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The New Aesthetics is an art movement that emphasizes the material and physical processes involved in the creation of visual art. This movement is distinct and unrelated to "The New Aesthetic" concept coined by James Bridle.
The origin of the New Aesthetics can be traced back to an art summer school held in Irsee, southern Germany, in 2007. During this summer school, English artist Clive Head and Anglo-Cypriot writer and art theorist Michael Paraskos. conducted a joint class. Head and Paraskos had previously taught together at the University of Hull but had pursued their own paths after leaving academic teaching in 2000. The reunion in Irsee led to the publication of a small pamphlet called "The Aphorisms of Irsee." [1] This pamphlet presented a series of seventy-five aphoristic sayings on the nature of art.
While some of the sayings in the pamphlet were intentionally humorous, such as "Beware the Swiss bearing sausages," the majority of them conveyed what the authors considered to be the essential elements of artistic practice. Some sayings were deliberately provocative, such as aphorism 38: "Performance is not art: it moves too much and so adds to the flux. Art is always a longed for stasis." This saying can be juxtaposed with aphorism 37: "True art fixes the flux of chaos. That is how we cope with chaos, and that is the purpose of art."
Other aphorisms provided insights into the content of the class taught at Irsee. Aphorism 47 stated: "One should choose whether to make tables or bake cakes, and not be a carpenter of cakes or a baker of tables." This aphorism seems to connect to a fable-like story published by Paraskos in 2008, where a carpenter believes he is a baker because he can make tables. Paraskos mentioned that he wrote this story in 2007, just before the summer school in Irsee, while he was teaching at another art summer school at the Cyprus College of Art. In the introduction to the story, he mentioned that he "performed" it while in Irsee. [2] "The Aphorisms of Irsee" is subtitled "Part One of the New Aesthetics," which appears to be the first use of the term.
Although some of the ideas associated with the New Aesthetics can be observed in the earlier works of artists like Clive Head, among others, the concept itself gained significant traction with the publication of Michael Paraskos's booklet "The Table Top Schools of Art" in 2008. [3] Subtitled "Part Two of the New Aesthetics," the booklet presented a clear opposition to Conceptualism in art and advocated for the development of a "new aesthetics" centered around the physical engagement of artists with the material world.
Paraskos argued that the essential components of this new aesthetics are the artist's active interaction with materials, the artist's material response to that engagement, and the viewer's subsequent engagement with the materiality of the artwork. He expressed criticism towards centuries of what he viewed as misguided discourse on art by philosophers, literary critics, and others who lacked an understanding of the significance of physicality in art or who held a disdain for it. Paraskos asserted that these perspectives, often stemming from non-material philosophical or critical traditions, should be replaced by a philosophy of art grounded in the practical experience of creating art, which he believed would better serve the needs of artists. [4]
This standpoint inherently rejects Conceptualism, as conceptualists not only adhere to a non-material philosophical tradition but also prioritize immaterial ideas over the material object. Paraskos's emphasis on the materiality and physicality of art challenges this hierarchy and proposes a shift towards a more artist-centered approach.
The third publication addressing the New Aesthetics was Michael Paraskos's collection of journalistic writings on art titled "Is Your Artwork Really Necessary?" [5] This compilation, subtitled "Part Three of the New Aesthetics," explores various contemporary and historical artworks as well as touches on political issues. Consequently, its definitive connection to the New Aesthetics becomes less straightforward. However, throughout the introduction and several articles, there is a reaffirmation of the significance of material engagement in art. [6]
One notable instance is found in the article on Clive Head, where Paraskos argues that photography poses challenges as an art form due to its immaterial nature and the intermediary role of the camera, which prevents direct physical engagement with reality. [7] A similar emphasis on materiality is evident in the articles on Hughie O'Donoghue [8] and Van Dyck,[ citation needed ] where the critical analysis centers firmly on the physical qualities of the paintings rather than their narrative or conceptual meanings. Notably, the introduction of the book maintains the assertive stance against immaterial art forms such as Conceptualism, which was previously expressed in "The Table Top Schools of Art." Paraskos even goes so far as to call for an "artistic revolution." [9]
The book's provocative stance and continued emphasis on materiality contribute to its overall impact and distinctiveness within the context of the New Aesthetics discourse.
Although not explicitly identified as part of the New Aesthetics movement, both Clive Head's paintings and writings embody its underlying philosophy. In particular, Head's introduction to John Russell Taylor's book "Exactitude" highlights the importance for realist painters to move beyond relying solely on the camera and instead engage directly with the physical world around them. [10] Head extends this viewpoint to encompass non-realist painters as well, reflecting Paraskos's inclusive approach within the New Aesthetic framework. For both Paraskos and Head, this direct engagement with the physical world is seen as the only legitimate way for art to be relevant in the contemporary context. They use the term 'actuality' to describe this concept, emphasizing the importance of physically doing something in the present moment as a means of engaging with the here and now. This stands in contrast to the mere representation of past philosophical or critical concepts, or the replication of past imagery, such as in photography.[ citation needed ]
Alan Pocaro's formal involvement in the New Aesthetics movement began in 2010 through correspondence with Paraskos. Their collaboration was further solidified through a joint teaching session held via internet video link in early 2011, where Paraskos and Pocaro instructed students at Miami University. [11] Alongside his teaching position at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Pocaro had already been writing articles for the Cincinnati-based art magazine AEQAI, in which he developed a parallel philosophy of art similar to the one proposed by Paraskos and Head. This is evident in several of his writings for AEQAI, including his assertion that the discourse of art is not an unrestricted realm where anything goes, but rather, as Paraskos suggests in his book "Regeneration," [12] an activity with specific parameters. [13]
Robert Neffson is an American painter who has engaged in a longstanding correspondence with Clive Head regarding the role of realism in contemporary art. Their letters cover various topics, with a particular focus on the creative process and the emerging concepts of the New Aesthetic. A selection of these exchanges was published in "Clive Head and Robert Neffson" (London: Marlborough Fine Art, 2007). Neffson has also discussed ideas related to the New Aesthetic with Michael Paraskos. Neffson's artwork reflects many of these principles, notably his personal involvement with the depicted spaces and his expressive perspective. His paintings capture reality while also extrapolating elements to evoke specific emotional responses from viewers.
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art. It examines aesthetic values, often expressed through judgments of taste.
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called installations, may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions. This method was fundamental to American artist Sol LeWitt's definition of conceptual art, one of the first to appear in print:
In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.
Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be used broadly to describe artworks in many different media, it is also used to refer specifically to a group of paintings and painters of the American art movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Cyprus College of Art (CyCA) is an artists' studio group, located in the village of Lempa on the west coast of Cyprus. It was founded in 1969 by the artist Stass Paraskos; the current director is the Cyprus-based artist Margaret Paraskos.
Stass Paraskos was an artist from Cyprus, although much of his life was spent teaching and working in England.
In art history, formalism is the study of art by analyzing and comparing form and style. Its discussion also includes the way objects are made and their purely visual or material aspects. In painting, formalism emphasizes compositional elements such as color, line, shape, texture, and other perceptual aspects rather than content, meaning, or the historical and social context. At its extreme, formalism in art history posits that everything necessary to comprehending a work of art is contained within the work of art. The context of the work, including the reason for its creation, the historical background, and the life of the artist, that is, its conceptual aspect is considered to be external to the artistic medium itself, and therefore of secondary importance.
Anarchism has long had an association with the arts, particularly with visual art, music and literature. This can be dated back to the start of anarchism as a named political concept, and the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon on the French realist painter Gustave Courbet. In an essay on Courbet of 1857 Proudhon had set out a principle for art, which he saw in the work of Courbet, that it should show the real lives of the working classes and the injustices working people face at the hands of the bourgeoisie.
A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature and music, these terms apply principally to tangible, physical forms of visual art:
The Leeds Arts Club was founded in 1903 by the Leeds primary school teacher Alfred Orage and Holbrook Jackson, a lace merchant and freelance journalist, and was one of the most advanced centres for modernist thinking, radical thought and experimental art in Britain in the pre-First World War period.
Art historians and philosophers of art have long had classificatory disputes about art regarding whether a particular cultural form or piece of work should be classified as art. Disputes about what does and does not count as art continue to occur today.
Irsee is a village and municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany.
Michael Paraskos, FHEA, FRSA is a novelist, lecturer and writer on art. He has written several non-fiction and fiction books and essays, and articles on art, literature, culture and politics for various publications, including Art Review, The Epoch Times, The Guardian newspaper and The Spectator magazine. In the past he has reviewed art exhibitions for BBC radio, curated exhibitions, and taught in universities and colleges in Britain and elsewhere. He has a particular focus on modern art, having published books on the art theorist Herbert Read, and he is also known for his theories connecting anarchism and modern art. He lives in West Norwood in south London.
Clive Head is a painter from Britain.
The Prague Project was an art project involving the photorealist painters Anthony Brunelli, Clive Head, Bertrand Meniel and Raphaella Spence, and the writer Michael Paraskos, held in Prague in 2003. It culminated in an exhibition at the Roberson Museum and Science Center, Binghamton, New York in 2004-2005, and an accompanying catalogue.
A theory of art is intended to contrast with a definition of art. Traditionally, definitions are composed of necessary and sufficient conditions and a single counterexample overthrows such a definition. Theorizing about art, on the other hand, is analogous to a theory of a natural phenomenon like gravity. In fact, the intent behind a theory of art is to treat art as a natural phenomenon that should be investigated like any other. The question of whether one can speak of a theory of art without employing a concept of art is also discussed below.
Post-conceptual, postconceptual, post-conceptualism or postconceptualism is an art theory that builds upon the legacy of conceptual art in contemporary art, where the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work takes some precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. The term first came into art school parlance through the influence of John Baldessari at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s. The writer Eldritch Priest, specifically ties John Baldessari's piece Throwing four balls in the air to get a square from 1973 as an early example of post-conceptual art. It is now often connected to generative art and digital art production.
Jennifer Durrant is a British artist.
Mali Morris is a British artist. She was born in north Wales, and studied at Newcastle University and the University of Reading.
Ontopoetics is a philosophical concept that involves the communicative engagement of self with the world and the world with the self. It is also described as a "poetic order" that unfolds alongside the "causal order" in the process of the communicative engagement with reality and participating in it. It includes the perception of cues or signals, or the expression of actors, as well as "the construction of impressions on re-actors by the deliberate choice of attractive signifiers that communicate factual or illusory realities".
