abstractismo

Abstractismo is a term used in Spanish- and Portuguese-language discourse to describe a range of approaches that share an emphasis on abstraction in the arts and related fields. It is not a single, unified movement with a formal manifesto; rather, it functions as a descriptive label for practices that prioritize non-representational language, formal inquiry, and perceptual experience over direct depiction.

In visual arts, abstractismo denotes a focus on form, color, line, and texture as ends in themselves. Works classified as abstractismo may be non-objective or may reduce recognizable subjects to essential elements, seeking to evoke mood or thought through composition and materiality rather than narrative content. The movement encompasses both geometric and gestural tendencies: geometric abstraction emphasizes spatial relationships and systems, while lyrical or expressive abstraction stresses gesture, brushwork, or surface sensation.

In literature, music, and philosophy, the term is sometimes used to describe tendencies that foreground abstraction as a methodological or expressive principle—prioritizing ideas about form, structure, or perception over concrete subject matter.

Historically, abstractismo arose in various regions as part of broader modernist and postwar explorations of non-representational art. It intersects with, but is not identical to, movements such as abstract art, constructivism, minimalism, and abstract expressionism.

Today, abstractismo remains a descriptive label in art criticism and curatorial practice, applied to works that pursue non-representational language and perceptual experience across media.