Outer Space is a vast category and it allows artists to imagine the complexity of the universe with its constellations, galaxies and the planetary system. It is an unknown world, only seen through a telescope, making it mysterious and prone to be explored by scientists and artists alike.
Inspired by the planets, the colour of the sun, the energy flow or by the unknown beyond our world, paintings that explore outer space are abstract, which is the perfect style for this genre.
What these artworks have in common is an experimental aspect, allowing artists to experiment not only with colour combinations, textures and media, but also with concepts and ideas. What do sun spots look like? How about a star fire or a comet fire? What is a blue cosmos or a cosmic lagoon? The answers are to be found in the images, the knowledge they are offering being rather intuitive.
Tony Broadbent summarises this concept beautifully when talking about his artworks: “What you see in it will differ to what someone else sees in it, that is because art resides in the mind… that is the paradox, a shared visual experience which without words or other clever interpretations dwells as a momentary reality in your mind, it can alter, it can change, it can challenge and delight. It is art.”
