It is hard to imagine that in the 1940’s the US Government would have sold 117 American paintings as War Supplies. Although I think the intention of heralding the good news of Democracy isn’t the biggest sin, I do however question how the government, being a patron of art, alters what is available for public consumption. Does their support of specific art influence who and what is a factor in the fair market, saturating the art market with “approved” art?
http://www.artinterrupted.org/
12DV8
Salvador Dali’s The Conquest of the Irrational displays a run-on writing style that does not appear to offer any sense of reality at first reading. Trying to understand what is meant by the illegitimate child of logical intuition can be a bit off-putting, never mind the fact that he wrote about himself in third person. But since he was willing to identify himself as extravagance, I slowly and openly begin to accept the indulgence of an experience and consent to the fact that he hates any form of simplicity.
I can entertain the idea of concrete irrationality as bringing about the irrational inner self and making it concrete in the time and space that we are familiar with through the creation of art, and then subjecting it to “an experimental method based on the power that dominates the systematic associations peculiar to paranoia” to identify irrational knowledge. Although this seems a bit heady, I would look at it like looking at the clouds within yourself to doodling on the shapes that you see onto some tangible re ality.
His view about a paranoid-critical activity gives the irrational a stage to be presented in reality. He so strongly believes in these ideas that he gives gravity towards reevaluating the functionality of art history while placing Picasso’s hypermaterialist thoughts firmly above mathematical physics. Although I think that Dali was looking to make room for the next ideologies, I think his approach was a bit too removed from reality to become the key in the keyhole of transcendence that he might have wanted.
12DV8
Rockwell Kent, And Women Must Weep, 1937, Lithograph
The Schiller Collection is currently being held over at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio. Above, is the image I chose to write about out of all the pieces in the collection.
The Schiller Collection definitely has a theme to it, especially when looking at the varying interests of the Schiller Family. When paging through the book that the Museum had available, it really cam down a to a few points; Economic, War, and Race and Ethnicity. Out of those three it really came down to social justice and modern meanings behind the works. After looking through the book, I didn’t find it strange at all that Rockwell’s works should be included.
During Rockwell Kent’s life, he traveled throughout North America and found inspiration for his work after experiencing the landscape around the area. In the 1950s, he was blacklisted for being to leftist in his activism during the Red Scare. He ended up donating a majority of his work (More than 800 pieces) to the Soviet Union in the 1960s and has left many in the United States after his death.
This is a great example of his work just due to the fact that it’s a little different in how this isn’t a usual landscape piece and the emotions are clearly conveyed in this one. It’s obviously about grief and war and how women had to deal with losing husbands, brothers, and fathers to the drafts of WWII. The heavy shadowing on her body and the way it’s leaning up against the frame, head bowed unable to see her facial features suggests that she wants to hide her grief but her whole body conveys it in her stance and actions. Hidden somewhat behind the fence is a man marching off from his home, back turned from the woman. At this, we can only assume that this is the person she is crying over.
There are some wonderful motifs in here as far as how the theme of war and grief come across. I like that it greatly shows the level of what people had to go through when they had to watch a member of their family leave or possibly never come back. I’m sure as that man was walking away, that’s what many women were thinking, “Is this the last time I will see them?”
Also, the fine, minute details of the piece really draw you throughout the picture. The lighting, the atmosphere, the actual background with all the little details are just wonderful and contribute greatly to the overall work. Also, the composition is wonderful. You can’t help but look first at the woman and then as your eyes move throughout the work and you follow the fence heading down the hill, that is when you see the man and then the realization hits you that she is crying because someone she loves is going off to war.
L. Engle
Articles and images pertaining to world events are effortlessly obtained with a search on the internet. For those who choose to stay unaware, they will more than likely get a glimpse of the world through social media shares and re-post. More often than not, an image or opinion will replace an extended news report, and that image will most likely be a photograph. The art of the propaganda poster being wheat pasted onto a neighborhood building has gone the way of the digital announcement, becoming a minuscule embellishment on the computer monitor.
This poster by Tim Simons reminds me of a music festival poster. Lets revolt tonight dude! But honestly, Simons poster is reflecting a familiarity in its design, the xeroxed-guerrilla-figure look can only mean one thing right? Not to mention the distressed marks on the edges and typeface (this show is gonna be sick). How else can visual artist persuade the public to participate in action or awareness?
Defeating the Ideal 