QAMA - Questionably Abstract Modern Art

What does "abstract" really mean? The works in this collection are bound together by the general idea of what it means to be abstract - not, necessarily, complicated, and not necessarily difficult to understand, but simply lacking a concrete meaning, or being difficult to draw conclusions with. The Color Orange is, perhaps, not an abstract work in and of itself - after all, its title describes it almost completely, only with one end of the work providing a contrast and counterbalance that keeps the orange tide from washing over the entire work. Rather, the abstract part of The Color Orange is its implications; where do you go from this, and what message is this work trying to get across? The answer is left up to the viewer. Mess is more traditionally abstract, but its title embraces that abstraction. The work's riough texture is actually quite consistent, as is its shading style; it's the mishmash of colors, not necessarily failing to connect with each other but being without rationale for why and where they are, that really set the capstone on the work's abstractness. Web That Remains is another precise work that leaves its interpretation up to the viewer. Exactly what is being portrayed is fairly clear, from the work's title and from its composition, light glinting off of too-thin-to-see cracks that radiate outwards from the darkened center of the work. Yet this work remains open-ended, asking more questions than it answers - what is the web for? Who, or what, made it? What happened? Why does it remain? Fash is perhaps the most traditionally abstract work in this collection, its title giving no indication of what exactly it is supposed to portray, and its design being highly interpretive. The work's strong yellow-orange coloration and the contours of the light emitted by the figure in the lower-left of the work give an impression of motion, but where that motion comes from and where it is to be directed are open questions. And finally of note, Red Gradient is exaclty what you would expect. Not difficult to understand, not complex in its presentation, not posing any difficult questions. The work is well-composed and elegant in its simplicity. But perhaps that simplicity is the most abstract thing of all; having no ambitions and telling no particular story, the work's meaning is for its viewer to determine, and perhaps that is the essence of Abstract. Please enjoy!