One of the most recent Art Shows, Galleries, Viewings, Exhibitions, etc was a contemporary arts exhibition in Rockport, Texas at the Rockport Center for the Arts. My mom and I had gone to Rockport, as it was a usual thing for us to visit every now and then. We used to go to the Maritime Museum which didn't really feature artwork, but rather focused on actual historic artifacts (Boring). One of the main Exhibitions in the Center for the Arts was an artist... duh. Who's name I can't recall, but his work was centered around beach life. Hence the fact that Rockport is right next to the Gulf of Mexico. This Unknown Artist used oil pastels to complete his scenery, which tended to be really simple and kind of straightforward in its presentation. My mother and I didn't really care for his work because it just seemed to be a mix of realism tied in with minimalism, but the style he used for his pieces was really satisfactory.
In the very back of the petite Art Center was a room full of different artists' representations of birds. I was totally engrossed in this section because this was where variety was at its finest. Every artist took advantage of the intricate colors and designs of each bird species and practically created their own spectrum on each animal. I spent almost half of my time in that place because I kept pinpointing the details used in each piece. Some artists focused only on the birds and they'd leave out everything else; making the scenery just a monochromatic texture or a simple wall. While other birds were "hidden" or placed in an environment where they stood out, but weren't completely in your face. The section I liked the least, was actually the multimedia section. To me, multimedia in the 2D/3D aspect is like hardcore scrapbooking. It just doesn't really appease to me that well, and I tend to lose interest in it fast. One of the pieces featured was titled "Trash Angel" Not that the title gives it away or anything, but the sculpture was made out of different pieces of trash. It just didn't strike me as anything innovative or engrossing. I understand that it's a difficult art form, but just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's great. I can see the idea being very intriguing and pleasing to the eye, but to me, the final product looked really... unappetizing for my visual stomach.
What I did admire about the majority of the artworks shown there, was how much variety was in their styles. Even though they all kind of kept the same medium, such as paint, I really enjoyed seeing their spontaneity in ideas and methods of execution. I've really wanted to get into painting ever since... Senior year because it's I feel like it's a necessity for artists, and it's a struggle I continue to encounter. Most of the artists at that gallery used paint in such simple ways, whereas I feel that paint should bring complexity to an image. Most of my ideas, if not all, are extremely complicated and entangled in a webbing of "how should I make everything fit on one paper?" Seeing those artists, even the anonymous featured one, helped with my sense of "Less is more". I have never been able to fully grasp that saying as I always feel like there's so many things you can do with an image, but I always have trouble with just moving on. I did enjoy visiting this Center for the Arts and I would like to go to more viewings; I'm just not used to going to art shows, places, or things like this.
