21st Century Art

The painting above, which was painted by Judy Rey Wasserman, is a painting of deep meaning, which is not exactly seen by the human eye. The painting, Return Ye Children of Men, was painted in 2006 in the new form of art called Post Conceptual Art, which was founded by Wasserman herself. This art form is one of many symbols and true artwork.

According to Art Theory and Show Reviews accessed September 10, 2008, “Post Conceptual Art is a Big Bang in the theory and history of art as it focuses on the stroke, the smallest unit of meaning created with the smallest unit of physical movement by the artist, as the primary significance in a work. This is the opposite of the idea of the concept that the stroke serves to create the image. Inherent in the work and in both the scientific understanding of the Big Bang and the biblical theology is that the intent and realization of the end result is present at the beginning.” Post Conceptual Art is a newly found art that combines two meanings within the artwork. When you first gaze at the work, you see a sun in a blue sky, masked by a dark image. You immediately think of the big bang or some other catastrophe. It symbolizes the creation of our planet, what we live on today. Scientists believe in this explanation for the creation of earth, however it is not the only theory, which is the other symbol Wasserman wanted to portray.

Post Conceptual Art uses words and symbols to create paintings and pictures. In this particular piece, we can see the image symbolizes the Big Bang Theory. The words and symbols used to creat it through strokes and overlapping words and letters are retrieved from the Bible. The books of Gensis 1-2:7, Deut 6:4, and Psalm 90 are all used to create the piece you see. The relevance is that these books describe how God created Earth and everything in it. Using that theory, Wasserman created the painting using those words to depict a new image that represents the scientific theory of how the earth came to be. It is ironic that we only see one representation and symbol, and that's visually. But there is another symbol underlying the artwork and that's the symbol of words and text that created the piece.

This piece of art shows us that there is greater meaning to everything that is created. What we see on the outside is not always what is real. At first glance, I thought it was just a picture of a sunset, which shows my ignorance. It’s much more than that; it’s the creation of earth, using whichever theory you personally choose to believe. It combines science and religion, which is exactly what Wasserman intended to do.