Art & Authenticy

The American Folk Art Museum is full of cultural, familial, authentic art. It is about everyone telling their story, and it expressing it to others. The “Approaching Abstraction” Exhibit does just that.

It does not matter whether you have a lot of money, you live in the country or in the city, or you have the greatest tools for making art, it is your passion, persistence and individuality that creates the art. Despite the fact that artist in the rural areas in Africa were thought to not be creative, they were the most true pieces of work of the time. They were considered “Grandma” stories because of their free willing approach. i was surprised to learn that these folk artists received no formal training and were still able to create abstract and thought provoking pieces of art.

One of the pieces that struck me the most was a piece called “Private Codes and Languages” by John Murry. He was a pastor who spoke in tongues that only he could understand. He created five pieces of art that gradually became more and more true to him. I noticed that the first had little words and was very disorganized. I believe he still was not sure of what exactly he was saying. Then he added more intensity, and organization. In the center, he had much more words and changed to paint rather than ink. He used less color. In his last two pieces, he seems more defined in what he is saying and the story he wants to tell. The words are much more organized and there is only one color. Although I could not read it, I knew he finally knew what was written in his art piece. Next to the paintings was a glass bottle, half full of water. H used it to interpret what he was writing. He came to with himself and was able to become comfortable with expressing himself and his secret code was revealed.