An Abstract Pause

In modern and contemporary art, abstraction gives artists the room to discover an ‘alternative principle’ that allows them to escape from the narratives of our collection and individual existence to create a ‘pure art’, free from human tragedy that is personal and even universal. Artists like Piet Mondrian have searched for a ‘reality behind the motif’. To explain his intention, one could say that he wanted to reach the level of the subconscious, the realm of ‘pure feeling’, that is regulated by our emotions. Art is a fundamental part of human evolution and is used to express emotions. The role played between art and emotion is a complex relationship. Artists have used their art to express a diverse range of human emotions in both figurative and abstract art.