It has been said that the primary motivation in art today is to “get noticed”. French poet, Charles Baudelaire wrote (in the 19th century), “All art aspires to the condition of Music”, Centuries before that the words “Ut pictura poesis” were inscribed (“as in painting, so in poetry”). In the age of “Modernism” however, it seems that art aspires more to the condition of advertising – the work of Andy Warhol, with its focus on consumerism and celebrity, is probably the most recognizable example of this phenomena; that is, the appropriation of pre-existing symbols and images. Warhol's work evolved, apparently from the philosophy of Marcel Duchamp, some forty to fifty years earlier. Indeed, a whole movement already existed in modernism called “Readymade”, the most famous of which I was reminded of as I looked at the statue below. Duchamp’s 1919 piece titled L.H.O.O.Q. which consisted of a Post card of Mona Lisa (fitting, as the Louvre was my destination that day) on it he had drawn a goatee and mustache, the title scribbled below.

Whether this was genuine satire, nihilism or just plain whimsy, it certainly generated controversy, perhaps that alone was the goal? (The title, supposably, is a spoof of the French words “Elle a chaud au cul”. Enter this into an online translator, and you'll have to laugh). The apparent inaccessibility and ambiguous meaning of work such as this is common in all areas of the Modernist movement. Duchamp himself, when interviewed on the subject, was notoriously difficult to pin down. The “Mystery” surrounding works of Modernism and Postmodernism is certainly quite different in nature to that of 19th century Romanticism. Cynically perhaps, rather than alluding to the larger mysteries of existence, the ambiguity seems specifically engineered to create mystique solely around the artist and his work.

John Richardson, Picasso's Biographer states: [he] “refuses to make work a transparent window on the world … paint, lines, words assume a new kind of self-sufficiency and we are not invited to look beyond the work for something to explain or legitimate”. André Salmon writes, of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, “These personages are not gods, neither are they Titans or heroes; they are not even allegorical or symbolical…”. Chris Rodrigues, senior lecturer of Media arts at the University of Plymouth, says of Modernism, “… meaning must be read off the canvas, the surface of the picture”. Guillaume Apollinaire, writes: “The plastic virtues: purity, unity, and truth, keep nature in subjection.”. Marcel Duchamp said “The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act. ”

If works of modern art do not have meaning beyond their superficial appearance, what then is their meaning? If the work is not an end in itself, then it can only be a reflection of the artist’s emotional response to the world; hence, the overwhelmingly subjective nature of modern art. This, in itself, is neither good nor bad; however, preoccupation with “New” and “for the first time” has emerged, largely, at the expense of “Technique” and “Craftsmanship”.

Given the nature of my own work it probably isn't surprising that my personal preference leans more towards the discipline of 19th century Romanticism and to realism generally. Nevertheless, I find it quite difficult to make blanket statements when it comes to art. Every individual piece of art should be judged on it’s own merits alone. My compositions tend to be quite traditional in conception, though Modernist influences, being as all-encompassing as they are, can not easily be avoided - and I certainly don't try to avoid them. I am equally indifferent, for lack of a better word, towards the more extreme manifestations of traditional art forms, Baroque for instance. The epithet “Grotesque” is often applied, specifically, to this particularly ornate art form; but even here, as in abstraction, certain pieces still stand out. Overly sentimental or excessively decorative artwork can be just as uninspiring as the seemingly undisciplined splashes of paint in contemporary art. (I should point out, as I included a couple of quotes about Picasso earlier in this piece, that I do, in fact, quite enjoy most of his work - particularly as he began his artistic exploration as a realist). In his 1908 work on architecture, "Ornament and Crime", Adolf Loos aserts that excessive ornamentation is equivalent to criminalism - except for the fact that he was actually quite serious, I can almost understand what he meant.

This exercise has been, in part, to examine the idea that de-constructivism, and all those other reductionist "isms", may have moved as far as they possibly can in that direction. Interestingly, as post-modernism seems to have languished on the outer limits these past few years, forms of traditional art, Romanticism in particular, appear once again to be in the ascendance. We are even seeing the emergence of dedicated “Objectivist” galleries. At least one, in California, is influenced specifically by the Objectivist writings of Ayn Rand. The jury is out as to what the art world’s next great “ism” will be, like Post-modernism though, which is itself and amalgam of diverse influences, the next movement is also likely to be a fusion ideas. The most obvious change may be in the extreme relativistic position which has become the consensus view of the art establishment today (as in many other areas of modern life). Recognition that reality does,"in fact", also contains a few absolutes. I dare say debate will continue, just as it always has, over which of those "facts" are the absolute ones, but I hope the discussion will be a constructive one. Writer and theologian Jeanette Winterton said, in a recent interview with Bill Moyers, that she felt society was entering a “cultural dark ages”. I would like to think that what we are seeing now is the beginning of an exciting new age of artistic exploration.

More on de-constructivism and the idea of "beauty", as an absolute, in the next update.