Your brain likes Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock, Vasili Kandinsky, Joan Miró, Paul Klee… Abstract art is not to the taste of all palates, but there are many who savor and delight in these works, apparently chaotic. It is true that these canvases, dominated by imprecise lines, strange shapes, spots here and there, impossible perspectives and arbitrary colors, generate some confusion.

Now, as the film director, screenwriter and artist, David Lynch, points out, “beyond what we see, there is what each artistic manifestation makes us feel.” And in this sense, everyone will get something different. Hence the magic and uniqueness of art as a psychological channel. Because, although it may surprise us, the brain is perfectly equipped to enjoy these types of expressions.

It is true that most of us find greater pleasure in appreciating realistic paintings with clearly identifiable figures. There we have works like those offered to us by Rembrandt or Johannes Vermeer. However, with the arrival of impressionism, human beings were exposed to a new phenomenon as stimulating as it was decisive artistically and neurologically.

So much so that we currently have a new discipline that seeks to understand how the brain processes impressionist and abstract art: neuroaesthetics. The data it offers us is fascinating.

The amygdala plays a very important role when processing abstract art.

Believe it or not, your brain likes Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock was an abstract expressionist artist who left us nearly 400 paintings and 500 drawings. His way of working was somewhat unique: he improvised and applied the technique of dripping or paint dripping. Whoever observes one of his canvases, the first thing they will experience is incomprehension and a feeling of disorder.

What the brain feels when exposed to abstract art is frustration. After all, our neural circuitry is programmed to identify patterns. It is true that he prefers order and everything that he can easily process and identify. However, if we are patient and spend a little more time on this type of work, something will happen.

Your brain likes Jackson Pollock more than you may first think. He likes it because these abstract forms invite reflection, cognitive effort, analysis and imagination. Likewise, beyond obtaining an explanation about what we are seeing, the emotions it arouses in us matter…

Abstract art frees us from reality

The University of Jerusalem conducted an interesting study in 2014 on abstract art. Something that the researchers highlighted is that This artistic modality has one virtue: freeing the mind from everyday reality. It is a most stimulating bridge to our internal universe, to our emotions and sensations.

As Jackson Pollock himself pointed out, the act of painting was for him to be able to illustrate his own feelings and give movement to his memories. Therefore, the act of placing ourselves in front of a work by Kandinsky, Tapies or Miró requires a small emotional and cognitive effort. It invites us to escape from what surrounds us, from what is ordinary to allow us to transcend to other, more stimulating universes.

Neuroaesthetics, the pleasure of finding order in the midst of imprecision

Semir Zeki is a neurobiologist at University College London and has developed the discipline of neuroaesthetics. After many years researching how the brain processes artistic manifestations, he concludes with a most interesting fact.

The brain experiences great stimulation when looking at impressionistic and abstract works. These blurry, imprecise and disordered images stimulate the amygdala, that region closely related to our emotions. The first thing we feel is confusion, but it is a challenging confusion, full of curiosity.

If artists of the 20th century focused on giving greater relevance to lines, color, shape, texture and light, it was to create a sensation in the brain. It is an invitation to transcend beyond the apparent and the real, to move to other more intimate settings, perceptive, sensory and even dreamlike…

Although our brains are programmed to prefer images that are easy to process, abstract art encourages reflection, creativity and critical thinking.

Abstract art is good for your brain

If we tell you that your brain likes Jackson Pollock, you may find it hard to believe it. How can you like a canvas dominated by meaningless smears of paint here and there? It’s true, at first we all prefer images that are easy to recognize. However, it is enough to remember what artists like Pollock himself, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko were looking for when they painted.

Abstract art is a needed key to the subconscious, it is the door to our emotions and that hinge that favors detachment from reality.. We all need to challenge the brain, take it out of its comfortable settings to invite reflection, self-awareness and creative thinking.

Seeing this type of paintings stimulates areas of higher strata that favor both imagination, analysis and critical reasoning. After all, there are many dimensions of our world that cannot be represented by concrete figures. Let us think, for example, of works as impressive as the Guernica by Pablo Picasso. The horror of war found another way of expressing itself in his art. One that leaves no one indifferent.

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