Modernists’ concepts have shaped the way we produce and look at art.

Modernists’ concepts have shaped the way we produce and look at art.

Creativity never sits still and artists as stated previously search for new visions based on past notions. It so happens that what was once accepted as truth no longer seems adequate. This could be the case in the shift of artistic perspective that characterized the modernist movement. Values were criticized and questioned bringing the desire for innovation and experimentation as foundations for a closer vision on man’s new way of thinking (Tate, 2017). Changes in society were reflected in a change of values that was made visible in the arts. An avid research in form was advocated. D’Alleva (2015) describes this movement as an engagement in formal qualities such as shape, colour, line, materials. The representation of the visible world was set aside in favour of unique visions that revealed a connection with the artist’s inner world. The experience of a work of art mutated.

 John Berger (1972) noted the discrepancy between what we see and what we know. Seeing comes before words. The way we see things is affected by our knowledge of what we see and what we believe to be true to us.

This shift in consciousness changed what and how art was made. Why paint what was already visible and was rendered even more so with the advent of photography? Berger (1972) states that the more imaginative the artwork is, deeper is the connection with the artist who makes his world visible.

Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin’s use of bold and contrasting colours, simplifying and deforming perspective illustrated an emphasis on subjectivity. (Kouvou, 2005) This open mindedness shed light on child art and a phase of observation and research on this aspect of art commenced. Comparisons were shyly made and with the advent of psychoanalysis children’s drawing were put under a developmental microscope. Kouvou (2005) describes how child art and primitive art, linked to the concept of collective intelligence, had common features. This theory was strongly contrasted in the academic circles that saw children’s art as stages of intellectual development.

According to Kouvou (2005), child art gave modernist painters inspiration to seek spontaneity and innocence. Fundamentalists rejected this vision strongly; illusion had been mastered and stood forcefully as an essential component of a work of art.

What we see is the emergence of very different visions. When the past stops to be seen with nostalgia, its vestige is freed from holiness. (Berger, 1972)

Child art seemed to give modernist artists what they were looking for: a new perspective.

Pablo Picasso was immensely taken by child art. His world observe them at work and work alongside them in his quest for a more comprehensive vision of the act of drawing. He tried to see the world through their eyes and sensibilities. He was never able to move back in time but he moved art forward.

 Eisner (2002) compares the artwork of an abstract expressionist and a young child. While there is a vast conceptual difference in intention, the canvas for both is playground on which exercise.  As stated before one of the great characteristics of creativity lies in its mobility and with it the challenge of experimentation. (Perkins,1981)

So how has art changed the way we experience it?

When rules are questioned, interpretations allow new modes of experience.  Over time, art dressed itself in new clothes show casing human experience. The art of rebellion opened visions extensively. New materials and gestures welcomed a different approach to the reasons art was made and the way the public experienced it. People started becoming involved in the way art was made. Nothing was any longer passive. (Hodge, 2012)

  Child art has become a topic for research as much as the creativity that lies at the base of its production. New theories in developmental psychology have opened doors to the realms of the unconscious and educational approaches have positioned the child as an active component of society. Art production has gained new ways of seeing, as the way we see things is affected by what we acknowledge as true. (Berger, 1972)

 Ritualistic Masks, Year 2& 3. (2017). [Collage on paper] Milan: Private collection.

Artichoke. (2017). [Edited Digital Photography] Milan: Private collection.

Blue Stains. (2017). [Photograph] Milan: Private collection.

Orange Mix. (2017). [Photograph] Milan: Private collection.