Our group focused on Post-modernism, what it is, how it started and the ideas behind it. Postmodernism started after World War II in the 1950’s. By just looking at the word itself, one can assume that it is related to Modernism. According to Chadwick, “ The term Postmodernism has been used to characterize the breaking down of the unified traditions of Modernism” (380). In a way, postmodernism is a reaction to modernism, but they used a complete different approach because of scientific and technological advancements. This new approach was made evident with the popularity of digital media as way of creating art. There was a phenomenal shift from traditional to modernized ways and views of making art. Some of the modernized forms of art included: billboards, posters, paintings, monuments, abstract paintings, collages, photographs, and films. Furthermore, the importance and focus shifts from the artist towards the art itself.
Barbara Kruger’s untitled art (Your Gaze Hits the Side of my Face) 1981 is a photograph, which already shows its modernity. As a woman trying to create a female subject position, Kruger's work often struggles with and critiques the forces that try to make women into objects, disallowing them subjectivity. Well versed in post-structuralist understandings of categorization, French critical thought, and feminist critique, Kruger blends text with image to deconstruct the tenets of traditional art. The image shows a photo of a classical female statue, the symbol of "beauty" in traditional art history, but undermines this interpretation by pointing out that the male gaze at the female object is an aggressive act that silences women from taking part in the discourse. Kruger's emphasis on breaking down socially constructed notions like "art" and "beauty" links her work to the mainstream of downtown work. The use of text in this also something brand new in the eyes of the viewers in the Postmodernist period. The unknown title also shows that the name of the art has little importance in the creation of the art, as long as the context is delivered through language and the image itself.
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| Poster installment by the Guerrilla Girls in NYC |
The Guerrilla Girls formed in 1985. When appearing in public their members wear gorilla masks to keep their identity secret because they believe the issues they fight for and the work itself should be the focus, not the artist behind them.
They formed as a response to the MoMa exhibition "An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture". The exhibition claimed to display the eras most important painters and sculptors, encompassing artists from 17 countries and a total of 165 artists. Of these 165 artists, only 13 were women and none of color.
The Guerrilla Girls main focus is to fight gender and racial inequality within grater art community. This includes film, popular culture and to some extent the political sphere. Furthermore, they are greatly concerned with Tokenism. Tokenism is a symbolic, insincere gesture of including a minority group in order to give the appearance of racial or sexual equality.
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| Sherrie Levine, "After Walker Evans", 1936 |
The last artist we chose is Sherrie Levine and her work "After Walker Evans". This photograph raises questions about originality and works of art and property in a culture which experiences much art only through its reproduction of Modernist art from the photographs of Walker Evans and Edward Weston. Sherrie Levine exhibited it as her own, this raises questions about the importance of the originality of art works.
Rephotographed woks, like this one, have typical characteristics of postmodernism. They contest notions of originality and authorship.
To conclude, Post-modernism was radical break from traditional norms. Especially the horrors of World War 2 made artists rethink and question conventional thinking and norms established within society. This included religion and science.
Most notably during Post-modernism, what was considered art expands considerably. Up until this point, art was reserved for only a few disciplines, such as painting and sculpturing, however during this age, anything can be considered art, depending what the artist wishes to express through his creation. This includes billboards, posters and photographs, which were previously not considered art.
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