BORN THIS WAY

    Or not.
    I can't figure out why my brain does not allow me to enjoy most abstract art. There is no reason not to admire it as much as any other style of art. Is it just something in my brain, or lack thereof?
    Abstract art is daring and challenging. In the late 19th century some kind of cultural twerking happened. What allowed some artists to think that they could get away with breaking down representational images? Why did they no longer care if they "colored inside the lines"? Were they simply bored?
    Henri Matisse (1869-1954) turned portraiture upside down with this "Green Stripe", and then went even further in blocking out details, in "The Dance".

    Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) of the Netherlands created straight line color field studies which still influence design today.

Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957), a Romanian turned Frenchman, dared to create this sculpture, "The Kiss". 

    Spaniard Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) portrayed "Jacqueline" in 1960, in a way probably none of us would have seen her.

    Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) described this "Nude Descending Stairs", breaking up the figure and movement in the cubist style.

The dinner table after too much to drink? George Braque (1882-1963) of France saw it this way.

    Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) took it outside with his "Melancholy and Mystery of a Street" in 1914.

    British Henry Moore (1898-1986) created monumental sized sculptures all over the world.

    American Alexander Calder (1898-1976) became best known for his simple mobiles, but he also threw his hat into the abstract monumental sculpture ring.

    Did Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) not like Spring? Here is his "Easter Monday".

    My brain does allow me to enjoy what I call organic abstracts. A print of this painting by Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) called "Music, Pink and Blue, No.2" hung in my family room for years.

    The only time I have ever painted like this piece done by Scottish artist Edwin G. Lucas (1911-1990), I had taken a psychedelic drug. Nonetheless I enjoy this piece.

    I love the simplicity of the pen and ink organic abstracts done by Northern California's architect/designer, Obie G. Bowman.

    The North Bay harbors some excellent abstract sculptors. Here is Archie Held of Richmond's "Entry".

    Petaluma is the home of a world renowned man of steel, Mark Di Suvero.

    Also of Petaluma, the late Peter Forakis (1927-2009) gave the town rail station this sculpture that he called "Dubull Eagull". Rest in peace Pete - you were a great character and artist.

    Laurie Reichek stands before a painting by her late husband Jesse, who chose to create a huge body of work in his Petaluma studio, and also chose to stay out of the limelight.

    Kudos to Petaluma's Kathryn Graham Wilson for her devotion to color abstraction.

Abstraction may not be my own artistic path, but society has and continues to embrace this form of expression, and rightly so.