Art: Admiration to Immersion
I know very little about art, but I am a curious observer of what happens around me so pardon my inaccuracies about art history and flow with the musings of my brain.
In this ever-spinning globe of ours, art's been riding shotgun, morphing, and roaring through centuries. Let’s hitch a ride through this kaleidoscope, not for the glory of its past but to get a glimpse of where it is headed. These are my musings on how art has been evolving over the last 500 years and where its waltzing towards.
1500-1700: Art for the Nobles
In the age of da Vinci’s dreams and Michelangelo’s muscled statues, art was the crown jewel of kings and queens. During the Renaissance period, great art was often commissioned by kings and nobles. These magnificent pieces of art primarily served to promote the grandeur of monarchs, their religious beliefs, or their opulent lifestyles. Art was a tool of power, a symbol of status, and a reflection of the elite's aspirations.
1700-1900: Art for the people
As societal structures evolved and moved away from monarchic control, so did art. This era witnessed a pivot towards the ordinary and the everyday. Art shook off its royal robes and danced in the streets, amongst us all. It found beauty in the everyday – a milkmaid’s smile to the play of light on a Parisian café. From Jacques-Louis David’s capturing the french revolution in late 1700s to Courbet drawing the stone laborers - art exalted the everyday. This is also the era when ideas of democracy are being adopted by the modern world and the advent of museums brought democracy to the art - making it available to everyone.
1900-2000: Abstract Beats and the Modern Pulse
This period sought to elevate the art from the mundane to the realms of our imagination, often made to provoke a strong emotion. For surrealism and cubism to the pop art and minimalism in the second half of the century, art got jazzed up and took a walk down its wild side. The art moved from what we saw, and went into the realms of what we felt. It is like Picasso, Warhol, Dali, Lichtenstein had discovered a new tune that spoke to our souls. Art also moved from paintings into everyday objects and daily fashion - it was everywhere.
2000-2100: Art as Immersion
As we step into the the 21st century, art is no longer something we gaze at, it is a world we step into, a rhythm that pulses around you. This is happening all around us, spaces like Meow Wolf (Santa Fe, Vegas, Denver), Wonderspaces (Austin and San Diego), TeamLabs (Tokyo and Paris), Superbleu (Miami), Factory of Arts (Portugal), L'Arca dei Colori (Milan), ARTECHOUSE (New York, Miami), Atelier des Lumières (Paris) and the list goes on. Most of these have opened in the last 10 years and the new art is playful, alive and wraps us in its cosmic hug. It invites us to immerse ourselves within it, to traverse the world within the artist's mind. This immersive art is not displayed in traditional museums but in new spaces that transport us into the heart of the artwork.
In this odyssey, two truths shine eternal:
Art is an ever-shifting mirage, a reflection of our collective consciousness
Art has always found its benefactors - from the nobles and kings, to industrialists of modern era.
I think there is an opportunity for digital tycoons of today to don the mantle of Medici, Rockefellers and Carnegies of the world to usher in the world of immersion and provide the capital to steep the coming generations in this new art form.
After all, art is the jazz that plays in the soul's back alleys.
