Modernism

In the reading "Oxford Art Online, Modernism", the talk of abstract art and modernist artists is a topic of discussion, which I found to be very interesting. A few years ago in New York, I went to an art exhibit focused on American artist from the 1920s, Georgia O'Keeffe. "She received widespread recognition for her technical contributions, as well as for challenging the boundaries of modern American artistic style. She is chiefly known for paintings of flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones, and landscapes in which she synthesized abstraction and representation. Her paintings present crisply contoured forms that are replete with subtle tonal transitions of varying colors. She often transformed her subject matter into powerful abstract images" (Wikipedia, Georgia O'Keeffe).

As many Modernist artists, Georgia O’Keefe created art that consisted of normal found objects and portrayed them in ways not previously imaged.

I appreciate the abstract and at times the unsettling use of creatively configuring images especially with the representation of such ordinary subject matter becoming profound on its impact and outlook. In the Britannica Online Encyclopedia’s section on Georgia O’Keefe, “Her mysteriously suggestive images of bones and flowers set against a perspective less space have inspired a variety of erotic, psychological, and symbolic interpretations”. I find abstract art and Modernist artists to be highly influential and necessary in our societies history. The art is to be interpreted and read in limitless ways and at times push the boundaries of the present culture.

“What were the practices of modernist artists? A typical strategy was to provoke the shock of the new, to reveal the present as replete with blindingly self-evident value and, at the same instant, to consign the recent past to anachronism (2).”

Throughout time as the term “modernism” became more prevalent in society, there was much objection and criticism due to its impact in culture and its thought provoking images, which now have become the norm and is widely accepted since the mid-20^th century. With modernism’s evolution, it now uses much of the popular and commercial visual culture, which has lead to it being considered “No longer [be] a source of strength, this contradictory pattern of incorporation and exclusion has contributed to modernism’s decline (3).” The beauty of Modernism and Modernity is its strength and pursuit to push the envelope of our culture. Whether or not it is appreciated or opposed, it has been such a profoundly impacting addition to our lives that I see it as a step closer to benefiting all individuals, societies, and environments.