Chapter11SocialProtest/Affirmation
• ProtestsAgainstMilitaryAction
• Anti-warart• FightingfortheOppressed
• QuestioningtheStatusQuo
• Politicallychargedart
JennyHolzer,Untitled(SelectedWritings),1989LEDelectronicsignboardwithgranitebenches.InstallationatGuggenheimMuseum,NY.
JennyHolzer.Untitled(SelectedWritings),USA,1989.ExtendedhelicalLEDelectronicsignboard,withselectedwritings;17IndianRedgranitebenches.InstallationviewatSolomonR.GuggenheimMuseum.
Holzer’sworkfocusesonthemassofimplicitbeliefsthatarewidelyacceptedintheUnitedStatestoday.Thequicklyflashingwordsshowhowamillionpossibilitiesofhalf-truthscandriveuscrazy.
InUntitled(SelectedWritings),HolzerwrappedelectronicsignsaroundthespiralinterioroftheSolomonR.GuggenheimMuseuminNewYorkCity.
Thephrasesseemfamiliar,buttheysoundcontradictoryorevenidiotic.Holzersays,
“They’reabouthowwedriveourselvescrazywithamillionpossibilitiesthatarehalfcorrect”.
“ProtectmefromwhatIwant,”writteninaculturewheremoneycanbuyalmostanything.
Theelectronicsignsflashwordslikeamass-mediaattack,andthentheyquicklyslipawayalmostbeforewecangraspthem.
Thesheernumberofphrases,thespeedatwhichweseethem,andtheircontradictorymessagesdestroythought.
AiWeiWei
AiWeiWei,Reframe,
Florence,Italy.Façadeof
PalazzoStrozzi,2016
AiWeiwei,SunflowerSeeds,2010
Strategiesforprotestingoppressioninworksofart:
• Beauty• Illustration• Narrative• Shock• Humor
JohnHeartfield,GoeringtheExecutioner,1933.
Photomontage.
GoeringtheExecutioner,isaphotomontage,combiningandmanipulatingnewsphotographsanddrawing.
ThesubjectisFieldMarshalHermannGoering,oftheNaziparty.
JohnHeartfield*dedicatedmuchofhisarttoexposingandcondemningthehorrorsofNaziGermany.
*BornHelmutHerzfeldelateranglicizedhisname.
Heartfield’smethodforGoering’sportrayalincludes:
®increasingthethicknessofGoering’sneck,emphasizingaggressiveness
®displayingtheburningReichstag,likelyperpetratedby
theNazis
®black-and-whiteelementsgivinganunvarnished,bluntquality
®meatcleaverandstainedapron,warningsofNazibloodshed
PROTESTS AGAINST MILITARY ACTION
Artistshavedepictedwar,glorifiedthevictors,shownthedefeated.
200yearsago,artistsbegantomakeartprotestingaparticularwarorwarfarealtogether.
Muchofpastartwasmadeforvictoriouspoliticalorreligiousleaders.Warfarewasameanstogainpower,artwasawaytodisplaythatpower.
Goya,ExecutionsofThirdofMay1808,
1814Spain
Goya,ExecutionsofThirdofMay1808,1814SpanishRomanticism
TheExecutionsofMay3,1808 - thecitizensofMadridunsuccessfullyroseupagainstNapoleonBonaparte’sarmy.Therioterswereexecutedoutsidethecity.
Goya:®depictsSpaniardsfacingthefiringline,weidentifywiththeir horror
®themaninwhite,armsoutstretchedislikeJesuscrucified
®thesoldiers,repeatedposes,hiddenfacesaredehumanized
®barrelsofpointedriflesarerigidlyorganized,awarmachine
Siqueiros,EchoofaScream,
1937
DavidAlfaroSiqueiros.EchoofaScream,Mexico,1937.Enamelonwood,48"× 36”
EchoofaScream isaresponsetothehorroroftheSpanishCivilWar.
Siqueiros’symbols:®screaming,helpless,child amidthe
destructionof warfarerepresentshumanity
®therepeatedlarge,detachedcryingchild’shead depicts thepainofunseenvictims
®darktonesaddasombernotetotheuglysurroundings
®Urbanization,industrialization,endlesspilesofwastethe resultofprogress
SiqueiroswasaMexicancitizenwhofoughtinSpainagainsttheFascistsandtheirNazibackers.
Pablo Picasso’s, Guernica, is another artwork that deals with the Spanish
Civil War.
COMPARE:DavidAlfaroSiqueiros’EchoofaScreamwithPicasso’sGuernica
KathëKollwitz1867-1945Self-Portrait,1910
KätheKollwitzdedicatedherworktoendingwarandpoverty.ShelosthersonandgrandsonduringWWIandWWII.Inherartwork,sheturnedtopastconflictstoshowthedestructiveenergyofwar.
Kollwitz,Poverty,1893,lithograph
Kollwitz,Outbreak,PeasantWarCycle1903,etching
Kollwitz,TheDeadChild,1903, etching
Kollwitz,NeverAgainWar,
1924,lithograph
RobertLongo,Untitled(FergusonPolice,August13,2014)
2014Diptych;charcoalonmountedpaper
7’x 10’
RobertLongo,Untitled(FergusonPolice,
August13,2014)currentlyonviewatthe
BroadMuseum
Thisisa10-ftwidecharcoaldrawingofalineoffacelesscops,cladandhelmetedinblack,silhouettedagainstsearchlightsinaswirlofilluminatedsmoke.Thisisabrilliantlypowerfuldrawing,basedonphotographstakenontheangrystreetsofFerguson,Missouri,after18-year-oldMichaelBrownwasshotdeadbyapoliceofficerthere.
RobertMotherwell,ElegytotheSpanishRepublicXXXIV,1953-1954.
AbstractExpressionism
RobertMotherwell,ElegytotheSpanishRepublic
XXXIV,1953-1954.AbstractExpressionism
•ElegytotheSpanishRepublicXXXIVispartofaseriesofpaintingsmourningthelossoflibertyinSpainaftertheFascistvictory.
•Motherwellbelievedabstractionuniversallycommunicatedthestrugglebetweenlifeanddeath,freedomandoppression.
•Thelargesizeofthepaintingmakesthesestrugglesseemmonumental.
RobertMotherwell,ElegytotheSpanishRepublic
XXXIV,1953-1954.AbstractExpressionism
Motherwell’sformsareinspiredbyawell-knownpoembyGarciaLorcathatconcernsaheroicbullfighterwhoisgoredinthering,andthe3symboliccolorscreateaurasaroundthekeyimagesofthepoem:
-theredblood-thebleachingwhitelightof the
sun-theblacknessofdeathandshadows
MotherwellwasinfluencedbytheSurrealistprocesscalledAutomatism,whichincorporatesintuition,spontaneity,andtheaccidentalwhencreatingartworks,similartohisAbstractExpressionismstyle.
AccordingtoarthistorianRobertHughes,theblack-and-whiteformssuggest:
®bulltesticles
®leatherberetsoftheGuardiaCivil
® livingformsbeingcrushedbytheblackbands
Motherwell,ElegytotheSpanishRepublic,1953-4
Delacroix,LibertyLeadingthePeople,1830FrenchRomanticism
ShomeiTomatsu,HibakushaTsuyoKataoka,(WomanwithKeloidalScars from
theseries11:02– Nagasaki).GelatinSilverPrint, Japan,1961.
Delacroix,LibertyLeadingthe
People,France,1830.
FrenchRomanticism
Beautyandexcitementcanbeveryeffectivestrategiesinprotestart.
InLibertyLeadingthePeople, LibertyhasbeenpersonifiedasapartiallynudewomanreminiscentofaGreekgoddess.
Energized,oblivioustodanger,shecarriesarifleandtheflagoftheFrenchRevolution.ThispaintingisanhomagetotheParisrevoltin1830.
LewisHine,MakingHumanJunkPoster,
1915“TheHighCostof
ChildLabor”
Adirectwaytomakesocialprotestartistoillustratetheoppressivesituation.
LewisHinephotographedmiserablelaborconditionsandslumhousingintheUnitedStates.
Knownforexposingchildlaborinminesandtextilemills,wherechildrenweredoingthelowest-paying,mosttediousjobs.
LewisHine,Self-Portraitwith
Newsboy,1908
LewisHine,Leo48”high,8yearsold,PicksupBobbinsat15¢aDay,
1910photograph
EdKienholz,TheStateHospital(exterior),1966
EdwardKienholz.TheStateHospital(detail),USA,1966.
Shockinguglinesscanbeusedintheserviceofprotestart.TheStateHospital,criticizesthewaysocietydealswithincompetentpeople.Thepatientiscompletelyisolatedandhasnolifebeyondthisroom.
EdKienholz,TheStateHospital
(interior),1966
tableaux-lonelinessanddespaircausedby
society.
EsterHernandez,SunMad,
1981serigraph
KaraWalker,Untitled,1998
KaraWalker,Beat,1998
KaraWalker,LookAway!LookAway!LookAway!1995
KaraWalker,TheyWazNiceWhiteFolksWhileTheyLasted,2001
Theimageryisbasedonfactandfantasy.“TheyWazNice
WhiteFolksWhileTheyLasted”(Says
OneGaltoAnother) ,cutoutsareenhancedwithprojectionsindarkenedgalleries.
YinkaShonibare,Mr.&Mrs.AndrewsWithoutTheirHeads,1998
YinkaShonibare,Mr.&Mrs.AndrewsWithoutTheir
Heads,1998
PostmodernArt
Historicalquotes,clothing,andhumorareusedtoprotestthecolonialpastinMr.andMrs.AndrewsWithoutTheirHeads.
Thearistocratsareheadless,recallingthefateoftherulingclassduringtheFrenchRevolution.
Theprintedcottoncloth,whichMr.andMrs.Andrewsarewearing,isassociatedwithAfricanculture.
TheclothisnotAfricanatall,butismadeinthebatikmethodthattheDutchandEnglishmanufacturerslearnedinIndonesiaandthensoldinWestAfrica.
ThomasGainsborough,Mr.&Mrs.Andrews,1750
18th c.GrandMannerBritishPortraiture
ComparethetableauxbyYinkaShonibaretotheportraitbyBritishAcademicpainter,Gainsborough
YinkaShonibare,Mr.&Mrs.AndrewsWithoutTheir
Heads,1998Postmodernism
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WilliamHogarth,MarriagealaMode:TheMarriageContract,1745
Hogarth,MarriagealaMode:
BreakfastScene,1745English
SatiricalPainting
TotrulyunderstandthisseriesofpaintingsbyHogarthyouneedtoviewthevideoonSmartHistory.
Daumier,TheLegislativeBelly, 1834.Lithograph.
RobertArneson,PortraitofGeorge,1981.
Glazedceramic.
WilliamKentridge,DrawingfromMine,1991
Charcoal
Kentridge isaSouthAfricanartistwhocreatedafilmfromdrawingshemadebasedonthecausesandinjusticesofapartheid.
WilliamKentridge,DrawingfromMine,
1991Charcoal
Thereare18drawingsthatmakeupthis35mm.film-Ittellsabrieftaleofaninventedcharacter,Soho Eckstein,awhiteSo.Africanpropertyownerwhoexploitstheresourcesoflandandblackhumanlaborwhichareunderhisdomain.-alinktothefilmisavailableonMoodle.
MiguelAntonioBonilla,TheKnot,
1994,AcryliconCanvas,ElSalvador
MiguelAntonioBonilla,TheKnot,1994
MiguelAntonioBonillaisespeciallyrecognizedforhisoftencomicalandsatiricalcriticismsofpoliticalcorruptioninCentralAmerica.Thepainting,TheKnot,wascreatedattheendofthecivilwarinElSalvadorfoughtbetween1980and1992.Theimageisoftwodominantfiguresstandingsidebysideconnectedbyaredandwhitecandycanecord,inthereferencetopersonalcollusion.InmanyLatinAmericancountriesithasbeencommonforcorruptpoliticiansandmilitaryofficialstoconspiretogethertosuppressthecivilrightsofindividualsandtoexercisepoliticalpersecutionandviolence.Thissatiricalbutpoignantworkisacommentaryonthecorruptionofmilitaryleadersandstategovernmentsthatrepresentpoliticaloppressionthroughouttheworld.