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Modern art, hypothetically speaking


I have recently been introduced to the work of a young Polish artist, which for me falls under the "this is interesting, what's this all about" category.

written by Bob Tidy

Not everything in the subject matter of her paintings is immediately obvious, in the way that a landscape painting is of a landscape. Her work is asking me to look for a meaning and to interpret the content. I realize that l am not looking at abstraction in the intuitive sense, where l can "see" or imagine my own interpretation. There is more to it than that, there is intention. Fortunately, l also had access to explanatory notes from the artist to give me some clues, and an important one was the reference to the influence of Modernism.

Although many different styles and attitudes are encompassed by the term, one of the underlying principles that defined the modernist movement was a rejection of historical values, such as realistic depiction of subjects and replacing them with innovation and experimentation. Following this direction, an artist can express more of an emotional and also a graphic depiction of the subject and in doing so provoke a critical reaction from the viewer. How else can a political opinion or a personal belief be painted?

This way of thinking includes the use of images as symbols to add meaning to an artwork, (as did many classical artists) with the likes of Salvador Dali taking this concept to the extreme. His melting clocks are a good example. The common explanation is that he was referring to a lack of fluidity between real time and dreaming, but l would suggest that he had a good understanding of the physics behind relativity. Either way, how could he paint the message in a literal way?

Going back to the painter in question,Joanna Lola Styrylska is also using her imagery as visual metaphors. Quoting her own description for a series of her artworks, she says :

"Geometric forms intertwine with realistic portrait elements such as eyes and mouths. My idea was to show the world through a keyhole. The paintings from the “Inside Look” series are an attempt to look into our personal world, primarily into the world of emotions, which is by nature intimate, carefully hidden and most vulnerable to hurt. These unique arrangements of forms are a metaphor for joy, sadness, often inexpressible feelings and impressions. In a sense, they are artistic painting journals, records of recognizable emotions noticed in the faces of people I don’t know".

When art becomes a partly intellectual exercise and is loaded with such meaning, it begs the question as to whether aesthetic appeal is also important. Does it really matter what the artwork looks like, if essentially its the message that counts? And is it the message embedded in the work, or the merit of the intention that gives art its real value? Dali's artworks are a great examples to apply these questions to. Surreal, sometimes bizarre and often disturbing images to look at, they are at the same time painted by an artist with excellent technique and draftsmanship. Many of us may not understand the messages within his work, but his paintings are still visually interesting and likable. I wonder if he would have been so famous if he had painted realistic landscapes?

As for Joanna's work, and that of many modern artists, l suspect that without the help of notes l would be missing a lot of what she wants to see, and even with them l may not realize the intended connections. But it doesn't matter, because l can still feel comfortable looking at them and "like" them. I don't need to understand the metaphors to still appreciate the end result. On the other hand, Picasso's cubists style paintings of women are a great example of artwork that l can appreciate as ground breaking, but l view them as ugly distortions that l simply don't like.

It can also be argued that the intrigue of trying to work out what a painting is telling us, is the same pleasure we get from solving puzzles, or the frustration we feel when we cannot. Whilst some people will only appreciate the realistic landscape when they discover some reference, like the protection of the environment, cleverly hidden among the trees, others want a realistic picture that they don't need to think about beyond the skill and technique employed.

At the end of the day, we are all free to draw our own conclusions about what we like or don't like, what gives value to art and what doesn't, but art of a metaphorical nature is, if nothing else, giving us all something to think about.


Some of Joanna's work is available at the Etnoster arts and craft gallery in Armaçao de Pera.

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