Who Decides Artwork

I had studied for 10 years how to draw from observation, copying life-models, linear perspective, color theory, traditional composition etc. In those years, there wasn’t a chance to learn about the abstract art. During the70s in my homeland, the abstract art was prohibited. During the 80s at the Cuban University of Arts, the abstract art was not part of the studies. At that university professors were teaching that to paint abstract there’s nothing to study about. In art was I always or almost always was supposed to send messages to the audience. Enough with the massages. Only the paint itself as a subject.