Contrary to Greenberg’s proposition that abstraction in Western modern painting would end in formalism, the most enduring, and engaging, abstract art is not merely a visual game.
The renaissance in abstract art in recent years has coincided with the resurgence of the arts poétique – a paradigm that supports the sublime ideals of simplicity, harmony and beauty. While these notions may seem recessive, even passive, they can nevertheless deliver a powerful counter-statement in response to the seemingly ubiquitous binary oppositions of individual and system and the avant-garde and the mainstream. Disassociated from such habitual critical perspectives, as well as those nominal progressive concepts within the context of society, contemporary abstraction offers a fresh presence brimming with life and passion.
Artworks by these fourteen artists nourish the soul like a sublime symphony.
