Art that matters

There’s a phrase that gets tossed around in the art world—especially by critics—and it goes like this:

Art without meaning is decoration.

While this might not be true of all art, when it comes to the art we hang in our own home, there’s definitely some truth to it.

We are a bit obsessive (ok, very obsessive) about what artwork we put on the walls in our own home. Seriously, a planned gallery wall for our kitchen has resulted in over a year of deliberation -  to date, we’ve only hung one thing. It’s an investment of both time and money, so we want to get it right.

You’re probably imagining that I'm biased towards photo prints of nature for our walls, but that’s really not the case. There are posters from gigs, old framed comic books, movie posters, vinyl records, postcards and artwork we’ve found and connected with… and, yeah, photo prints of nature too. 

The common thread among them all? Meaning. 

To have something on our wall that is pretty is not enough. That is decoration. We want something that evokes a feeling in us whenever we see it: A gig poster that takes us back to Primavera in 2014;  an art print that was on a subway car on a long trip to Coney Island; a postcard of an old painting that looks weirdly like us; a landscape shot of Dettifoss waterfall that we took on a trip to Iceland… These things are like a warm blanket of feelings that just make us feel better.

So fill your home with comfort art. Beautiful things, ugly things, serious things, silly things, bright things, dark things… art that gives you happiness and joy. Art that makes you daydream. Art that is meaningful.