What is Abstract Art Today?

NATIONAL ONLINE EXHIBITION presented by ArtistVenu.com  Free Artist Sales Pages with Marketing Tutorials if summission by 6pm on Monday, August 13.

There are many definitions of abstract art. Over the past 100 years, the word “abstract” has become an umbrella term used to describe very diverse movements or directions in art.

The word “abstract” has several interesting definitions. Abstract means “… to consider apart from the concrete; general as opposed to the particular…”. It also means “… to take away secretly, remove, withdraw or purloin…”. 

It is this second definition that concerns all artists, because all art is to some extent abstract. 

Abstract artists have chosen from what is in front of them to include in their work. They have chosen from a world of ideas, images, words or symbols. They have mixed and matched them through their world of experience and knowledge. When non-abstract artists say they make representational art, they are usually saying, in essence, their work is a recognizable representation of the world we all see before us, or it is a likeness.

Art that moves beyond recognition becomes abstract because it embodies emotion, memory, or essence.

For the purposes of this exhibition of two dimensional (2D), wall-hung artwork, which includes bas relief work, the following definitions are useful in determining if your artwork is abstract.

Abstract art is art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead use shapes, colors, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect.

Tate Museum

Abstract art is a genre of art. The artistic content depends on internal form rather than pictorial representation.

the Free Dictionary

Abstract art uses the visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Abstract art, non-figurative art, non-objective art, and non-representational art are closely related terms. Abstraction indicates a departure from reality in the depiction of imagery. This departure from accurate representation can be slight, partial, or complete. Abstraction exists along a continuum.

Wikipedia

Abstract art is trend in painting and sculpture that began in the twentieth century. Abstract art seeks to break away from the traditional representation of physical objects. It explores the relationships of forms and colors, whereas more traditional art represents the world in recognizable images.

Dictionary.com