MA Thesis

An exploration into ornament in the age of Modernism, and the influence of hybridism and the Modernist notion of ornament on contemporary artists.

Abstract

Naomi L. Ballance

The aims of this document are to recognise ornament in the age of modernism and to identify the influence that the modernist notion of ornament has made on contemporary artists. A selective history of decorative art in relation to fine art will be established: the Renaissance will be examined, as it is suggested that the separation between the fine arts and the decorative arts arose during this period. Modernism will be discussed as the instigator of the belief in truth to materials and the abandonment of ornamentation, however early Modernism will also be suggested as a period that makes use of material-based and process-based ornament. Ornament of this nature will first be examined through the work Adlof Loos and other designers of that time.

The contribution that Matisse made to ornament through his paper cut-outs will be appraised and related to early modernist ornament, as many of them are representational yet unpredictable and they are contrary to the expectations raised by traditional ornament. Henri Matisse also directed his art in a mixture of non-hierarchal multiple routes: his work took the form of posters, book covers, scarves, costume and set designs for ballets, stained-glass windows as well as paintings, line drawings and paper cut-outs. Through exploring the work of a few twentieth and twenty-first century artists in relation to some of the concerns addressed by early modernist ornament and Matisse, the development of material-based and process-based ornament, and hybridism will be noted.

The Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970s and their attempts to establish themselves as artists within craft and fine art contexts will be briefly outlined. Other artists that I will look at include, Beatriz Milhazes who is a painter that obtains her motifs from a range of decorative sources, and is an artist who encourages the decorative to be taken seriously. Polly Apfelbaum creates site-specific floor works that exist in an ambivalent space between painting, sculpture and installation, and Donald Judd addresses related themes that increasingly test conventional boundaries between art forms. Jorge Pardo demonstrates a cross-fertilization of ideas from art and design, and similarly Abigail Lane is an artist and designer working across disciplines. The informal nature in which all of these artists fuse ideas, references and techniques reflects a contemporary sensibility that will be examined in this paper and proposed as a potential direction for the future of ornament within art and design.

If you would like to receive more information about this essay please contact the artist on mail@naomiballance.co.uk