The canons of classicism have, in a way, allowed our art appreciation receptors to become accustomed to a rather conventional and relatively safe viewing experience that revolves around the classical ideals of beauty, realism, tradition and whimsy. Even the most horrific and tragic scenes were often depicted in a way that could be considered to be beautiful in one way or another. While one cannot deny the excellence and importance of classical master artists such as Da Vinci, Caravaggio, Boticelli and Rembrandt, there is a tendency to regard works by these artists as the epitome of artistic practise and, consequently, to compare all works of art to works by these artists of the so called ‘golden age’. If a viewer approaches and interacts with a contemporary work of conceptual art in the same way they would approach a work by, say, Da Vinci, then it is highly unlikely that the viewers interaction with, and experience of, the contemporary work of art, will be as enriching as it could have been.

The conceptual nature of much of the contemporary art being produced has meant that the purpose of contemporary art is rarely to provide instant satisfaction and gratification, or to be totally decipherable at first glance. From my experience, the purpose of most contemporary art is to instigate an interaction that involves a process of evaluation, translation and engagement, challenging the viewer in one way or another and causing the viewer to step outside their comfort zone. When the Art Gallery of New South Wales first purchased Cy Twombly’s “Three studies from the Temeraire” I could not believe that they had spent so much money on what I thought was a completely meaningless and rather ugly piece of twoddle. At that time I was visiting the Art Gallery of New South Wales on a regular basis and could not help but try and figure out why I didn’t like this work every time I walked passed it. After about the fifth or sixth time I visited the gallery I began to feel some sort of affinity with this work. I would not go as far as to say that I began to enjoy the work but I did begin to appreciate the work for what it was and the experience it was providing me with, and stopped trying to rationalise what I felt about it. From this experience I learnt that one doesn’t have to enjoy a work of art in order to like a work of art, and because of this would now consider Cy Twombly’s “Three studies from the Temeraire” to be one of my favourite works of art.

For me, the great thing about contemporary art is that a spade could just be spade, it could also be something entirely unrelated to our preconceived notions of what a spade should be, and, it could also be something entirely different for each person depending on the individuals own thoughts, feelings and experiences. It could also be all or none of the above. I find that people (myself included) will often over-analyse a work of contemporary art in an effort to find some sort of obvious and specific meaning or message that is probably not there, and get frustrated in the process. In the words of billionaire art collector Eli Broad “Contemporary art challenges us. It broadens our horizons. It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom.” Just don’t think too hard.

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Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of www.artmarketblog.com