Blog
Posted on 7/12/2009
By Donald Fox
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In visual art, the realm of most interest to me, the work exists as a physical presence that may represent something recognizable or not. Explicating artwork is not the purpose here, but I do suggest that several considerations are important to keep in mind. For example, a painting may be representational or non-representational. It is composed of colors, shapes, and forms. It can be 'read' as simply what it appears to be on the surface, a picture of something, or not; the latter being taken as a decoration perhaps. But the formal elements also have energy that engages the viewer emotionally and intellectually. The persistent viewer, the questioning viewer, may begin to make associations and perceive relationships among the elements and connect them to ideas within his or her own mind and experience. Now something personal is happening between the viewer and the artist (represented by the painting). The viewer may begin to identify symbolical or metaphorical content and experience the work as a microcosmic expression of the macrocosm of life's intricate web. Now the work becomes a gateway to any number of truths. Whatever art may be, the best art is always more than what it first appears as being.
