A peek into the exciting world of modern art...

I received an invitation to visit an exhibition of modern art at the Taj Art Gallery. Although I am not a connoisseur of art, I was enthusiastic to see the progress of modern art. As I entered, a painting on the opposite wall attracted my attention. I concentrated hard to see if I can find some excuse for showering accolades on it. Despite my best efforts, I could not understand what the painting represented. The coup de grace was delivered by a middle-aged lady, who came and inverted the painting, saying that I was looking at the painting upside down. I could still find no difference in interpreting it. I timidly ventured to ask the lady if she understood modern art.

"I am Lily Dharmadhikari, Professor at the School of Arts. You can call me, Lily," she volunteered. "What do you want to know?"

I was greatly relieved at her offer, as I found her full name a bit of a tongue-twister. "I would like to know something about modern art, Lily," I asked.

She heaved a deep sigh, as if distressed by my stupidity and began, "The history of modern art started with impressionism. It all started in Paris as a reaction to a very formal and rigid style of painting, done inside studios and set by traditional institutions. The Impressionist painters preferred to paint outside and studied the effect of light on objects. Cubism, another modern art movement was initiated by the Spaniard Pablo Picasso and the Frenchman Georges Braques in Paris, before World War I. It had strong roots in tribal art in Africa. Here geometrical forms and fragmentations are favored. Everything is reduced to cubes and other geometrical forms. Often, several aspects of one subject are shown simultaneously. Cubism paved the way for Abstract art."

My face lit up at the mention of the word "Abstract art". I said, "Can you throw some light on this form of art? My artist friend specializes in it."

"Yes, certainly," replied Lily and began, "There is another form of modern art known as Surrealism, which emphasizes the unconscious and the importance of dreams. Abstract art is defined as art that has no reference to any figurative reality and depicts real forms in a simplified or rather reduced way, keeping only an allusion of the original natural subject. Actually, it is not an invention of the twentieth century. In the Jewish and Islamic religion the depiction of human beings was not allowed. Consequently, the Islamic and Jewish cultures developed a high standard of decorative arts. The painting you were watching (Figure 1) belongs to this category and represents 'unity' and the one in that corner (Figure 2) represents 'sweet dreams'."

Figure:1 Figure: 2

I was totally flummoxed, as I could not find even a remote resemblance of these paintings to the stated interpretations. I decided not to tax my intellectual ability any further and made my exit from the place, after thanking Lily for her extraordinary efforts at educating me on modern art

On my way home, I met my buddy Vishy, who is an aspiring poet. I told him about my experience at the art gallery.

"You see, the beauty in abstract art is that you can interpret everything as anything and anything as everything," he remarked after patiently hearing me. Seeing the puzzled look on my face, he clarified, "A circle with a dot at the centre may represent the universe."

"But, we were taught at school that the universe has no boundaries and is continuously expanding," I protested. "How can a circle represent the universe?".

"It is your imagination! In abstract art you are not allowed to say what you see and see what you know. Another person may call it an 'asshole'. Both of you are right. The only difference is that the former will be treated as a connoisseur of modern art, whereas the latter will be looked upon as an ignorant dude," replied Vishy.

"Does it mean that you always have to eulogize a painter's interpretation, even if you do not understand it?" I was curious to know.

"Exactly! The fact that you have not understood it, means that it has a deep meaning which is beyond comprehension. After all, everything is 'Maya' (illusion). What you see, is not what actually exists," replied Vishy.

"You mean to say that that the painter sees through the illusion and interprets it," I asked.

"He also sees an illusion and interprets it accordingly. This is what we do in our free verse, modern poetry. We create an illusion, by juxtaposing an abstract thought between phrases and give a deep interpretation to it, through the unconventional use of metaphors. People applaud it because they don't understand what it actually means. Different people can give different interpretations and they all seem to fit. If I write an old fashioned rhyming verse which is easily understood, then it is not applauded because people think that the idea is too simple," replied Vishy.

The remaining part of our friendly chat is contained in Part II of this article. Please don't miss it! It dwells in the realm of poetry.

A peek into the exciting world of modern art and poetry - Part II

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