What is ART?

Many people agree on first impressions revealing the meaning of a person, place, or thing. However, there are many times where scratching the surface, just a bit, can allow for a deeper understanding for the particular person, place, or thing. Last semester, I traveled to Quito, Ecuador and was bombarded with new culture, language, and people. This exposure opened my mind to understanding the workings of a country that many outsiders do not understand. For example, some common inquiries for a country like Ecuador are surrounded with questions that deal with wanting solutions to the poverty levels being extremely high, government programs not being instituted, and outside funding never being suffice. As my journey continued, I found myself surrounded by thousands of “new” art work. Abstract, dramatic, and colorful pieces of art were prevalent in all social classes, neighborhoods, and houses, big or small. I saw all the same strangly weird, disjointed, broken, sad, miserable, but, yet, colorful, street arts and handmade crafts being sold by every street seller. My initial thought on this art that surrounded me was that it just happened to be“bad” art turned good. Since, I am not an art critic nor used to looking at works of art, I did not know what to think but just wondered why these pieces of art remained so popular. I also did not understand why so many people were following the work of possibly one or many artists and not selling their own original work. By not being familiar with the art history, I quickly became intrigued and wanted to know more about one particular artist, Oswaldo Guayasamin that every street vendor seemed to replicate and be greatly influenced by.

Oswaldo Guayasamin was born in Quito on July 6, 1919. Guayasamin, later, graduated from the School of Fine Arts, and then quickly became known as a painter and sculptor in Ecuador. At the age of 23, Guayasamin opened his first exhibit which turned out to be a success. As Guayasamin traveled South America, he was exposed to high levels of reality, poverty, and inequalities among and within the social classes. His images also capture the political oppression, racism, poverty, and class differences seen throughout the history of Ecuador. Guayasamin was a moving force behind making art based on these social issues and allowing it to be centered in the public eye. Indigenous people were often characterized in Guayasamin’s paintings because of the hardships that they were exposed to in the simple way of life they lived by. Guayasamin’s work consisted of sculptures and oil painting on a canvas material. I found out that from Guayasamin's death in 1999, the artist is still widely known and loved throughout Ecuador. Knowing what I now discovered about Guayasamin, I realized that most of the shapes and brokenness of his art work depicted the problems of Ecuador. Throughout most of his works, many emotions are seen within one painting. Pain and sadness is often one of the feelings that I get when I look at Guayasamin’s art work. Interestingly, these emotions find a way of connecting with people who have no idea what the art is about which will then allow that same person to become intrigued by it in order to find out its history. His works of art are still an enigma to me; however, I am now able to understand.