1999 RC - FIB

Word Bank:
abstracted, abstraction, abstractions, aesthetically pleasing,
canvases, conveys, denounce, disoriented, distorted, duplicate,
engulfed, evoke, fanciful, gruesome, irrationally, journalistic,
scrabble, senseless, surrealistic, vividly.
Instructions: Write the correct word in the blanks. Use the Word Bank
for reference.

Have you ever come across a painting, by Picasso, Mondrian, Miro, or
any other modern abstract painter of this century, and found yourself
_________________ in a brightly-coloured canvas which your senses
cannot interpret? Many people would tend to _________________
_________________ism as _________________ trash. These people are
_________________ by Miro's bright, _________________ creatures and
two-dimensional _________________. They click their tongues and shake
their heads at Mondrian's grid works, declaring that the poor guy
played too many _________________ games. They silently shake their
heads in sympathy for Picasso, whose _________________,
_________________ figures must be a reflection of his mental health.
Then, standing in front of a work by Charlie Russell, the famous
western artist, they'll declare it a work of God. People feel more
comfortable with something they can relate to and understand
immediately without too much thought. This is the case with the work
of Charlie Russell. Being able to recognize the elements in his
paintings — trees, horses and cowboys — gives people a safety line to
their world of 'reality'. There are some who would disagree when I say
abstract art requires more creativity and artistic talent to produce a
good piece than does representational art, but there are many
weaknesses in their arguments. People who look down on abstract art
have several major arguments to support their beliefs. They feel that
artists turn abstract because they are not capable of the technical
drafting skills that appear in a Russell: therefore, such artists
create an art form that anyone is capable of and that is less time
consuming, and then parade it as artistic progress. Secondly, they
feel that the purpose of art is to create something of beauty in an
orderly, logical composition. Russell's compositions are balanced and
rational: everything sits calmly on the canvas, leaving the viewer
satisfied that he has seen all there is to see. The modern
_________________ists, on the other hand, seem to compose their pieces
_________________. For example, upon seeing Picasso's Guernica, a
friend of mine asked me, "What's the point?" Finally, many people feel
that art should portray the ideal and real. The exactness of detail in
Charlie Russell's work is an example of this. He has been called a
great historian because his pieces depict the lifestyle, dress, and
events of the times. His subject matter is derived from his own
experiences on the trial, and reproduced to the smallest detail. I
agree in part with many of these arguments, and at one time even
endorsed them. But now, I believe differently. Firstly, I object to
the argument that abstract artists are not capable of drafting. Many
abstract artists, such as Picasso, are excellent draftsmen. As his
work matured, Picasso became more abstract in order to increase the
expressive quality of his work. Guernica was meant as a protest
against the bombing of that city by the Germans. To express the terror
and suffering of the victims more _________________, he
_________________ the figures and presented them in a black and white
_________________ manner. If he had used representational images and
colour, much of the emotional content would have been lost and the
piece would not have caused the demand for justice that it did.
Secondly, I do not think that a piece must be logical and
_________________ to be art. The message it _________________ to its
viewers is more important. It should reflect the ideals and issues of
its time and be true to itself, not just a flowery, glossy surface.
For example, through his work, Mondrian was trying to present a system
of simplicity, logic, and rational order. As a result, his pieces did
end up looking like a _________________ board. Miro created powerful,
_________________ images from his dreams and subconscious. These
artists were trying to _________________ a response from society
through an expressionistic manner. Finally, abstract artists and
representational artists maintain different ideas about 'reality'. To
the representational artist, reality is what he sees with his eyes.
This is the reality he reproduces on canvas. To the abstract artist,
reality is what he feels about what his eyes see. This is the reality
he interprets on canvas. This can be illustrated by Mondrian's Trees
series. You can actually see the progression from the early
recognizable, though _________________ Trees, to his final solution,
the grid system. A cycle of abstract and representational art began
with the first scratchings of prehistoric man. From the
_________________s of ancient Egypt to representational, classical
Rome, returning to _________________ism in early Christian art and, so
on up to the present day, the cycle has been going on. But this day
and age may witness its death through the camera. With film, there is
no need to produce finely detailed, historical records manually; the
camera does this for us more efficiently. Maybe, representational art
would cease to exist. With _________________ism as the victor of the
first battle, maybe, a different kind of cycle will be touched off.
Possibly, some time in the distant future, thousands of years from
now, art itself will be physically non- existent. Some artists today
believe that once they have planned and constructed a piece in their
mind, there is no sense in finishing it with their hands; it has
already been done and can never be _________________d.