Avant Garde Magazine

Amber Goldhammer is best known for creating vibrant abstract paintings with a street art edge. She originally started painting with pigments, powders and waxes and went on to experimenting with different mediums and processes to keep evolving her artworks. As love and joy are paramount emotions in life, Goldhammer hopes her series incorporating the “I Love You” message expands to reach a wide audience. Connecting people through public art is one way. She believes her street murals can impact lives, as it is impossible to view her work and not feel a sense of joy and love. Painting a convergence of color and emotion, she builds and layers bold colors organically, allowing the process to determine the outcome. There is no analyzing, conceptualizing, or judging that takes place. It all happens in the moment, as a union between her, the canvas and the paint. Goldhammer frequently draws inspiration for her palette from the colors of the ocean, saying, “I get to take in the essence of the ocean every day, which fuels my creativity and brings me peace.” A worldwide collected young artist with ongoing concurrent exhibitions in galleries throughout the United States and Switzerland, Goldhammer's artworks have also been exhibited at major international art fairs. Her original paintings have been showcased in print and online publications, and on such TV series as Million Dollar Listing, Being Mary Jane, The Catch as well as both multi-Emmy nominated series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Scandal. Goldhammer’s art is also featured on Netflix’s original series, GLOW  by Weeds creator, Jenji Kohan.

Bring audacious experiments with color and textures to your living room, dining room or home office. Abstract paintings, large or small, will stand out in your space, encouraging conversation and introducing a museum-like atmosphere that’s welcoming and conducive to creating memorable gatherings.

Abstract art has origins in 19th-century Europe, but it came into its own as a significant movement during the 20th century. Early practitioners of abstraction included Wassily Kandinsky, although painters were exploring nonfigurative art prior to the influential Russian artist’s efforts, which were inspired by music and religion. Abstract painters endeavored to create works that didn’t focus on the outside world’s conventional subjects, and even when artists depicted realistic subjects, they worked in an abstract mode to do so.

In 1940s-era New York City, a group of painters working in the abstract mode created radical work that looked to European avant-garde artists as well as to the art of ancient cultures, prioritizing improvisation, immediacy and direct personal expression. While they were never formally affiliated with one another, we know them today as Abstract Expressionists.

The male contingent of the Abstract Expressionists, which includes Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell, is frequently cited in discussing leading figures of this internationally influential postwar art movement. However, the women of Abstract Expressionism, such as Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and others, were equally involved in the art world of the time. Sexism, family obligations and societal pressures contributed to a long history of their being overlooked, but the female Abstract Expressionists experimented vigorously, developed their own style and produced significant bodies of work.

Draw your guests into abstract oil paintings across different eras and countries of origin. On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive range of abstract paintings along with a guide on how to arrange your wonderful new wall art.

If you’re working with a small living space, a colorful, oversize work can create depth in a given room, but there isn’t any need to overwhelm your interior with a sprawling pièce de résistance. Colorful abstractions of any size can pop against a white wall in your living room, but if you’re working with a colored backdrop, you may wish to stick to colors that complement the decor that is already in the space. Alternatively, let your painting make a statement on its own, regardless of its surroundings, or group it, gallery-style, with other works.