts, feelings, emotions and inner thoughts into their paintings of real-life objects. This was the birth of the current term Abstract Realism.
“There was no longer a need for an artist to capture the image of a beloved person or the history of the time. The photographer was taking over that market and also inspiring the creative and innovative 19th century artist. Photographers are no longer just interested in just capturing a moment in time, they want to emote and inspire. Their choice of compositional angles and the editing process creates a new image or piece of art out of the real-life image, abstracting reality.”
Their (photographers) choice of compositional angles and the editing process creates a new image or piece of art out of the real-life image, abstracting reality.” Let me address both the perspective and the editing.
Perspective is less a question of view point and more of subject. Using Ms. Reoch words once more, “Realism attempts to capture real life moments in time, an image and the personality of individuals or objects who resemble real life.” The capture is real to the point of ordinary – even clinical. (It could be argued that the very clinical nature of the capture is its own abstraction, as though reality and abstraction are not a linear scale but a circle that meets back on itself). An editing process may begin with Camera RAW to correct the white balance, then progress to more clearly defining the edges of the image. Hue and saturation may add color where little exists. From there the work will diverged into filtering, often expanding to separate canvases that are later blended back together. Filtering and blending separates light into a myriad of forms and hues; delicate, intricate application of such, often effected down to the pixel level, is every bit an artistic process as a brush stroke.
Search for ‘abstract realism’ on-line and a number of artists and definitions arise, although it has yet to have its own Wikipedia page, suggesting that awareness of it is only just emerging. But I’m especially taken with Ms. Reoch’s description because it includes its expression through photographic captures (please note that I did not say ‘photography’). The use of the camera and the computer as a medium for creating art is one that still generates angst among many traditional artist collectives, threatened by the use of anything other than a brush or a pencil. Within the art world, indeed any world, angst generates politics. But from Gauguin, Van Gogh, Picasso, and on and on new visions emerge, and will continue to emerge. And this is one of them.
We (human beings) feel a need to categorize all things. There used to be one kind of rock ‘n roll – now there are two dozen categories for it. Since the expressionists of the late 19th century (some would say further back than that) there have been a score of defined styles – expressionism, post-expressionism, cubism, post modernism, surrealism, art nouveau, abstract expressionism, pop art, etc., etc.. This obsession is detrimental to the purpose of art. Art seeks to perceive existence beyond categories. Art is a personal reflection. There could be as many forms of art as there are individuals practicing it.
Abstract realism is a new term that fits my own perception, and it is a term other artists have confirmed for me. The above definition is written by Elizabeth Reoch, a superb Canadian artist and teacher. She goes on …
“Abstract Realism is an art movement that is not easily defined because it is a marriage of two contradictory terms, Abstract art and Realistic art. Abstract art has no reference to real objects. … Realism attempts to capture real life moments in time, an image and the personality of individuals or objects who resemble real life.
“After the invention of the camera, artists moved away from realism and experimented with depicting feelings and concepts in their works. Those first playful and emotional experiments were called Expressionism and Impressionism. Artists infused their thoughts, feelings, emotions and inner thoughts into their paintings of real-life objects. This was the birth of the current term Abstract Realism.
“There was no longer a need for an artist to capture the image of a beloved person or the history of the time. The photographer was taking over that market and also inspiring the creative and innovative 19th century artist. Photographers are no longer just interested in just capturing a moment in time, they want to emote and inspire. Their choice of compositional angles and the editing process creates a new image or piece of art out of the real-life image, abstracting reality.”
Their (photographers) choice of compositional angles and the editing process creates a new image or piece of art out of the real-life image, abstracting reality.” Let me address both the perspective and the editing.
Perspective is less a question of view point and more of subject. Using Ms. Reoch words once more, “Realism attempts to capture real life moments in time, an image and the personality of individuals or objects who resemble real life.” The capture is real to the point of ordinary – even clinical. (It could be argued that the very clinical nature of the capture is its own abstraction, as though reality and abstraction are not a linear scale but a circle that meets back on itself). An editing process may begin with Camera RAW to correct the white balance, then progress to more clearly defining the edges of the image. Hue and saturation may add color where little exists. From there the work will diverged into filtering, often expanding to separate canvases that are later blended back together. Filtering and blending separates light into a myriad of forms and hues; delicate, intricate application of such, often effected down to the pixel level, is every bit an artistic process as a brush stroke.
Search for ‘abstract realism’ on-line and a number of artists and definitions arise, although it has yet to have its own Wikipedia page, suggesting that awareness of it is only just emerging. But I’m especially taken with Ms. Reoch’s description because it includes its expression through photographic captures (please note that I did not say ‘photography’). The use of the camera and the computer as a medium for creating art is one that still generates angst among many traditional artist collectives, threatened by the use of anything other than a brush or a pencil. Within the art world, indeed any world, angst generates politics. But from Gauguin, Van Gogh, Picasso, and on and on new visions emerge, and will continue to emerge. And this is one of them.
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