Minimalism

Althrough it is a bit late to advertise for this event, but this weekend at Bethesda is the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival! This event last through the weekend: Saturday May 19th 10am to 6pm, and Sunday May 20th 10am to 5pm.

The media provided for those fine arts varies from Jewelry, sculpture, to paint or clothing and fiber. As a beginner in acrylic painting, I am more interested in the painting booth that will be available. There are some impressionist, still-lifes, landscapes, but no minimalists. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed.  Minimalistic paintings can be very easy home accessories, and are good products for home owners to decorate the walls of their homes.

Minimalism is a movement in post-modern art that people either love or hate. The emphasis on minimalistic paintings can be described by Ad Reinhardt's "more is less, less is more". Minimalism raised to react against abstract expressionism, against the flattening images of the 3-dimensional world on a 2-dimensional world. The simplicity of plain paint, perhaps in combination with  another shades of color make make a beautiful work of art yet convey meaning. For people who do not understand art as much, minimalistic paintings serve as easy home decor that cannot go wrong. In the 21st century, minimalism has already silently occupied the leading artistic trends. Kate Spade, famous fashion designer, uses geometric shapes in simple and contrasting colors to create a modern New-York feel for her products. Minimalistic architecture, more specifically interior design, now go for minimal embellishments and usage of dual-functional furnitures for space. In digital design, editors tend to go for a less busy appearance, usually with a single button on a blank screen as the start of their projects. Advertisements now go for symbols and at most a two-lined messages in the middle of the poster for the visual appearance.

Perhaps the current trend of favoring minimalism is in correlation to the raising demand for space and efficiency. However, the idea of minimalism in itself is being adopted in the minds of designers as trendy styles.