The Big Wind (After Steve Tibbetts)
Linocut on Rice Paper, Julia March Crocetto, 2013
Abstraction: 1) A mode of representing identifiable objects that, to a greater or lesser degree, stresses the essential rather than the particular. 2) A set of aesthetically significant forms in which lines, colors, etc., do not correspond to those in the visible world. Art of this abstract nature is often called nonfigurative, nonrepresentational, or even nonobjective.
– Modern Art, Hunter & Jacobus, 2nd Ed.
When abstraction first surfaced at the very beginning of the 20th century, it was Cezanne who focused on “essential” shapes and colors of a landscape he’d painted numerous times. His work, the birth of definition #1, paved the way for other artists.
Expressionism soon followed, which still revolved around recognizable subject matter, but artists would push and pull at their subjects with color, line, and form to generate emotional responses from viewers. The German Blue Rider group (Kandinsky, Munter, and Marc), wrestling with political issues of freedom of expression, focused on the symbolic and spiritual aspects of both natural and abstract subject matter.
Out of this, around 1910-1913, Kandinsky transitioned from abstracted stylized landscapes to purely abstract compositions or “improvisations.” His essay, “Concerning the Spiritual in Art” defined the theoretical structure behind his artwork, which was a relationship of color and form that attempted to simplify his concepts to the most basic aspect – “the inner force.” This resulted in the first “non-objective” paintings; definition #2 was born. This was about 100 years ago.
Political issues and two world wars interfered with the growth of German Expressionism and Abstraction. Persecution and attempts at silencing artists backfired, however; as artists fled Germany during those years, the movements spread.
“Whenever the urgencies of personal passion have overcome a dominant formal order or decorative values in painting and sculpture, the original Expressionist spirit finds itself renewed,…”
(Thanks, Hunter & Jacobus, for historical perspective; apologies to Munter - I haven't learned how to make an umlaut.)
Artists today, throughout most of the world, are free to use abstraction, by either definition. An artist might begin an abstract painting with an idea in mind, perhaps a song, emotion, or a social issue. Other artists like to begin with nothing, just a blank canvas and a clear mind (if that is possible). This enables the artist to make purely aesthetic decisions, as in definition #2. As the painting develops, marks and subconscious painting habits that are unique to the artist will come through. I like working by both definitions, even if I'm just doing it for the mental exercise. I'm convinced this is good for waking up different parts of my brain than I might not use otherwise.
The image at the top of this post was created by both methods; listening to a favorite song while I made the drawing, starting with a clear mind, to see what would happen. It's an ethereal song that has no words, no specific imagery was in mind when I started. I listened again to the song while I transferred the drawing to the linoleum block and during the three sessions it took to carve it. I've made two limited editions of this image, four on the rice paper, four on tan paper. My frame order arrived a little banged up, but I hope to have one of them framed and on display soon.
~Julia
