A Second Look at Art

The following quote describes that the more you look at something like a painting the more you begin to see with in it.

“One of the principal ways we can change our relationship to difficult art is by repetition. An unpleasant piece of music may, the sixth or seventh time we listen, reveal new beauty. If we study one of Josef Albers's seemingly simple paintings of different colored squares, the colors start to shift. Of course, difficulty doesn't always give way to revelation - sometimes what follows is, alas, frustration. But when it does, we get that additional sense of satisfaction: The arduous ascent has been rewarded with a panoramic view.”

One painting I found this quote to be true is:


Title: Map of What Is Effortless
Artist: Francesco Clemente
Nationality: Italian
Year: 1978
Movement: Contemporary Art

When I first saw this picture it is very simplistic. As you can see the art has very clean lines and basic colors. It doesn’t seem that engaging at first look and wouldn’t be something that I would personally stop and examine in an art gallery. While it a fine painting it doesn’t have any real elements that would cause me to stop and look at its detail because simply by looking at it you can see what is depicted.

But the real part that I find intriguing about this painting is something you would have to stop for and that is its tittle. The title of this painting is the “Map of What Is Effortless”. The more I looked at the painting and its title the more I want to figure out the true message of the artist.

The first interpretation I thought of was the creation story found in the bible. The one which involves the seven days of creation where animals and plants seemed to come into existence through the will or the “hand” of God. This painting shows the effortless nature in which animals came into existence.

The second interpretation I thought of was human’s control of nature especially involving wild animals. All the animals painted are those that can be found in a zoo. So this painting shows how animals can be easily controlled. One can go as far to say that animal’s lives are in the hands of humans. That human’s can cause a species to go extinct.

Even while writing this I begin to think of different ways to look at the painting. Which supports the idea of the quote.