Why not both?

Neither

Dream-like, but reflecting life's themes and moments

Dream-like visuals. I'm tired of reality.

Both if it is evocative enough for a half-hour viewing that is either enlightening or spirit lifting.

Both for sure, seeing individual artists portray their own interpretations of escapism and imagination is inspiring by itself! If that makes any sense lol

Both forms can inspire or be emotional to those viewing the artist's work.

The most powerful art often manages to do both. It may use dream-like or fantastical elements to reflect a deeper truth about the human experience, or it might portray reality in a way that feels so vivid and new that it becomes an escape in itself. ☕☕

I love realism.

Both

If someone achieves any of those, I will like it.

Life!!

Both. It's a mood thing.

I like escapism and visuals but it needs some element of reality to ground it. If it's too dreamlike I lose interest.

Is it escapism if you're not escaping from anything? Do kids escape when they draw? To them they are drawing reality as it is yet to the close-minded aging adult it seems fantasy. But in the end it's our mental universe that is the most real to us, because consciousness exists as its own real world.

Or does it?

Both

Art that tells lies to expose the truth will always be more powerful than art that tries to imitate inauthentic reality.

Now I finally understand why I am having so much trouble painting lately. I paint slice of life images and I don’t like what life is like these days. I guess I’ll have to start calling it fantasy. 😕

Hopper. You could do the whole loneliness/emotional bit in a slice of life like he does.

He is one of my favorite painters. Some of my work is Hopper-esque because I paint a lot of images of the Cape.

Reading what you said, he immediately came to mind. Those fragile, lonely moments, we all wade through are an oddly shared experience.

Before Covid I did a tour of the places he spent time in on the Outer Cape. Aside from his wife I think he lived a very solitary life.

Reflective of his art. From what I've seen, he was always working on his own personal thing. You never spot a big influence or trend like other artists, just some odd emotions only the Germans seems to have words for.

Yes

There's a place for both, (obv) but I am definitely partial to escapism due to my upbringing and especially the state of the world. The dreamier the better lol

Any day the mood can change or you admire both techniques simultaneously.

Since I have to live in real world, I'd kind of like some escapism to look at.

Realism has its place but art, being subjective, lends itself to the surreal and imagination of the artist. IMHO.

A mix of both! Grounded enough it is familiar but unique enough to be set apart from the mundane

Both. All of it.

Depends on my mood. Both have meaning and evoke certain emotions or calm moods. They are each beautiful or captivating in their own right! Which do you prefer?

You took words out of my mouth, 🙌🏽🙌🏽

I like both, but sometimes the escapism seems more "made up" than fantasy and I lose the willful ignorance. It's weird, I can do fantastic fictional stuff, but throw in a unicorn and I'm out.

{don't mind me}

Yes to both. Escapism is nice but I think art should also speak to power or have a message. Thats why kpop demon hunters is hitting so hard right now. Yes its fun but it's also has very powerful messaging that speaks to people's hearts

That’s the question, isn’t it? It’s probably both

ESCAPE PLEASE

I like the surrealism. You provided the color and shape that plays on someone’s imagination to “complete” it, in a sense. You painted a woman recently and my brain pushed forward Angela Bassett in the mid-1990s. Others might imagine someone else.

I prefer art that reflects escapism as it is.

Both for sure the more realistic elements ground the more magical ones and make them look more dream-like in contrast!

Both My favorites are the ones that are too real to be an escape, but too trippy to ground yourself on something