The Short & Simple Answer to Why Abstract Art Exists

Why do some artists draw/paint/craft artworks around forms (like lines, shapes & patterns) instead of depicting realistic scenes? In other words, why is abstraction a thing?⁠

The term ‘abstract’ can be applied to art that is based on an object, figure or landscape, where forms have been simplified or schematised. Like in the painting above (ignore the words we’ve typed all over it), you have a percolator and coffee cups but they have been flattened and simplified into lines and blocks of colour with no sense of depth or reality.⁠

The short and simple answer to why abstract art exists is this – FREEDOM. Abstract art allows artists to go beyond depicting what they see around them in a realistic way, which means that they can really embrace their imagination and their unconscious, and unleash their creativity. They don’t have to work within the rules of the natural world, and can instead play with new inventions, and transport themselves (and the viewer) to different worlds.⁠

The snazzy little painting of the coffee cups seen above (titled ‘Percolate’) is available for sale in our shop.

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