Great Art

By: Tamra Gredell

I have not been to an art museum since about the fifth grade. Looking at art as an eleven year old is much different than looking at art at twenty-one. As a child I considered the best art to be the pieces with the prettiest colors. Now I consider great art to be pieces with open interpretation and personal meaning. This is why I chose to write about Ada’s Garden.

Alex Katz’s piece titled Ada’s Garden is a contemporary piece painted in 2000. Depicted in this piece is a cocktail party with a clear divide between the guests attending the party. In Sontag’s reading she writes “In deciding how a picture should look, in preferring one exposure to another, standards are always being imposed on the subject.” (Sontag 3) Katz chose to paint in mostly dark colors. Half of the guests are wearing darks suits and the background of the painting is presented in a charcoal color. These dark colors in contrast with the brighter colors that the other guests are wearing adds to the effect of the division of the cocktail party.

When I saw this piece I immediately thought those in the brighter colors looked left out of the party. I saw those in the dark suits as an exclusive group that did not want to include those in the brighter colors. Upon further consideration I realized the painting could be interpreted where those in the bright colors are excluding those around them. They do not wish to socialize with those in the dark suits; they are choosing to exclude themselves. This piece created personal meaning with me because of those who are being excluded. I sympathize with those in the brighter colors who are being excluded, there are times in life when everyone is excluded and it is never a good feeling.

“Strictly speaking, there is never any understanding in a photograph, but only an invitation to fantasy and speculation.” (Sontag 12) There is no right or wrong way to interpret this painting. Katz has left in open for the viewer to interpret the painting however they wish. I was able to take my own understanding of this piece and create multiple interpretations, and that is what makes this piece great art.

Works cited:

Sontag, Susan. “Photography.” The New York Review of Books Vol. 20 Num. 16. 1973: Print.

Katz, Alex. Ada’s Garden. 2000. Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA. Flickr.com. Web. 14 Sept 2010.