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Concept
Horror vacui (art)
Summary
In visual art, horror vacui; UKˌhɒrə_ˈvækjuaɪ; US-_ˈvɑːk-), or kenophobia, is a phenomenon in which the entire surface of a space or an artwork is filled with detail and content, leaving as little perceived emptiness as possible. It relates to the antiquated physical idea, horror vacui, proposed by Aristotle who held that "nature abhors an empty space".
Italian art critic and scholar Mario Praz used this term to describe the excessive use of ornament in design during the Victorian age. Other examples of horror vacui can be seen in the densely decorated carpet pages of Insular illuminated manuscripts, where intricate patterns and interwoven symbols may have served "apotropaic as well as decorative functions." The interest in meticulously filling empty spaces is also reflected in Arabesque decoration in Islamic art from ancient times to present. The art historian Ernst Gombrich theorized that such highly ornamented patterns can function like a picture frame for sacred images and spaces. "The richer the elements of the frame," Gombrich wrote, "the more the centre will gain in dignity."
Another example comes from ancient Greece during the Geometric Age (1100–900 BCE), when horror vacui was considered a stylistic element of all art. The mature work of the French Renaissance engraver Jean Duvet consistently exhibits horror vacui.
Horror vacui is apparent in some styles of postmodern graphic design, including the work of artists like David Carson or Vaughan Oliver, and in the underground comix movement in the work of S. Clay Wilson, Robert Crumb, Robert Williams, and later comic artists such as Mark Beyer. The paintings of Williams, Faris Badwan, Emerson Barrett, Joe Coleman and Todd Schorr are further examples of horror vacui in the modern Lowbrow art movement.
The entheogen-inspired visionary art of certain indigenous peoples, such as the Huichol yarn paintings and the ayahuasca-inspired art of Pablo Amaringo, often exhibits this style, as does the psychedelic art movement of the 1960s counterculture.
Official source
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