Robert Irwin "Disc Painting" essay

Introduction

Contemporary art is characterized by simplicity and unusual painting. The beginning of the 20^th century marked the revolution in everything: in outlook, vision and perception of the world and of our course this revolution can be noticed in art. One of the brightest and the most famous artist is Robert Irwin.  Robert Irwin creates paintings and installations that can not leave anybody indifferent to them even if the attitudes are negative. The real art should have its lovers and opponents.

Robert Irwin is a contemporary American artist. During his career his perception of himself and his perception of an art was constantly changing under influence of life circumstances.  Robert Irwin and his painting have deserved the international reputation. The paintings of Robert Irwin are characterized by the circular shape and he does not pay attention to rectilinear format.     Robert Irwin always depicts the extensive landscape environment (Browning, 2012).

His indoor and outdoor works attract and magnetize at the same time. His works are the real masterpieces as one can understand them with the help of organs of perception. In order to understand these works it is too little to only to see, one should see, hear, understand, and feel at the same time. The characteristic features of the works of Robert Irwin are the following: simplicity (“Untitled (acrylic lacquer)”), geometric abstraction (“Who's afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?”), minimalism (“All That Jazz”), conceptualization (“Garcon”), imaginary (“Orange, Black Painting with Blue Edge, and Burgundy”) and pure geometry and neutral forms (“Crazy Otto”).

 

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“Disc Painting”

The artwork of Robert Irwin “Disc Painting” is taken from Norton Simon Museum. This artwork depicts the discs

The painting “Disc Painting” belongs to the theme of perception. It depicts convex aluminum, circular discs. The lines of the picture are distinct. The colours prevailing here are white and grey. The discs are in the foreground. The painter arranges them in a pyramid format. This painting concerns the perception and the perception provokes ambiguities. The viewer can not be sure in 100 percent what he is seeing that is why the act of perception has become the subject of this painting.

There is the direct relation between human beings and perception of this painting. The discs in this painting are prototypes of perception and the state consciousness. It is fusion of human's entity and his/her inner world. Robert Irwin states that looking at this painting first of all we see but soon we begin to hear the sounds. The combination of our imaginary sounds and perception of seen creates the mysterious atmosphere.

To my mind Robert Irwin wanted to show his admiring of perception of the world by a human. The discs reflect light here and this light gives hope. Looking at this picture thoughtfully and earnestly one can you began to imagine yourself far from reality and completely trust your organs of perception. At first sight it is the ordinary picture depicting discs. However the painting “Disc Painting” is symbolic, very ambiguous and one can give many interpretations for it. Four identical discs at this painting tend to be incandescent lamps of equal intensity (2008).

In conclusion, one should mention that “Disc Painting” is one of the brightest works of Robert Irwin. The discs in this painting are prototypes of perception and the state consciousness. It is fusion of human's entity and his/her inner world. Robert Irwin states that looking at this painting first of all we see but soon we begin to hear the sounds. The combination of our imaginary sounds and perception of seen creates the mysterious atmosphere.

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The painting “Disc Painting” is a real masterpiece that combines traditional and untraditional components of art. The combination of these components will help to discover the nature of art. The characteristic features of the artwork of Robert Irwin are the following:

1)     simplicity;
2)     geometric abstraction;
3)     minimalism;
4)     conceptualization;
5)     imaginary;
6)     pure geometry and neutral forms.

The painting “Disc Painting” has the conceptual meaning and one should pay attention to this meaning rather than what is depicted on the painting. The painting has a double nature. It means that the first side of the painting is what one sees at the picture and the second side is what the picture hides indeed. Abstract expressionism of this painting impresses, astonishes, inspires and even confuses. This painting is on the boundaries between imagery and physicality.

“Disc Painting” is the combinations of cubism, minimalism and expressionism. However, in spite this it looks organic and natural as Robert Irwin ruins the frontiers between imagine and real worlds. This is the artist that tries to turn reality into abstraction and abstraction into reality. Art has experiential nature and should be based on economy of formal means (space, compositions, colours, etc.), that is why this artwork is simple and abstract. However this painting should be regarded from the philosophic and metaphysical sides.

The artwork of Robert Irwin is full of mysticism and is based on sensory perception. One can notice there the contrast of light and dark on the depicted discs. They are symbolic and have ambiguous meanings. Light and dark are the most powerful subjects of the paintings. However in Robert Irwin light and dark are of expressionistic style that is why they are unusual.  His attempt to dematerialize the works of art differs him from other contemporary artists. 

The combination of discs changes your vision and perception. You begin to imagine as you walk through the space. The crystal look of discs create atmosphere of space. If you walk closer or further the painting is getting larger or smaller. Looking at the painting at an angle or forwardly one percepts the painting differently. Robert Irwin shows the difference between what we see and what we experience. The discs are like mirror and one can see the reflection.

This painting changes the vision on art showing it as perception.  The accent is done on the differences between reality and perception. One can see reality in two dimensions. One dimension is what we see and the other one is what we understand and know about what we see.

“Disc Painting «makes all organs of perception to work. However even all organs of perception can not help to understand this painting without ambiguities. The viewer can not be sure in 100 percent what he is seeing that is why the act of perception has become the subject of this painting.

There is the direct relation between human beings and perception of this painting. The discs in this painting are prototypes of perception and the state of consciousness. It is fusion of human's entity and his/her inner world. Robert Irwin states that looking at this painting first of all we see but soon we begin to hear the sounds. The combination of our imaginary sounds and perception of seen creates the mysterious atmosphere.

To my mind Robert Irwin wanted to show his admiring of perception of the world by a human. The discs reflect light here and this light gives hope. Looking at this picture thoughtfully and earnestly you can imagine yourself far from reality and completely trust your organs of perception. At first sight it is the ordinary picture depicting discs. However the painting is symbolic, very ambiguous and one can give many interpretations for it (2008).       

Conclusions

In conclusion, it is necessary to say that Robert Irwin is an unusual artist. His painting “Disc Painting” belongs to the theme of perception. It depicts convex aluminum, circular discs. The lines of the picture are distinct. The colours prevailing here are white and grey. The discs are in the foreground. The painter arranges them in a pyramid format. This painting concerns the perception and the perception provokes ambiguities. The viewer can not be sure in 100 percent what he is seeing that is why the act of perception has become the subject of this painting.

Disc Painting” is one of the brightest works of Robert Irwin. The discs in this painting are prototypes of perception and the state consciousness. It is fusion of human's entity and his/her inner world. Robert Irwin states that looking at this painting first of all we see but soon we begin to hear the sounds. The combination of our imaginary sounds and perception of seen creates the mysterious atmosphere. The characteristic features of the artwork of Robert Irwin are simplicity, geometric abstraction, minimalism, conceptualization, imaginary, pure geometry and neutral forms.

This painting changes the vision on art showing it as perception.  The accent is done on the differences between reality and perception. One can see reality in two dimensions. One dimension is what we see and the other one is what we understand and know about what we see.

“Disc Painting «makes all organs of perception to work. However even all organs of perception can not help to understand this painting without ambiguities. The viewer can not be sure in 100 percent what he is seeing that is why the act of perception has become the subject of this painting.