Like wearing reflective sunglasses or riding in a limousine with darkly tinted windows, some choose to clad their buildings in mirrored glass. These buildings act like inverted interrogation rooms. The people behind these mirrors do not directly participate in the life they witness but observe while remaining anonymous and unseen — one-way transparency. On the inside one may feel a sense of control and security, but no one likes to be secretly observed.
I will confess I get an almost uncontrollable urge to do something uncivilized as I walk past these buildings — like using the mirror to adjust my undergarments or pick food from between my teeth. It is a similar unction that draws me to art that does not require a privileged position or demand a specialized education to appreciate — non-objective abstract art.
I did not come up with this label, nor do I think it accurately describes the work. For starters the term “abstract” implies a departure from reality. Ironically, a painting of a landscape is often labeled “realism” when it is not real at all — the painting is an abstraction or representation of something real — a landscape. Conversely, non-objective abstract art is what it is — in many cases simply paint placed on a stretched canvas. It often does not strive to be anything other than what it is. Standing in front of a non-objective abstract work of art is a real, direct experience and, like engaging a real landscape, can be profound.
It is bewildering why so many people express a level of discomfort with non-objective abstract art. How did the most accessible and real art become an icon of privilege and exclusion? So many people feel like they don’t understand non-objective abstract art; they feel like they are on the outside, missing the insider information that will allow them to unlock its secret meaning. They feel self-conscious, like someone walking past a building clad in mirrored glass. I am saddened by this cruel, twisted inversion that has kept so many people from embracing and being enriched by this transparent art. As for me, I will keep it real.