Copular Art
The Question is - What is new in Art today?
Is there any other way in which a dedicated artist could possibly pres-ent his work for others to make fair comment on and reply?
Now that's Really Different - Will it Change the Face of Art?
These are questions which need answers if, when like me, you are serious about art. Art is a human condition and it consumes all of us in varying degrees. The greater the interest - the greater the pursuit. Every generation leaves behind countless volumes of art. More than enough for the following generation to spend time over trying to decipher what, if any great wonders were produced. Art has and always will be a subject that demands change. This challenge is open for all to express themselves with change in their own time if they so desire.
So What Is New In Art Today?
The very statement itself is unbelievable in these most modern of modern times. This computer age could produce more art in more ways in one year than the last generation would have had time to ponder over. This is fair comment as computers are getting bigger, better, smarter, and their output greater. For this question to be answered correctly and the reasons as to how change occurred in the first place. They need to be stated.
My art has developed over the past 40 years to the present where I am still striving for change. It's been my good fortune to have followed a road as a modern painter instead of one with a liking for the more conventional styles. Cubism was my chosen style and with the passing of time I have developed my own unique style of painting and framing methods. It seems I have always been attracted to this style as it has no limitations or rules. For me the subject can be as real or abstract as one dictates for there are just no rules for the cubist painter.
Change is Ever Present
Without rules one is able to create his own and when the imagination is running hot the impossible soon becomes possible. This can be seen for I have rejected the conventional perspectives and special relationships of my subject matter by breaking up forms and rearranging them.
My work is characterized mainly by its strong Picasso Cubist influence, using pure colour, sometimes flat and raw. It's often combined with distinct and separate areas within the work that appears to be writhing with movement. Subjects like sheet music, aeroplanes, violins and guitars. In fact many other musical instruments and even body language. Patterns also form an important part of my search for an alternative expression. Forms are broken, torn, twisted and rearranged. Sometimes my use of line holds them in their new positions on the canvas, often in a grid pattern. Like floor and chair patterns, with just a hint of perspective. These can then be counter challenged by flat organic shaped broken forms using pure colour.
This juxtapositioning of shape, line colour, formal and informal, combined with the painted angular frames challenges the eye and brain.
Those Who Crave Change
One such modern painter of his time was a Dutchman named Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). He was famous in his own time and managed to change the face of art with his theories and paintings. They came to be known worldwide as Neo-Plasticism. Mondrian began as a conventional painter working in a broad form of impressionism turning out picturesque subjects such as landscapes, boats on canals and many other such works. 1906 saw him changing his painting style into flat patterns whereupon he would seem to hunt out the natural geometry in the subject matter he sought to paint. They became flattened areas of colour interwoven together with his subject. This led him finally to produce his non-objective paintings in such as Composition with Yellow 1936 and Rhythm in Straight Lines 1942. He wrote extensively about his ideas and theories leading to changes which he applied in his work. He wrote "All painting is composed of line and colour". They are the essence of painting. They must be freed from their bondage to the imitation of nature and allowed to exist for themselves.
Mondrian's Theory
Painting should be flat as indeed the surface of a canvas is. The purer the colour in a painting, the more appealing it will be universally. The colours Red, Yellow and Blue are the only primary colours. These alone should be used to keep the painting within the natural geometry of Mondrian's Theory. This led to his painting style of Neo-Plasticism. His theories and ideas leading to these conclusions are fair enough. They no doubt served him well, driving him forward to produce his art. One man's thoughts can be another man's quandary but in my case it was a stepping stone. It's always been a fact that the artist doing the work is the one who knows what he is doing best.No matter what others may or may not say. The artist's sensitivity as to the rights and wrongs of his work is always within himself.
Allowing the Background to Protrude
For me as a modern painter and after addressing Mondrian's theories, it seemed that I was surely, slowly, subconsciously drifting into this same sea of change. I was struggling with the idea that somehow the background in a painting could be joined to the subject matter in a new way. One that would bring it to a similar value as the mass or volume of the painted subject.To achieve this, I created spaces within the structure of the subject, allowing the background to protrude.
`Fallen Petal on Red Background'
This was my first painting showing this technique. In this example the base of the bowl is shaded to encourage roundness. The bowl itself viewed from above flattens the perspective. My latest technique is the use of strong flat background colour impregnating the bowl through holes in its rim.The background colour also attempts to flatten the work. Contradicting this, the base of the bowl, the edges of the holes and the overlapping of flowers and stems tries to create a limited perspective.
Copular Art (Connecting with Subject)
That's the term I have used to express this move. With this done, a painting with a shared value for both background and subject can be achieved. This is not how Piet Mondrian perceived his theory. He was the driver for me to perceive mine. I feel that as painters, we are both of alike minds in our quest for change. As for style, it is my choice to stay within the bounds of cubism even though it is of my own fashion. Like other painters my artistic forms are always simplified, leading me to strive for a greater sense of self-expression.
Many know that the simpler the forms become the nearer they are to universal acceptance. Indeed the simplest forms of all are the square and rectangle which down through the corridors of time have never lost their universal charm. As a cubist painter my work by nature is non-conforming and therefore abstract. For me to place an abstract painting into a square or rectangular shaped frame is to totally mismatch the complete opposites.
So what is New in Art Today?
The unification of background and subject matter shared as an equal value on the picture plane, together with a combined value between the painting and its frame. In Copular Art (Connecting With Subject) I obtain the different shapes for my paintings by using solid board for my canvas. This allows me the freedom of shape. I also make my own frames to which the paintings are permanently fixed, as seen on my "Paintings" webpage. Be assured that there are others out there, who like me, crave change and wish to share what they have found and worked upon. Enjoy the paintings on this website, for they show a new direction for art.
COPULAR ART IS JOHNSON ART