The Art of Truth
Painting is no longer about representation, it is about inspiration. However, painting today is too focused on the creation of the “new” rather than the creation of the “true”. The 20th century was infatuated with new painting styles and materials, which has led to a focus on the mode and medium of expression rather than the message being expressed. After one-and-a-half centuries of innovation, with so many art taboos shattered, with so much of the field colonized and long-inhabited, the search for the new is becoming increasingly shallow and repetitive. Creating the new, purely for newness’ sake, can bring academic significance but offers little long-term weight. Truth and beauty, on the other hand, have longevity — they affect the viewer and the resonance of that experience lingers for a long time. All three need to be combined to create contemporary art, abstract art or any other forms of art that has impact as well as freshness.
What is truth? Like everything in contemporary art, abstract art and other forms of art, the concept of truth is completely subjective and people will define their own truth. Truth is not simply honesty, but also an emotion or expression that has a deeper, more powerful effect on the viewer.
So many works today are trying hard to be innovative but are inescapably derivative. They are “neat” and “funky” rather than emotional and hard-hitting.
Is it not true to say that we now live in an era of disposable art to match our reality TV? More difficult is the struggle to create something greater than ourselves, something that can outlast ourselves. The imperative of being better, making better, expressing better drives you on. And just as we hope for brilliance in ourselves, we like to touch it as well, whether in a conversation, reading a novel or staring at a canvas.
There are still more Cezannes, more Dostoevskys, to come. We will spot them more by their truth and their beauty than by their passing trend.
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