What It Is and How to Use It
Art Style Generator is a tool for conceptualizing new 2D works of art. Every time the homepage is refreshed, a new set of stylistic elements appears… 11 dials for 11 fields of visual language are randomly reshuffled. More than 48 billion styles can be generated to provide inspiration for new works of art. Go with the random elements or make your own selections. Use our Style Builder to receive your stylistic choices by email.For further exploration, tap or click on any one of the stylistic elements to go to a page on ArtSpectra.org, where you will find a description of that element (and where we will soon feature corresponding works from museums, galleries, and individual artists.)
Mission
Art Style Generator does not attempt to encapsulate the full scope of visual language but, rather, to suggest new creative combinations and to point to the infinite possibilities. Billions of combinations of stylistic elements can be generated on the app, but if you multiply this by specific color palettes, by the wide variety of art materials, by the juxtaposition of styles, and by all the inner and outer worlds of subject matter, the possibilities are truly endless.We hope to contribute to a growing recognition that the stylistic elements are not the domain of particular artists or historical periods, but that each is a timeless, essential part of visual language, belonging to all artists.
Late 19th and 20th century culture celebrated the exploration of visual language, but it performed a detrimental process of elimination, in which one stylistic element after another was assigned to an artist or group of artists, as if they owned inevitable aspects of visual expression. Imagine if the art world had celebrated the ongoing expansion of visual language rather than setting a series of expiration dates. Instead of restricting stylistic elements to particular artists/groups/time periods, what if the full scope of expression became the cultural ideal? Perhaps this mindset is finally taking hold. Judging by the diversity of contemporary art, last century's academic assumptions regarding style seem to be losing sway. We see a new valuation developing that recognizes this generation's creative need to draw on all the elements of style to fully express itself. If, once upon a time, a particular constellation of stylistic elements could capture the spirit of a certain societal moment, for now and for the foreseeable future, the awareness of the complexity and diversity of our culture/time requires that we use every tool of expression to reflect who we are.
Those who are still attached to 20th century notions of innovation need not worry that free exploration of visual language will lead to derivative art. It's easy enough to see when an artist mimics a past master or period – trying to repeat all the same subtleties of that artist or era. Originality lies in the countless choices artists make while working within a set of parameters and can only be enhanced when all sets of parameters are available to them. A simple site like Art Style Generator can predict billions of unique combinations of stylistic elements, but given any one set of elements, genuine artists would each create something unique.
Stay tuned to ArtSpectra.org where we will highlight broad-ranging works from the past and the ways in which all facets of visual language are being brought into the present, renewed by interplay with other elements and by the sensibilities of living artists.