Not that long ago I could define Abstract art as work without a formal, recognisable subject and essentially, centripetal. Dictionary.com describes it as ‘A trend in painting and sculpture in the twentieth century. Abstract art seeks to break away from traditional representation of physical objects. It explores the relationships of forms and colours, whereas more traditional art represents the world in recognizable images.’

Much of that thinking derives from work in the 20^th century. Malevich, Mondrian, Pollock and Judd amongst many others sought ways to redefine art for a new century. The climate of political change spawned Constructivism while attempts to define a pure aesthetic led to Mondrian and an art taken out of the hands of the artist led by Judd and the Minimalists.  Art driven by allusions to mathematics, geometry, and music in the case of Kandinsky, and exemplified expressions of self-realisation through mark making revolving around the legacy of Pollock and Motherwell, were all products of that rebellion against 19^th century thinking.  Rebellion was certainly at the forefront of thinking, as was a public perception of Abstract art as incomprehensible, worthless and the product of children. The media assessment of the painting of Blue Poles as the work of three drunks, typified the negativity. The public felt cheated and ironically, the sense of rebellion ended in a cul de sac of limiting ideology. However, that was all upwards of a century ago so. The question is though, what part of the definition still holds true in the 21^st century?

A recent symposium in Adelaide, based around the work of fourteen Abstract artists showing at the West Thebarton Gallery and titled, Abstract Now, sought to address not only a viable definition, but the place of Abstract art within the contemporary pantheon. The sheer scope of the work spoke to the diversity of approach and while there were recognisable elements of 20^th century practice and ideas, the notion of rebellion had been dismissed. Abstract art is no longer the poor second cousin to what might be called realist art or the whipping boy of biased public opinion. Each simply represents a different, and equal, approach. However, the multiple approaches, techniques and media being used in the exhibition, sets this iteration of abstraction apart from its historical precedents.

Perhaps a more useful definition of Abstract takes the meaning of abstract as a verb – to select. The freedom to appropriate, quote and sample drove music in the 1980s and it has become the cornerstone of visual art in this century. There are no limiting boundaries.

A number of the artists present spoke about the use of chance – although there is nothing new about the idea of chance in art – as driving their practice. I think that the point here is that when the Dadaists and Surrealists employed chance it was with the realisation of forging new ground based upon psychological studies into the sub conscious rather than the application of overt formulas and agreed symbolism, and is of its time. Whether historical precedent sees allusions to Duchamp or Synthetic Cubism or Pollock, doesn’t matter. Those artists could no more exist in our time than artists of the 21^st. century could live in the past. These are two different times defined by quite different social and artistic parameters. The use of chance today, is rooted in today. Whatever current artists are bringing to the table, it is their experiences and sensibilities derived from living in the ‘information age’ that underwrites their work.

The information age has also given Abstract artists new tools. The use of AI and algorithms to build a mutating vocabulary relies upon considerable programming skills and the ability of the artist.  Some might suggest that computer derived art is no longer art and separate it from the ‘romantic’ idea of abstraction in the same way that Abstract art was separated from the image-driven, but this is no different than the inclusion of photography, performance and installation into the pantheon of possibilities. The world viewed via a screen is now. Seiiichi Kobayashi notes the difficulty of grasping the ‘invisible’ in the flood of information available and a need to simplify the ‘immersive sensory experience’ using a computer and for the artist to create a visualisation – essentially an abstraction in the sense of synthetic appropriation and simplification.

In some ways the very term Abstract, has lost its original meaning. Adelaide artist Sam Howie pointed out that abstraction is the creation of ‘a visual language’ and rather than encompassing overt social, political or rebellion as its prime facia case for existence, allows ‘philosophical questions to be opened up’ that explore the human condition. Margaret Worth spoke about universal systems that define space-time across all cultures and history and the bringing together of seemingly random elements from nature and technology exemplifying the ‘foundation of visual language’. When Picasso and Schwitters gathered together the detritus of early 20^th century life and reassembled them, they were creating a similar visual language. We can only wonder what they would have made of this time.

One work from Abstract Now brings a different sensibility. The shredded canvas supports of Lucia Dormann may well allude in some people’s minds to the masking effect of curtains or of the once ubiquitous hanging plastic fly excluders strung across Australian doorways, but her work focusses on systems of order and repetition and the ‘time-intensive process of unpicking and reconstruction’. The weaver’s art or craft of expression via a constructed grid becomes a tactile surface where the passing of time is a relevant factor. As with the work of Kobayashii, the need to slow down the contemporary world is a compelling aim. A century ago, the Futurists sought the exact opposite. The need for speed and motion as the new century accelerated, exemplified a world bent on pushing the limits of technology.

Christian Lock as moderator of the discussion pointed to a need to create a space for contemplation – a deliberate slowing down. Abstraction becomes not rebellion or even selection but a means to reconnect with feeling not thought. It doesn’t attempt to ‘represent the world but to show us how it feels.’ [ Catalogue essay, Abstract Now, 2021].

ABSTRACT NOW showing at the West Gallery, Adelaide, South Australia ,during September.