Previously we looked at Realism and Expressionism as two very different perspectives in the creation of art. The difference between the two is that Realism tries to account for the real world how we see it day to day and Expressionism takes the day to day one step further by injecting emotion and feeling into the work. Next, come Formalism and Post-Modernism. Post-Modernism can be described as a rebellious movement rejecting the ideas of Modernism through movements like Installation Art, Conceptual Art and Multimedia. While, Formalism is the type of art that is not concerned with being pretty or realistic but simply forms themselves and their relationships each other. Artist’s like Modrian and Shapiro are formalist artist because they are concerned with showing art in its most basic form.
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- Formalist Sculptor Joel Shapiro
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- Formalist Painter Piet Mondrian
While Formalism tends to be more on the Expressionist end of the spectrum rather than on the Realism end it still has many differences. Unlike Realism or Expressionism the art theory, Formalism, encourages artists to deliberately remove the subject matter from their art. Instead of trying to mimic the real world, Formalists are more interested in stripping its subjects down to their components and bringing them back to the basics. They do not try to put the subject manner in context or even try to have it make sense to the viewer, but instead let the forms speak for themselves.
Until you understand the theory behind the Formalists their art may just seem like shapes on a canvas. However, once you begin to understand the theory you can begin to see the perspective that Formalist Artists bring to the creation of their artwork.