Self definition and self Critique is what stops the art from being just for entertainment purposes. It gives it it’s worth. This is what the work means to the artist.

There are 3 unique features of Painting

  1. Two – dimensionality 
  2. The rectangular shape of the support
  3. The properties of pigment

Artists felt trapped by this though, especially the first 2.

Abstract Expressionsim was about breaking out of this box that artists had been placed in.

This lead to artists looking outside of the canvas and rejecting the two dimensional process.

The artists looked beyond the rectangular shape too. This saw artists using canvasses in a different way. There’s examples of artists who pinned up canvasses and purposely painted on the surrounding walls for instance.

This was an important step taken in breaking out of routine.