Modern Art

I was born an art luver, even if I am not a great artist myself, but I firmly believe that it runs in my family's blood. My grandfather on my mother's side is a well known Chinese calligrapher and painter. When he passed away, he left us not wealth in gold, but scrolls and scrolls of paintings and art works, plus a wealth of knowledge and appreciation for Chinese traditional art.

When I was little, my grandfather used to teach me and my older cousins each a type of traditional painting techniques. Namely, there are 4 major painted themes in Chinese traditional still life: pine, bamboo, orchid, and plum(translation?) (see reference). I was the lucky one to inherit the Bamboo painting skills, and that's actually one of my favourite plants! I always dreamed of one day having a backyard full of bamboo shoots and it will provide a very quiet/peaceful and very Eastern traditional feeling. Unfortunately, since I came to the States when I was young, I didn't get to spend too much time studying this ancient form of art and am now much out of practice holding a brush. Sigh...

Anyway, so I guess I am a bit of a museum snob when it comes to art works since I have been to many large museums in both Eastern and Western worlds. Today I just wanted to talk about my path to accepting Modern Art.

I never really had a taste for Modern Art, that is, it all begin after graduation. I have been to some world famous modern art museums, namely the SF MOMA, MOMA, Guggenheim, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Tate Modern in London, MUMOK in Vienna, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and various modern art museums in Berlin and Munich. But every time I was there, I went because I was playing the role of a tourist, and I had to visit those museums because the guidebook listed them as highlights. Until a few years ago, I absolutely despise modern art and called it kindergarten kids doodle.

My appreciation for western art basically ends with the Impressionist era. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas are some artists whom I liked. Even to this day, I still do not understand or appreciate modern artists such as Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse, Pollack, Warhol, etc. I think I skipped the whole modern art and post-modern art period to begin appreciation for photography instead.

This all changed when I visited the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. I started to understand and see what they call the passionate brush strokes of the artist, how it seemed crude and unrefined at first glance, compared to the painstakingly neat Chinese painting, yet one can really "feel" the strength and deliberation felt by the artist when each layer was applied. Even today, I still don't like some paintings by Van Gogh, but a few pieces of his works has risen to my top favourite list, such as The Starry Night, Cafe Terrace at Night.

My favourite modern art museum is the Tate Modern. Even before I learned to appreciate modern art, I recall walking into the huge warehouse space in the fall of 2003 and immediately captivated by a huge neon orange display that resembled the sun on the 100+ meters tall wall. Forget about the theme, forget about the color, forget about the object, the sensation it created is mesmerizing, and stunned the viewer, urging them to feel for the art work. Just the empty space and high ceiling captivated me, and I, like 200+ other ppl in that lobby, was mesmerized in the display created by the artist.

That, I think is the essence of modern art. Where traditional paintings strive to be realistic to the fullest, modern art deviates in that it's an abstraction. It asks the individual viewer to *feel* for the mood, and it's alright if the take away are all different each time. Traditional paintings are art imitating life, in a WYSIWYG sense. However, certain pieces of modern art contains life itself! Modern art is not just pretty pictures for the eye, it's media used to express the artists' feelings, and it's meant to shock you to the core. It's to be felt and appreciated with one's soul.

Ever since then, I started recognizing and appreciating works of other modern artists, especially Salvadore Dali, Escher (what a puzzler!), and many thanks to the friend who introduced me to Kandinsky (see the picture to the right)! Some of my favourite Modern Art museums are Tate Modern, MOMA, Van Gogh museum. I also learned to try to keep an open mind, not too quick to judge and reject based on the surface value or based on the overall general stereotype. One never knows when one's going to find a diamond in the rough!

Of course, now that I am sitting comfortably in CA, I can admire all types of art works at the wonderful cyber WebMuseum.