ABSTRACT PAINTING EXPLAINED ‘Art for art’s sake’ is a phrase that we have heard, but what does it mean? Pure form, with or without color? It serves the purpose of allowing the artist to express what is in his heart, mind and soul without beautifying a space or connecting to other images and memories. Abstract art is beyond teaching a moral lesson; it simply exists. This is abstract painting explained. The result of the abstract painting may or may not be pretty and it may or may not reach the viewer by suggesting connections to other times and places. It will, however, stand alone as the artist’s vision and is complete in itself. Nothing can be added or take away or the piece will collapse in view of its integrity. It would then be less than perfect. Abstract art satisfies the artist and by extension, ourselves, on a visceral level. It may appear to be random strokes of acrylic paint on a canvas, but it is not. Each stroke adorns the painting in a progressively cohesive fashion, ending in the viewer’s statement of, “I like this piece!” And what do you do when you like something? You want it for yourself. You desire to hang the painting in your home, your office, your summer residence. You want it for others, and you give it as a gift for that special occasion to a significant other, friend or colleague. But if you’re unfamiliar with the terms of abstract art, you want to brush up on your knowledge of the subject. More than in any other artform, abstract art is about subjective, nonverbal expression, and from this definition it follows that abstract art is very personal. How do we define something so subject to individual interpretation? Perhaps the simplest way to start is by stating what it is not. Abstract art cannot be random; in other words, shapes and splatters that lack intention or mindlessly repeated patterns do not constitute art. Abstract art must convey intention in ways outside the conventional means of line and perspective. Painting like this is difficult, as any artist can tell you, but when he is successful in creating that perfect piece, a new language of color and form will have come into being. And likewise, as any artist can tell you, the viewer may sense this new language but not perfectly define it verbally. It takes practice to speak in the language of art! Abstract painting, as intuitive as it is, may be compared to self-expression in its purest form. The artist reaches inside himself and expresses his innermost qualities of perception, without a plan, without doing anything other than painting what we all have in common and what only he, at this particular moment in time, can depict. Some call it irrational, pure feeling, while others call it zen. The abstract term is like an abstract of a scientific paper: it is the science of art distilled into a simple paragraph, or in artistic terms, a painting.