Negative Images in Contemporary Art: Aesthetic Interpretations

Abstract

The article touches upon the forms of implementation of negative images in contemporary art. The increase in the proportion of negative images in painting is associated with artistic reaction to controversial processes in modern culture, with the reflection of existential crisis. According to the author, the new understanding of individuality and its needs, the complications of the quest for the life purpose lead to a sharp modification in painting styles, the expansion in the variety of painful topics and focal points which used to be outside the realm of art. Nonetheless, the nature of creation itself can "propel" the artist to perceive the situation in an unconscious-intuitive way, to gain control over it, to make the spectator feel empathy, even if the author's ratio is affected by distortive reflection.