An Introduction to Conceptual Strength and Meaning

Conceptual strength and meaning This refers to the way in which an artwork or series of artworks ‘speaks’ to an audience. It looks at what the work is about. This is not automatically to do with mimetic subject matter – it does not merely refer to what the work is a picture of but also to the artist’s intent. Abstract artworks have conceptual strength and meaning unrelated to recognisable subject matter.

Layers of meaning A work can carry more than one reference or meaning. It can be interpreted on a number of levels.

Nike Savvas produced an installation for the Art Gallery of NSW called “Atomic: Full of Love, Full of Wonder”. Think about what the title suggests about the work. Australian artist Nike Savvas stands in her installation Atomic: Full of Love, Full of Wonder, 2005, polystyrene, nylon wire, paint, electric fans. The work was installed at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

Savvas suggests that her work is influenced by: pop art paintings from the 1960s and 1970 pointillism and the art of Georges Seurat the Australian desert landscape atoms and molecules the stars and the universe Aboriginal dot painting Byzantine churches.

p.72 Like Seurat, Savvas recognises that dots of colour merge optically when we stand back from them and cause a sense of optical confusion when viewed at close range. Nike Savvas, Atomic: Full of Love, Full of Wonder, 2005. Courtesy of Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne. Photograph: John Brash.

The similarity between Savvas’ work and molecular diagrams is obvious in the connected spheres. Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884–1886. Oil on canvas, 207.5 × 308.1 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

Ben Quilty also creates artworks that can be considered on a number of levels. Quilty’s “Torana No. 4” is not just a picture of a car. It is about many other things. Ben Quilty, Torana No. 4, 2003, oil on canvas, 120 × 120 cm, Jan Murphy Gallery.

For Quilty, the car symbolises youthful rebellion and the freedom that comes with car ownership, particularly for young men. Quilty’s work is also about the act of painting. Part of its conceptual strength is in exploring expressive paint application. The work is autobiographical – Quilty owns the car. The painting is now worth more than the actual car.

Summary Conceptual strength refers to the depth and quality of ideas and concepts conveyed by the work to an audience. Abstract artworks can also have conceptual strength. They achieve this through an engagement with materials and techniques. Artworks are often about more than what they initially appear to represent. The title of an artwork can add to its conceptual strength and meaning.