Modernism, a philosophical movement that initiated at
the beginning of the 20th century,
was a turning point when life-changing attitudes arose especially after World
War I. These attitudes were influenced by redefining of culture based on the
modern world view with scientific discoveries, technological innovations, and
creativity. According to Chadwick, "modernity is both linked to the desire
for the new that fashion expresses so well, and culturally tied to the
development of a new language"(253). Due the changing view of the modern
world, traditional social and religious views were rejected which led to
experimentation and new theories in arts, politics, sciences and philosophy.
The switch from traditional to modern views was expressed in various ways, but
this discussion will be focused on art. In addition to that, women made contributions
that led to the development of abstraction, German expressionism, dada,
surrealism and other movements that that focused mainly on individualism,
discoveries and creativity. In these movements, women stepped out of their
comfort zones by expressing their own artistic styles and breaking away from
the standardized norms of the Western Society. In fact, Women were
encouraged by their teachers to divorce the idea of art from female experience
in order to be successful professionally (Chadwick 324). Success was redefined
as a choice for women to pursue, not just for men or to please them. In other
words, it was time for women to finally think about their own success, away
from the traditional view of the society that only men could be successful, and
women were only made to be child bearers and wives. The 20th century
movements that were mentioned will be discussed below, along with women’s
breakthroughs in applying new techniques of design and crafts in their
artworks.
Abstractionism
Abstractionism is a form of art that includes shapes, forms,
colors, and lines that create a visualization that is independent from everyday
world representations. This is a unique style of art because the meaning (if
there is one) of the thought or idea in the artwork would be hard to determine
because it does not replicate any physical or solid existence. The viewer could
only see distorted figures, vivid colors, and blurs. An example of abstract art
is Sonia Delaunay’s painting called Coverture de
Berceau. Most of Delaunay’s work is based in the theory of simultanisme, the
use of constructive and powerful colors. This illustrates her unique style that
stresses her creativity, which was even taken further in her involvement in
textiles and fashion. In her artwork, she successfully expressed the modernist
period which emphasize her individualism through joyful colors which can be
reflected in her various works not just in paintings, but also in her other
professional work such as clothing, and textile.
German Expressionism and Dadaism
German Expressionism is a cultural movement that reached its
peak in Berlin, Germany in the 1920’s after World War I and before World War
II. German Expressionism was mainly developed by the younger generation at the
time as a reaction against the bourgeois culture of Germany. It is definition
is both influenced by described by both the mindset of the artist creating the
work and the generation he or she lived in. For example, german expressionist
artist such as Hannah Hoch, revealed the piercing together of German society
after WWI, and the social political and artistic hypocrisies that existed in
this era through her artworks. She was one of the first German artists that
made photomontages such as The Kitchen Knife which displayed "the new
women", which are characterized as "independent, modern female,
free smoke, wear sexy clothes, vote and work" (Guerrilla Girls
66). In her artwork, she leaves a clue in the bottom-right corner of the
piece: a map showing countries in Europe at this time were women were allowed
to vote. This hint reminds viewer of her interest in pointing out gender issues
and inequality within the Dada/art world, but also within the society as a whole.
Hoch uses gender in her artwork to play games with the viewer’s perception, and
create juxtaposing and ambiguous messages. She couples the heads of prominent
male political figures with the bodies of female dancers and showgirls to
emasculate them, and strip them of their power. Not only that women were
allowed to vote, but they were also wearing revealing clothing which showed
their power and freedom. In Hock’s case, she combined German expressionism with
her idea of Dada which is an artistic movement that expressed the horrors of
World War I. The Dada movement began in Zurich, Switzerland but we can clearly
see that it had a major influence in Berlin Germany as a reaction towards World
War I and nationalism.
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early
1920’s, which featured the roles of women and their break free from societal
norms and stereotypes that questioned their abilities and strength. In a way,
it is a philosophical movement that that expresses the creativity of the
subconscious mind. For example, Frida Kahlo displayed irrational juxtaposition
of images in two of her paintings called The Flying Bed and The Broken Column.
In the Broken Column, the self-portrait embodies many elements including
isolation, a broken body, and intense suffering and pain which is related to
her own experience because she was involved in a traffic accident in which an
iron rod pierced her abdomen, right foot was crushed and multiple of her bones
were fractures. In The Flying Bed, Kahlo deals directly with her own
mortality and inability to have children with her husband Diego Rivera. Her
choice to express her real – life experiences showed that she was fearless in
expressing her own pain and hardships.
As
one can observe, Modernism was the era in which logical thinking and learning
from the past were encouraged in search for the abstract truth of life.
Modernism paved the way to postmodernism, which was the era during the late 20th century
which refers to the confused state of cultural developments. However,
postmodernism is more complicated to understand than modernism because of
various developments in due to economic, social, and cultural changes. Unlike
modernism, thinking and learning from the past in the postmodernist period was
discouraged because it was deemed to be irrational and unscientific. Moreover,
due to the advancements made in the field of science and technology and other
allied fields, the period of postmodernism saw no absolute truth in original
works; they were viewed as popular solely due to propagation. Furthermore,
digital media including photographs and video clips were used more than the
traditional way of making art to increase the speed of the creation of their
pieces, and copy the original works of the modernist period. Women continued to
express their views on feminism and their aim to achieve equality in the post
modernism period even though it was discouraged. A perfect example of a
postmodernist work that involved the use of digital media was Yoko Ono’s
YouTube clip called Cut Piece, which addressed Ono as a sexual object. Her
tormented clothes also imply that she’s being sexually abused. She does not
talk or move much throughout the “Cut Piece”, causing her to become an object
rather than a subject which implies what’s being done to her. Ono does not say
anything throughout the piece, but through her facial expressions near the end
of the clip, it is evident that she became uncomfortable with how sexually
aggressive people have become with her body and her clothing.
Another
example of a postmodernist piece is Sherrie Levine’s photograph called After
Walker Evans. The photograph raises questions about originality and works of
art and property in a culture which experiences much art only through its
reproductions. Sherrie Levine doesn’t pretend to be maker of the original image
either. Here, we can see refusal in authorship, rejection of self – expression
and originality, which is the exact opposite of modernism.
Works Cited:
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Thames & Hudson, 2007.
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