I don’t get modern art. I dont understand how we went from beautiful paintings to a yellow pentagon with a black line through it being considered art.
This is from Burghley House near where I live. And it’s obviously taken a lot of thought, skill and talent to create.
This is from an art gallery I took my wife to yesterday. And as far as I can tell, it’s complete crap. If my kids handed this to me as their art homework I’d be having words with them.
Obviously I kept my mouth shut as the museum guides seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. And this was about my wife after all, it’s not about me. Happily over drinks later it turned out she thought the same but enjoyed watching me hum thoughtfully at each piece while failing to hide my utter contempt for what I was seeing.
I think what you’re seeing with modern art is actually part of a cycle rather than just “decay.” Every art form tends to whittle down to its basics after a while, because the complexities have already been explored. Themes change, audiences change, and what’s considered meaningful or “good” shifts with them.
Take music for example, we moved from the harmonic density of jazz and the orchestral tradition into the more repetitive, groove-driven forms of pop, hip hop, and R&B. That doesn’t mean today’s music has no value, it just emphasizes accessibility, rhythm, and production instead of complexity in harmony. The same thing happens across all art, once the difficult heights are reached, there’s always a swing back toward simpler, more relatable expressions.
Complexity never disappears, it just moves into niches while the mainstream goes broad. So modern art isn’t really the death of art, it’s just the latest stage in that ongoing cycle.
It's all about how you feel about it. If you like it, it's good. If you don't, it's bad. There are other ways to experience things than with your brain. Look at it with your feelings, with your heart. That one doesn't do much for me either but I'll probably never care so it's gone.
i think people like simple stuff better. i can understand that sorta... it relaxes the mind but if in a really good place that kinda matches the art, then it's also enjoyable otherwise it just feels a bit cluttered.
I am not an expert... I am just sharing my personal view. You have not to understand what it is all about, you just have to look at it and "feel" it. It might say anything to you but it could give lots of "emotions" to someone else...
Abstract art is very hit-or-miss, but there is good stuff out there. Abstract art arose when photography became the norm. Painting was no longer the only way to represent reality visually, so people started focusing on the elements of art and became less concerned with representing something real. I've seen abstract art that looked like a dog painted it, and some that I found beautiful.
Any movement requires that people push its boundaries so that you can move into new ideas and do new things. The notion that not only did art peak in the 1500s, but that it should not have advanced past that point is obviously silly.
People are always making beautiful art that evokes classic styles or plays with modern styles that are accessible to the layman. You are never going to be without art you can enjoy.
At the same time, there are people who experiment, get bored with old ways of doing things, and push boundaries. That was literally what the Renaissance was about.
Also people were doing this kind of play with shape and colour rather than just painting pretty pictures back in the 1960s. It's hardly modern anymore, even if that's a contemporary piece.
If it's not obvious that society has changed and so has the way that it views itself, well, there goes the first steps needed to actually understanding any art at all. Compare inside the one building a ceiling with a altar wall and you'll understand that there must been a shift in mood in Rome in between these two hight moments of Michelangelo's great artistic worth
It's abstract art. Colors are no longer the color of something; they become entities in themselves, they have their own existence, independent of any material which they are attached to. It's the same level of abstraction as in color science ("colorimetry"). If you don't enjoy abstraction, that's fine. But these artworks were not made with you in mind; you are not a customer.
This may shock you but... the world doesn't revolve around you and your experiences or senses so you're not going to understand it sir. Apologies art isn't only in stuffy cult buildings now
@KittenSmitten0 All this because I hurt your little feelings about the world not revolving around you regarding ART. I think you're the one lost.. in more ways than one.😂
The Nazis also loathed Modern Art. Why? Because it broke from conformity, investigated the individual psyche and offered a unique perspective that was both critical and fully prepared to challenge accepted mores about what it means to be alive. To have contempt for Modern Art is lazy. That's why the popular media often denigrates and ridicules it. They don't want you to think too deeply, they want you to stay in your little box, because having you thinking too deeply disturbs them profoundly. Hating Modern Art is reactionary and stifles your existence. You fail to realise that. Keep your blinkers on. Just keep on looking straight ahead. You'll be fine.
As a former art college student, I can tell you that the TRAINING modern artists receive is entirely against traditional art forms, which our professors ALL considered to be boring.
Saw where a guy set an empty starbucks cup on the floor. Within an hour people were admiring it and taking pictures. Then of course there is the banana taped to the wall. Some duffus bought it.
@Patriot96 LOL. Something similar happened, I saw in a pic from an art gallery. Some dude left his glasses on the floor right by a wall and people were all gathered round taking pictures.
@TherealsteveNo no, "cultural Marxism" also known as "Socialistic Realism" has nothing in common with abstract art. Here are some examples of "Socialistic Realism":
Abstract artists were politically persecuted in the Soviet Union.
