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Normally I would write off the above as 'modern art' (not true art) and label it 'ugly', but recently I've been more interested in it. My interest began during my painting class freshman year. Before that class I thought that pantings such as these require zero talent and could have been done by a two year old. After the class I realized these paintings do actually require some talent, planning and time. My interest grew further a couple of weeks ago when I visited the School of the Art Institute of Chicago MFA Thesis Exhibition.
Although, quite honestly, I thought nearly all of the work was quite horrible and disturbing I also thought that in general it was very reflective of my generation: confused and chaotic, unguided and amateur, and meaningless. Harsh, I know, but its the truth. So although I obviously didn't enjoy the work of the thesis exhibition I did find it interesting how expressive it was of the youth in America. The visit to this exhibit was followed by a trip to the Chicago Art Institute. Since I was the only one out of the group of people that had been to that institute recently I was chosen to guide everyone. I led them to my favorite rooms, which consisted of European paintings from the 18th to 20th century and French Impressionists.
After leading them through a few of these rooms one of my friends expressed a desire to explore the contemporary art section. Those were rooms I always avoided, seeing as I never liked that kind of art, but I was willing to oblige him and change course to lead us there. Thus I found myself in the contemporary art rooms for the first time. The contrast between the realism of 18th century European paintings and the abstract, modern America art amused and intrigued me. It reinforced what I saw the the thesis exhibit - that art is a reflection of the society it comes from. Again, although I did not especially like the contemporary paintings, viewing them with the idea that they were reflective of society that produced these artists was fascinating. This idea has brought me to an appreciation for modern art, and although I typically still do not like modern art, I do enjoy it much more then I ever have before.
I think the above paintings by
Michelle Armas are beautiful. I love the use of color and the color combinations. I would definitely hang one of these in my home. Perhaps side by side with a realistic painting of the same size and color scheme?
