Nigel Wilson, a renowned artist from Clyde, Central Otago, is showcasing his latest art- absolutely spectacular abstract landscapes in Heafey Gallery from 17th January- 20th February. A great chance to view Nigel’s new work and to purchase one of his latest pieces of art.
Viewing Abstract Paintings
We have landed. Landed on the shores of abstraction How do we see this form of Art?
Take a moment, take time just a few moments more, and give into your imagination.
The rush of our contemporary time schedules and the conscious need to recognise something can be put aside and the quieter world of our subconscious will open up the surface and forms of abstract art.
You start by being willing to pause and look as you might sit and listen to jazz.
Expect some discomfort and allow that struggle of the mind to give way to the feeling
Abstract paintings are a natural evolution for Nigel. Though they can feel like a difficult text for a viewer. If this were sport we would learn the rules and then begin to judge the referee’s moderation of the performance on the field. Or if like jazz music we would listen
and allow something to
L A N D
Making art is how we first found knowledge. We saw and thought, reflected in the making of marks on the walls of caves. Through a long history, we have used art to build, write and picture religions or moon shots. Art makes the unseen, the imagined, visible for others to share.
Painting History in the 20th century was about finding it’s role in our story of life. With huge changes, in society and the development of cameras and moving pictures, ‘Painting’ and ‘Art’ experimented to find their own truth.
Painting provided an “ACCIDENT RICH ENOUGH FOR REALITY” as the materiality of pigment, canvas were addressed, questioned and used to present us with the realities of the new experiences and perspectives of the twentieth century
In Art theory, in the writings of Jung and others, the scope of the storytelling seen by the human mind is transversed. The idea of deep patterns in the way we see and tell stories is identified. Later Deleuze and Guattari talk of similar shared ways of viewing. From seeing faces when born, babies need to recognise their mother’s face and body. And we retain that tendency and recognise faces in wood grain and toast. ‘Facitaility’ is a human ability to see two eyes and a mouth in almost anything. A similar thing exists with landscapes. The horizon line can be generated by the adjacency of two areas of colour. Texture prompts the mind to see atmospheres or the weather. In nature we have looked at wind blowing across wheat fields, leaves falling in Autumn and in that experience a connection and emotion.
It’s these mental detections of the subconscious that are activated by abstract paintings.
