Is First Street Figurative Gallery?
"An artist-run gallery, First Street's
dual mission is to exhibit and promote the work of talented artists and to
provide the public with an opportunity to see and learn about contemporary art
in a more accessible milieu than that offered by commercial galleries. The
gallery remains focused on the presentation of art in the figurative tradition
but embraces a wide diversity of styles, media, and interpretations of
'figuration'."
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| Hans Hofmann's painting 'The Gate', 1959–60 |
What is Figuration/Figurative Art?
I just got an opening announcement/invite for a “figurative
show” and it was a show specifically for work rendering the human form. It got me thinking. “Figurative” is a word often misused by
gallerists and artists alike. The idea
that this word means art that has to do with the human figure is prevalent but
while art deriving from the human form is certainly figurative, not all
figurative work involves the human form.
Wikipedia defines figuration the same way First Street Gallery does:
"Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism,
describes artwork—particularly
paintings and sculptures—that is clearly derived from real object sources, and
are therefore by definition representational. "Figurative art"
is often defined in contrast to abstract
art:
Since the arrival of abstract art the term figurative has been used to
refer to any form of modern art that retains strong references to the real
world.[1]
Painting and sculpture can therefore be divided into the categories of
figurative, representational and abstract, although, strictly speaking, abstract
art is derived (or abstracted) from a figurative or other natural source.
However, "abstract" is sometimes used as a synonym for
non-representational art and non-objective art, i.e. art which has no
derivation from figures or objects.
Figurative art is not synonymous with "art that represents the human
figure," although human and animal figures are frequent subjects."
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| Still Life by Ruth Miller |
I speak for myself but my understanding with regards to FSG is that we are a gallery partaking in the figurative tradition but not exclusively so. It is all about the quality of the work and the individual behind it. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Why? I am interested having this discussion and getting as much input as possible on the subject. I think that this is the best forum for this kind of discussion and I am hoping to get some opinions. What are your two cents?
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| View from Smith College by Stanley Lewis |
