the Australian Abstract

Abstract art is a composition that exists independently of images and representations and breaks with traditional, realistic art styles.  The process is more about exploration and abstracting detail than painting objects or landscapes in a lifelike way or accurate form. It celebrates unintentional inspiration and immediate response to anything, and results in unique understandings and experiences.

Abstract depictions of landscapes, structures, interiors and other forms can evoke strong emotions and interpretations of places, features or issues.  It is a means for the artist to convey their imaginative vision, arouse curiosity, and provide a place of discussion for viewers.

Abstracting detail impacts the way artists interpret, paint, and see ‘art’. Such includes:

‘The observer must learn to look at the picture as a graphic representation of a mood and not as a representation of objects.’ Wassily Kandinsky

‘In my painting I have almost said goodbye to colour'. Ian Fairweather (1962)

‘Abstract art is … a fundamentally romantic response to modern life – rebellious, individualistic, unconventional, sensitive, irritable.’  Robert Motherwell

What does abstraction mean to you?