The world of art is as vast as it can be confusing. There are many different mediums through which artists express themselves, as well as different eras, styles, and genres, that could have drastically different meanings behind them. At times, it may feel like an impossible task to have a complete analysis of a piece of art. This can especially be said for the oh-so controversial modern art era and conceptualism movement. Artworks that fall under these categories tend to absolutely set people off. 

And I totally get it.

You don’t usually go to an art museum and expect or want to see a urinal, banana, or blank canvas on display as “art”. Can this really be considered art? Can mundane objects and stripes on a big canvas be compared to the works of Rembrant or DaVinci? It’s maddening! How can the art world possibly praise something so low-effort and untechnical in terms of artistic skill?

But… There is plenty more to this type of art than what meets the eye. And I mean that literally, there is a lot of meaning behind artworks besides how they look. This may seem counterintuitive to what you traditionally perceive as art, but the genre of conceptual art is just that. The idea is the most important part rather than the actual finished piece. Looking at it through this lens, we can start to explain a case in favor of modern and conceptual art.

When people usually hear “modern art,” the first things that come to mind are the simplistic and seemingly effortless paintings of colored blocks, or even a fully white or black canvas. I’m talking about Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square, which is exactly what the name says it is. It may look simple, y’know being a literal black square, but this piece is actually a 20 year culmination of Malevich’s development into simplicity. Malevich did not start out painting simplistic colored blocks and neither do most artists that have done these types of paintings. Author and art historian, Susie Hodge says on an episode of “So Expensive” for Business Insider that these white canvases or black canvases are rarely the only paintings that a certain artist produces. There is a lot more artistic history behind these paintings that we can learn from. This is especially the case since the era of modern art lasted from roughly the 1860s to 1970s, that’s more than 100 years of art.

What about conceptual art? That’s just a banana duct taped to a wall… And it sold for 150,000 dollars! This is a real artwork made by Maurizio Cattelan called Comedian. We again must move past what it merely is. This artwork includes a certificate of authenticity, which is what actually sold for 150,000 dollars. This certificate allows the owner to duct tape their own banana to a wall and claim it as an authentic Comedian by Cattelan. They basically bought the idea or concept of the artwork, which in terms of conceptualism, that IS the artwork. So what? What makes buying the “idea” better than buying a traditional physical piece? Buying an idea sounds ridiculous, especially in this case where I could go out and buy a banana and some duct tape. And it is ridiculous, but this is the point of conceptualist art. It evades ownership of those who try to luxurize it for profit. Sure, the banana’s certificate was sold for 150,000 dollars, but in reality, as said by artist Lawrence Weiner, you can have it just by knowing it. It also evades any restrictions of what should and should not be considered art. Art isn’t just visual; we can use our other senses and the art’s context. Artists use this to their advantage in order to get their message across in the best way possible. In Comedian’s case, look at it from the perspective of one who is observing the crowds of people, clamoring to get a selfie with the famous banana. It’s commenting on the inflated art market and those who participate in it.

So it is important to see that we should not be so dismissive of modern and conceptual art. I think that there is a misconception that the work put into a piece should be equal to its market value. But that’s not true at all, we need to look at artwork to be appreciative of what it represents, not just the price tag or what it appears to be at first glance.