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© Durlabh Singh 2002, 18 x 24" oil on canvas
From the Artist: "Since Duchamp's 'urinal', visual art in the western world has suffered a shock and a decline. It has become more conceptual, excluding depiction of human form with all its spiritual and physical contents. My art is a sort of diversion from this dry, abstract and pseudo intellectual mannerism. Genuine art should involve labours of hand and brain and should be a mirror of reality of our times, depicting both biological and metaphysical aspects of our lives. My aim is to add new dimensions to contemporary art through language of colour, new forms and expressions."
You're invited to join the discussions on all the paintings in Critique Corner in the Painting Forum.
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From the Painting Guide: This painting is reminiscent of the instantaneity and brusque shapes of Matisse and Gauguin. What bothers me is the contradiction between the artist's statement and the painting; I don't see the aims expressed in the statement demonstrated in the painting. Where are the "new dimensions" and "new forms"? To me the painting is curiously "dry", lacking any "metaphysical aspect" and not making any emotional connection with the viewer. I think the neutral title exacerbates this.
Things to consider:
• Communicating with the viewer: Some artists are not interested in guiding the viewer's interpretation of their work, being happy to let people interpret a painting as they will. Others wish to guide the interpretation to ensure that their message is communicated with the viewer. This can be done through the title, artist's statement, and symbols in the painting. But to be truly successful, a painting should appeal to a viewer even if they don't understand the internal references (think of the allegories in religious masterpieces that most modern viewers don't get) or read the accompanying statement (in a crowded exhibition, it's often difficult to get to these). If the visual impact of the work doesn't attract the viewer from across the room, they're not going to investigate close enough to see all the symbolism, or read the title/statement.
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