How You Should Understand Modern Art?

A lot of museums seem like a pretty boring thing to do. It is not entirely clear why on earth standing in one place for hours staring at an object or a painting can be interesting. How to understand art and realize that there is a real masterpiece in front of you?

In the exhibition halls of any level, the canvases have their own history, which they want (or, on the contrary, do not want) to share with the audience. It rarely happens that the meaning is on the surface. You can’t say that someone’s interpretation of the meaning is correct, and someone else’s is not. Understanding art in this regard is a very individual thing because different people possess different knowledge and come from different backgrounds and that, in turn, causes absolutely different interpretations, all of which have the right to exist.

Still, there are some common and easy ways to get along with art, and modern art in particular, and in this article we will try to help you do that.

1. Read about the exhibition

To go to an exhibition of an artist or a sculptor, having no idea about the person and the period, is not the best idea not only for a beginner but also for an experienced art lover. Before you buy tickets, read a couple of articles about the artist. In such a way, you will have an image and characters in your head.

Do not neglect reading the frames near the exhibits. They provide useful information that allows you to look at things from the other side, and, possibly, completely change the idea of what you see.

2. Take a tour

If you did not have time to study the biography, but you refuse to read the frames, you can take a tour. The guide may be a museum worker, or you may have an audio headset. We recommend that you carefully consider the choice of an accompanying person because this will affect the impressions and further desire to study art.

3. Draw analogies and associations

What thoughts arise when you look at the exposure? Do you remember the bright moments of life? At the exhibition, you can experience the widest range of feelings: from enthusiasm to anger. Try to understand why this is happening. Could it have been influenced by a non-standard color or composition decision, or maybe a character’s facial features?

Do not forget about the obvious. Each of us compares green to nature, spring to the beginning of life, and black to something mystical, scary and, often, sad. These familiar comparisons play an important role.

Another fact: the broader your mind is, the easier it is to analyze art.

4. Visit more exhibitions

This may sound obvious, but visiting more exhibitions will give you a better understating of what art is about. If you are a student and keen on art, make sure to spend your spare time going to museums. Sometimes, there is not enough time because of tons of academic papers to write. But you can always look for an essay writing service. Just type “cheap assignment writing service UK” and set you some free time. Students in UK spend hours writing such papers and don’t have time at all for art.

So, the service of assignment writing in UK can become a great solution.

5. Pay attention to the history of the era

Each historical epoch has its own canons of the image. Learn to distinguish baroque from rococo, impressionism from post-impressionism, and then it will be easier to understand why the artist uses fancy shapes or dark colors. Many subjects are based on historical events or large-scale problems of the society of a particular time.

6. Discuss with other visitors

Truth is born in controversy. But we do not encourage you to argue with other guests of the exhibition halls. The exchange of emotions and vision of works of art reveals their other sides. We all have different experiences and different visions of the world, so communication with other people enriches knowledge. In addition, at the exhibitions, you can find not only an interesting interlocutor but also a company for subsequent cultural hikes.

7. Look at the details

A quick look at the exhibit is equivalent to reading a book diagonally. So, you have to know how to look at art. Little details keep a lot more than it seems. Do not be lazy to look for “hidden” details – they completely change the interpretation of the author’s thoughts.

Talking about modern art, it reflects the most important situations of today. Its task is to call you to dialogue. The true value of a work of modern art lies in its meaning, and not in technical mastery.

Modern art is for everyone!

One hundred years ago, art performed a decorative function. To allow yourself to have a painting or to order a sculpture to the artist was the height of luxury. Objects of art decorated the palaces of the nobility, the houses of patrons of art, and were accessible only to the elect.

Don’t try to understand!

At school, we were taught to start an essay with the words “The author wanted to say …” It seems that by looking at a simple modern art, you must come to an unequivocal conclusion. And if suddenly it’s not what the author wanted to say, they’ll give you a deuce.

The beauty of most works of modern art is that they are not an unambiguous statement. The time of the manifestos passed 100 years ago. No message can be understood correctly or incorrectly. There is information that can be found. And you have the right to accept it, or reject it.

 

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