What Is Art? - Creativity & Concept

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?