Dive In to A Treasure Trove of Art Genres!
This article is part of a series devoted to fine art terms. As a professional artist, whether you are creating, writing or discussing your art or art movements and art history, it can be exciting when you dive into and expand your art vocabulary. There are thousands of terms that describe artistic styles and movements. To inspire you, here is a basic article that introduces the G, H, I of Fine Art terms.
Perhaps you will identify with one or more of these terms and consider adding something about them the next time you give a talk, workshop, and/or revise your Artist’s Statement.
As an avid art writer, I continuously refer to artistic terms and love to discover artists who are embracing them in new directions.
G
Geometric Abstraction
The pictorial language of Geometric Abstraction, based on the use of simple geometric forms placed in nonillusionistic space and combined into nonobjective compositions, evolved as the logical conclusion of the Cubist destruction and reformulation of the established conventions of form and space. Geometric Abstraction focused on the inherent two-dimensional features of painting.
The freedom of experimentation with different materials and spatial relationships between various compositional parts also emphasized the flatness of the picture surface — as the carrier of applied elements —as well as the physical “reality” of the explored forms and materials.
When we think about Geometric Abstraction an artist whose paintings may immediately spring to mind is Wassily Kandinsky. He is considered one of the forerunners of pure non-objective painting and was among the first modern artists to explore this geometric approach in his abstract work.
Gestural Art
Gestural Art is known as the application of paint in freeform, stroking gestures. Gestural Abstraction is a style in which the artist uses a spontaneous method to dribble, splash or smear the paint onto the canvas and does this using a method known as “Automatism”.
In creating Gestural Art the artist physically projects their inner impulses. Their emotional and mental states are immediately apparent to the viewer. The resulting works of art emphasize the physical act of painting itself. De Kooning wrote: “I paint this way because I can keep putting more and more things into it – drama, anger, pain, love – through your eyes it again becomes an emotion or an idea.”
Leading artists who are identified with “Gestural Art” include Jackson Pollock, whose “Action Painting” style is also called “Gestural Abstraction”. Other artists include Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Hans Hofmann.
Gouache
Gouache is also known as opaque watercolor. It is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque.
Gouache has a long history, having been used for at least twelve centuries. It is used most consistently by commercial artists for posters, illustrations, comics, and other design work. It is similar to watercolor in that it can be rewetted and dried to a matte finish, and the paint can become infused into its paper support. It is similar to acrylic or oil paints in that it is normally used in an opaque painting style and it can form a superficial layer. Many manufacturers of watercolor paints also produce gouache, and the two can easily be used together.
Gouache generally dries to a value that differs from the one it has when wet (lighter tones generally dry darker and darker tones tend to dry lighter), which can make it difficult to match colors over multiple painting sessions. Its quick coverage and total hiding power mean that gouache lends itself to more direct painting techniques than watercolor. “En plein air” paintings take advantage of this, as do the works of J. M. W. Turner.
H
Hard-Edge Painting
Hard-edge painting (also referred to as hard edge or hard-edged) is painting in which abrupt transitions are found between color areas. Color areas often consist of one unvarying color. The style is related to geometric abstraction, op art, post-painterly abstraction, and color field.
Some of the leading artists known for creating hard-edge paintings include Frank Stella.
The term “hard-edge painting” was coined in 1959 by writer, curator, and Los Angeles Times art critic Jules Langsner, along with Peter Selz, to describe the work of several painters from California who adopted a knowingly impersonal paint application and delineated areas of color with particular sharpness and clarity.
Hard-edge geometric abstraction recalls the earlier work of Wassily Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich, and Piet Mondrian, whose painting is shown above.
Hyperrealism
Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high-resolution photograph. The term is primarily applied to an independent art movement and art style in the United States and Europe that has developed since the early 1970s
Hudson River School.
Early 21st century hyperrealism was founded on the aesthetic principles of photorealism; however, this genre is considered an advancement of photorealism by the methods used.
Hyperrealist painters use photographic images as a reference source from which to create a more definitive and detailed rendering, one that often, unlike photorealism, is narrative and emotive in its depictions. The first generation of American Photorealists includes the painters Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Charles Bell, and Audrey Flack.
The hyperrealist style focuses much more of its emphasis on details and the subjects. Hyperreal paintings and sculptures are not strict interpretations of photographs, nor are they literal illustrations of a particular scene or subject. Instead, they use additional, often subtle, pictorial elements to create the illusion of a reality which in fact either does not exist or cannot be seen by the human eye.
I
Impressionism
Installation Art
Installation art came to prominence in the 1970s but its roots can be identified in earlier artists such as Marcel Duchamp and his use of the readymade and Kurt Schwitters’ “Merz art objects”. Installation art is described as three-dimensional works that are often site-specific. They often transform the space they occupy. Although the genre is applied to art placed in interior spaces, many artists create installation “public art” or “land art”. The definitions of these terms often overlap.
Indigenism
There are several meanings relating to the word Indigenism, but in the context of visual art the term refers to a movement that originated in Latin America during the 1920s which saw artists fighting against the dominance of European art in favor of making art about their own culture which embraced pre-Columbian art.
Art associated with Indigenism is nearly always figurative, with subjects that focus on the country’s cultural heritage and traditions, as well as their spiritual beliefs.
In Mexico during the Revolution the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo embraced Indigenism. They were committed to promoting Mexican culture and their murals depicted their country’s history and its people.
Intuitive Artists
Artists who describe themselves as “Intuitive” share these traits.
* They choose to create abstract art rather than focus on depicting realism.
* They trust the creative process, guided by their subconscious and their emotions
* They avoid logical desisions and analyzing their artwork as they create it.
* They allow their creations to flow and flourish spontaneously
* They permit themselves to change directions during the creative process without self-criticism or fear of the unknown.
* Their inner voice leads the way and they enjoy discovering, exploring, inventing, and experiementing.
* Words like “channeling”, “spirit-guided” and “automatism” are associated with these artists.
A few of the famous “Intuitive” artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, Helen Frankenthaler, and Jackson Pollock.
This article is part of a series. You may also want to read:
“The A, B, C of Fine Art Terms”
“The D, E, F of Fine Art Terms”
Leave a Reply