Appreciating contemporary visual art

As a contemporary artist, I attend a lot of exhibitions. Luckily, I have recently discovered a way to look at art so that the more contemporary art I see, the more I enjoy it. Here's a bit of advice about getting the most out of contemporary art.

In the past, when viewing an exhibition or art show, my tendency was to do a quick once-over of the works. Then, if a work had immediate appeal, I'd go back for a closer look. I'd finally ending up (if I could be bothered) with the ones that I liked least, as a sort of booby prize. Very occasionally, my (negative) opinion of a work would be totally overturned after a second look, but mostly it wouldn’t.

Also, I have found that the more I know about the techniques or the media used in making the work, then the more critical I become. For example, because I have had such a long association with the art and craft of photography, first as a photographer, then later as photographic archivist, I find photographic works very difficult to look at without passing harsh judgements. I bring so much opinion with me into the gallery space, that my exhibition viewing is marred by experience (turned to cynicism).

The problem with this approach is that so much detail (and also the artist's message) gets missed. If the works in the show are 'quiet' (i.e. the very opposite of flashy, or attention grabbing), then the quick pass will yield little.

However, this approach had worked for me for many years, until now, because I had never been trained to look in any other way. Another, far better approach is one that I have had to learn recently.

I have had some excellent teachers who are also artists, and they have shown me another way! Their approach is to go as if they are already a fan of the artist. Being a fan of something or someone means that you are already pre-disposed to like what they produce.

Thankfully, using this approach, I now am able to look at contemporary art and appreciate the thinking behind it, and the work that has gone into it. I am also much more likely to laugh out loud in the gallery, when I finally get the joke (yes, there is a lot of humour in contemporary art, it's not all serious)!

For more of an understanding of fandom in contemporary art, check out:

James Kalm’s (poorly produced) video reviews of exhibitions in New York

And podcasts of interviews with artists in Seattle