How to Enter the World of Art

If we create art, we do so to communicatewith ourselves and with others.If we acquire art, we do so tocommunicate with ourselves and others.Art has always been about communication.We know with great certainty thatthe physical world is temporary. Castlescrumble, land masses shift, and the planetsthemselves appear and disappear—it's all temporary. Perhaps what is eternalare our emotions, our thoughts, andour experiences. Tolstoy wrote that artcannot exist for its own sake and that itsvalue is weighed only in relation to itsservicing mankind. In a word, he toowas speaking of communication.

Let Emotions Guide You

Through literature, music, and thevisual arts, we bring forth the humancondition. We are spirits fed by our emotions.Musicians communicate throughtheir instruments, writers, their pens,and painters their colors. Each artist isattempting to create a synthesizer fromwhich emotions once experienced can befelt again and perhaps shared with others.The artist is successful only whenthey have created a vehicle from whichthe spirit of their pursuit is conveyed.

Art brings nothing new to the senses;it only rekindles emotions that we havefelt before. If successful, art catalyzes ouremotions, reminding us of what we havefelt and who we are. It is the record ofhuman experience. The artist's renderingis left only as sweet sentiment and exemplarycraft, should it not touch uponyour soul.

Life Found in All Art

The beauty of life or its tragicfringes can be expressed in a traditionallandscape or an abstract workconsisting of one powerful splash ofcolor. The artists give evidence oftheir lives, and the viewer embracesand shares this experience, it becomesa part of them. Should youever come across such a work of art,it will have a life stirring within it,and it will be yours.

Mark Doren is the director of the Gallerie 454 Group, whichwas presented with a special tribute from the state ofMichigan in 1990 for their orchestration of the firstAmerican Exhibition of Contemporary Soviet Art, benefitingthe American Cancer Society. Mr. Doren has many importantworks to his credit, has participated as expert testimonyin numerous litigations, and lectures extensively on artand art-related subjects here and abroad. He is a contributorto Chronicle Guidance Publications as a reviewer inregard to museum curatorship.