Abstraction

The Art Center Highland Park (TAC) is accepting submissions for our upcoming exhibit: 'Abstract Art'. Abstract art became synonymous with the Modernism Era or Movement. However, abstraction is more of a style than a conceptual concept. The artist's interpretation of what is experienced in the world does not necessarily represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality. Instead, the definition of Abstract art is art that uses shapes, colors, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect.

Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an exploration into unknown areas.

Far from the shock value days of the origin of Abstract, TAC asks: How do artists continue to find a way to express the deeper meaning behind their abstract work?

Artist/ guest juror Cleveland Dean:
Working in various mediums, such as painting, mixed media, installation, video, sculpture, and photography, self-taught artist Cleveland Dean creates artworks that explore social and psychological based issues of modern society. Digging into the realm of self-reliance, he investigates human behavior in abstract, contemporary paintings that are dense with thick textures of poured paint and lacquers, scorched and burnt from repeated applications of a heat gun, and above all layered with collage elements.

'My goal is to simply recondition people to think, adhere to knowledge, and broaden their experience. In our society of the now, we are inundated with so much information that it makes it virtually impossible to pay attention to and gain expertise in any of it.'
Cleveland Dean