A time-old
debate, what is art? What makes it art? There are two main opinions on this
topic, the first being, talent. The artists with ability to put brush to canvas
and paint photorealistic images such as Nicholas Poussin make “art”. Many would
say only these artists deserve to make money from their art because they are
gifted. Nevertheless, traditional artists in today’s society receive criticism
due to the fact that in some cases their paintings lack meaning. A portrait of
a face may not tell an audience as much as they’d like, as beautiful as it may
be, there is no meaning behind the façade. On that note, is art then defined
for its intrinsic meaning and how it can incite an emotion?
Modern art is
rich with meaning, however, artists such as Damien Hirst and Jonas Gerard can
be an acquired taste. One may perceive what they do as child’s-play but it can
be argued that it does take talent to invoke a strong impression upon an
audience-you can look at a piece and find your own interpretation, as many
modern artists refuse to reveal the true meaning behind their pieces so every
audience member can find their own identification with the piece. Modern art is
like being invited to write a novel guided by colours, patterns and objects. In
this sense, modern art involves the voyeur in a way never seen before.
Street and Gallery have forever been juxtapositions in the art world. However,
with the onset of modern art, they are no longer dissimilar. Classical art was
traditional in technique, the renaissance artist commonly depicted scenes as
seen through the eye. The modern artist lends us a new set of eyes that offer
us a different take on difficult subjects, forcing us to see their opinions.
This is the Street artist’s territory also; they now share the same platform, creating
pieces for the sake of provoking its audience. Street Art also has its
criticisms, not only because it is classed as vandalism but through the use of
stencils it receives the same “I could do that, why is that art?” attitude that
is bestowed upon Modern Artists.
Somewhere
along the line, classical art developed and become modern art. The question is,
what provoked this drastic change where the art exhibited inside galleries for
large amounts of money began to take on a similar focus as the art we see
pasted on the grimy wall outside the building?
