Art, what is it? Its a question which lingers in my mind now and often. Is art something which attracts your eye or is it a representation of something you have in mind? Seven years of getting the "formal" training and two certificates in my basket, I still ask this question to myself. The seven years of studying in art schools, studying with my peers, interaction with some of the idols of the field, I cannot seem to get an anwer. I have had personal experiences of people seeing my works and giving mixed reactions. Like for example, there was this particular painting which required techinical skills and patience and was just one of the commercial art work and there was an "amazing" "wow" reaction. And there was this other painting, one of the actual art work( here again this requires a definition) and I got question marks on people's faces. So sometimes the actual art works we art graduates create, makes people wonder what we learnt in the art colleges( I mean hell yeah, you draw disfigured faces, you put paint blobs on canvas, is this what you do in an art college??!!)..
Recently, about 4 months ago I viewed a few original masters works, of Ingres and Raphael and an experience it was! Seeing their techniques and colour application and the perfect mastery of light and composition and the amount of patience and work put in it actually made me stop and think for a few minutes. Is contemporary art really art? The art which comes from within us, is it really art?
And then, I had one of the most amazing experience at MOMA ( one of the most beautiful art museums and one which almost every artist/ art lovers should dream of visiting once in a lifetime).I spent almost the entire day just looking at works of Picasso, Dali ( one of my favourite artists), Gaugin, Andy Warhol, Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Francis bacon,Paul Klee, Henry Matisse, Claude Monet to name a few. Recently somebody(not from the art field) asked me " Do the works actually look worth investing millions of dollars in them?" ! The answer could have been " common it is a Van Gogh or a Matisse you are talking about!" But then, for that person, all that art meant could have been owning a beautifully attractively done work. MOMA has an amazing collection of Picasso's guitar works. Seeing the original works of these artists is a total different experience. Picasso's works on posters and web pages look very confident and the strokes seem very strong. In reality, his lines are very broken and childlike and i was so surprised! Also Monet's "Garden" ( not sure of the original title) was very huge and soothing. There was nothing striking in that work, no human figures,nothing that was "difficult" to paint. But I saw people just sitting and relaxing looking at the work. That particular work left a very soothing impact to the eye, i must say!There were also these set of works of German expressionism, which were harsh, cruel, works showing the reality of the times what world wars did to them. So many thoughts and ways of applications of colours!
I came across a lot of art works in one of the art events in Kansas, USA, mainly done to frame an empty wall or just for the fun of it. But the artists enjoy what they are doing and so do the people enjoy viewing them. I saw people of all ages discussing and enjoying the art works and ofcourse their wine too!
At the end of the day, I realised a few things. For an artist, at the end of the day, all that matters is creating a good work, in which he feels he has learnt something and gone a step forward. Not every artist can become the famous Van Gogh or a Dali, but he can become something, he can become the creator of a new work. For me, learning something, discovering something in my work is all that matters now. As for the viewer all he needs is that moment of happiness and aesthetic joy or probably for some, a realisation, a connection of something. Well, people, wake up, if there were no colours, no absurd designs around you, your life would be boring and gray! Enjoy the colours around you!
Dhanashree is an artist who studied Fine art in Cava and Baroda, she is currently settled in The USA .
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