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Let’s dress like a Mark Rothko! How gen Z fell for the king of colour field paintings
Why is the artist’s work racking up hundreds of thousands of views on social media? For a generation bombarded with visual stimuli, it seems his canvases offer a meditative escape
TL;DR
- Mark Rothko's abstract color field paintings are gaining popularity with Gen Z.
- Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are driving engagement with Rothko's work.
- Rothko's art is seen as an aesthetic refuge from overstimulating content and unsteadying world events.
- The Rothko Chapel in Houston offers a space for deep, contemplative engagement with his paintings.
- Gen Z visitors to the Chapel are curious and open to interrogating Rothko's work and themselves.
- Rothko believed a painting is an experience, not a picture of one.
- Curators see the proliferation of art on digital platforms as positive for cultural engagement.
- Rothko's works are currently exhibited in Florence, including a dialogue with Fra Angelico.
- The artist's contemporary revival is notable given his occasional criticism for being inaccessible.