Jumat, 03 Oktober 2014

Modern Figurative And Genre Art

By Elsa Noel


Genre art pictures scenes from everyday life, usually people doing something. According to the Academy systematization, genre painting is one of the types of paintings, together with history painting, portraiture, landscape, animal paining and still life. Figurative and genre art aren't synonyms, although they can both picture animal or human figures in different situations. Genre art is figuratism, while figuratism doesn't have to be genre art.

Figurative art is even easier to describe. It always refer to the real world, and presented themes should always be recognizable. Of course, artists can picture this real world on their unique way, and they don't have to follow any special principle. They use all imaginable techniques and materials, using shades, lines and colors to achieve different effects, volume or perspective.

Generally speaking, figuratism is representational type of art. It covers everything that isn't abstract, and can be recognized as something that really exist in the real world. All art that was made before abstract art can be considered as figuratism. Considering this, it's easy to classify any artwork into these two basic categories. If you cannot tell what it is, it is probably abstract work.

This type of painting uses all types of media, including oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel or any other. The main subject is human figure, with or without clothes. Although all portraits are actually figuratism, different artists have different approach to the subject. Some of them are more focused on reality, while some rather describe moods and emotions.

Although this representation is based on a real figure, using different materials, media and techniques results in really wide variety of different styles. All expressionistic artworks belong to figuratism, because they are mostly focused on shapes, colors and structure. Some other forms, for example cubism, sometimes belong to this category as well, if the figure is recognizable at some point, whatever technique is used.

So, there are two poles of figurative art. On one side there is the photo realism, where everything has to be exactly as it really is. Other extreme is almost unrecognizable figuration, which is nearly abstract. Cubism is a very good example of this second extreme. Take for example Picasso's work. When it comes to his analysis of woman's face, it doesn't look exactly as a face, but you can tell that it is.

Numerous contemporary artists represent different approaches to figuratism. Some of the most interesting ones are John Currin and Jenny Saville, for example. If you would like to explore the world of modern figurative artists, make sure to check the work of Hollis Dunlap, Johan Van Mullem, Marlene Dumas, Jas Knight, Gillian Carnegie and numerous other interesting artists.

Different abstract art forms popular in twentieth century made figurative arts a little bit neglected. They tried to improve the art. In the eighties, this forgotten art form became popular again, thanks to numerous enthusiasts such as John Currin. Contemporary figurative art reflect modern world and definitely has something to offer. Maybe art cannot be improved, but it can offer something new and exciting.




About the Author:



Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar