Reflection of Politics and Social Criticism in Arts - Coursework Example

Reflection of Politics and Social Criticism in Arts Painting as a visual art has transformed through various movements like realism, Dadaism surrealism, symbolism, expressionalism, cubism etc. The traditional elements in each have always questioned by the emerging experimental forms; and therefore evolved a new school of thought. The efforts for novelty in the depiction of human conditions resulted in these new artists cultivating fresh forms. However in most cases, the so called innovations are no more than a permutation of the existing potential. But the effect of art is so captivating on human mind that the few new artists had an impressive effect on the society. They created a special social movement that can bring about changes in human life. While people usually tend to steer away from writings on philosophy they rather enjoy it if philosophical thoughts are revealed through fiction, paintings or other forms of art. For instance, communist movement in west spread across the world due to its representation in the works by various artists. In the same lines, some artists do seek political roles in their art and try to propagate the theories they believe in through the media of art. This can be witnessed in the case of three pioneering artists of twenty century who used their medium to project Marxian ideals as well as to criticize the flawed social set up of their times. Diego Rivera, an artist in the realm of murals and paintings, was a Mexican, born in Guanajunto on December, 1886. Rivera had a long sojourn in Europe for 14 years between 1907 and 1921. During this period he came in direct association with French intellectual and political life, which provided him the opportunity to meet eminent figures like Pablo Picasso Georges Brague and several other renowned artists. Due to their influence, he became an inspired cubist producing a series of cubist works during the period between 1914 to1917. An artist cannot remain long in seclusion, cut off from the milieu of political and social upheavals during his time and this obviously holds true in the case of Diego River, too. The chaos of World War-I and the resultant wretched existence of human beings, acted as an intellectual stimulation that prompted some of his works. Communism then ascended as a new political philosophy in the West, and it lent a new life to all art forms and its influence especially marked in painting was both impressive and manifold. Political content in Rivera’s work is apparent through his association with the communist party, especially from his paintings on Lenin, as also from his explicit party affiliations. “In 1922 Rivera joined the Mexican Communist Party and, in 1927, traveled to the Soviet Union to participate in the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. The Soviets recognized him as a great Communist artist whose art was dedicated to the public and the masses.” (Badikian, Beatriz. Diego Rivera. St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture). Almost 5 years later, in 1927, he traveled to Soviet Union to take part in the tenth anniversary of October revolution. He was widely recognized as great communist artist using his medium to illustrate the aspirations of masses. Further more, his meeting with David Alfaro Siqueiros in Paris, another painter of high significance, became the turning point in his approach to painting. They agreed on the need for making art accessible to all and sundry rather than to be products for the enjoyment of a few connoisseurs that can fit into the framework of intellectuals. Until then, the arts and paintings remained inside museums and galleries and almost formed an iron curtain that separated people and art. Therefore, their new movement sought to make art popular and they created a new iconography that could illustrate complex social situation and they began to paint on the wall of public buildings and open places. They also believed if their art reached the common man it would give leverage in the promotion of their political thoughts and ideologies. There are several examples of Deigo Rivera’s paintings that vouch for his political affiliation to communism. His major works like, like The Arsenal(1928), Man, Controller of the Universe (1934), The Man at the cross Roads (1933). Among them The Man, Controller of Universe, is extremely political. The painting has Lenin at the centre, flanked by Trotsky and others. It portrays people cutting across all social spectrum, their faces are sharp with the use of red merging with pale light, subtly illustrating their loyalty to communism. The man, Controller of Universe is political as it is rife with the hopes about a new world order. Thus it becomes evident that Rivera’s paintings deftly illustrate the political ideologies to which the painter so ardently subscribes. An equal political fervor can be seen layered throughout the works of George Grosz too, though not altogether similar in style and approach. Indeed George Grosz reacted to the flawed social situation in Germany using art as the medium for social criticism. In this respect both Diego Rivera and Goerge Grosz have many things in common. Both came under the influence of communism and promoted it as a political ideology to answer the concerns of social order. Subsequently their approach to art and life under went tremendous changes. Reflecting contemporary social issues, Goerge Grosz’s work became illustrations of the wretched existence of humans and he used his artistic talents as a platform for social criticism. Thus he verbalized the general chaos and unrest that relegated the lives of millions to a state of misery and injustice. George Grosz, contemporary to Diego Rivera, was born in Berlin, in Germany in 1893. In 1918 he became a card holder of communist party and also was a leading contributor to the Berlin based Dada movement, a nihilistic philosophy in arts. “But for many of those who had been well off before the war, it was a time to grow even richer: capitalist entrepreneurs could pay off their business loans with developed money and buy the commodity called labor with money of steadily decreasing value” (Schneede page 147) Grosz says, refer to Hugo Stinnes, one enterprising business man who (assisted by the inflation) gained control of more than 1600 companies (employing 300000workers) for a fraction of their true value. (Abrechnung Folgt! 57 Politische Zeichnungen). The life and times of George Grosz is particularly noteworthy as it has a definite say in evolving the political content in his art. It transpires from the following that Grosz was in fact political in his approach to art and found art as a means to question the ills of the society, “Like many of his contemporaries Grosz joined the Communist Party and devoted all his artistic energy to the furtherance of the revolutionary cause. He believed fervently that art should be a weapon in the hands of the proletariat”. (Sanders, Tim. Feature Article: Satires on the System). He made it no secret and he vowed allegiance to community party was an apparent pointer to understand his art better, and that would help deciphering his works. It would be practically difficult to comprehend his work without having a prior knowledge of his political affiliations and his motivation for social reforms. The particularly note-worthy technique of modern art, photomontage, had its origin in Grosz. This new form depends heavenly on cutting together of images and text to communicate a message. It was employed as part of his political activity to send anti-war postcard to soldiers at the front. There are several works of Grosz that can speak volumes on his political affiliation and its subtle use in art. In order to capture the true situation of the interwar Germany Grosz’s profuse application of irony and cynicism can be seen as being profoundly effective. He expressed himself at his best in caricatures relating to human conditions of the post war Germany. Marlow Now-And Then, has a knight reflecting against the backdrop of Swastika, smothered by arms and ammunitions which is suggestive of the flawed German social conditions. The second caricature, And Then, depicts a caption, ‘Got his training sometime ago’ with a killer standing with a smoking gun, turning his back to the world. Strewn in the background are carcasses as though they were trash dumped at a waste treatment place. These works illustrate the incorrigible general situation and also speaks immensely of the deep rooted cynicism in Grosz. These caricatures manifest Grosz’s ability to employ art as a medium for social criticism and promoting political ideologies. In Judy Chicago one may see a breed of creative genius who revolted against male chauvinism who chose to address the problems of women and hence her paintings are rebelliously uncanny. The other two artists’ involvement in politics can be seen as finding expression in a different manner in Judy’s paintings too. Born in 1939 in Chicago, in a working class Jewish family, she was educated at the University of California, Loss Angeles, where she found male domination as a social excess. Her teaching career at California’s Fresno State University and a closer exposure to social life made her see the wretched condition of women in a more clear terms. Her association with Miriam Schapiro, an artist who stood for women’s cause, was a path breaking event. “She collaborated with the artist Miriam Schapiro in partnership that was sometimes productive but so competitive that it finally ended acrimoniously. In 1972, with their students, they created Woman House as both an educational center and an artistic statement about the devaluation of domesticity. Like the dinner party, which lay ahead, Woman House created controversy with in the making the art and shocked much of the public”. (Liss, Barbara. Book Reviews. Setting the Table). The Dinner Party was an outstanding work that fought the cause of woman in a new way and became a controversial. Judy had used the services of volunteers to finish the work which began in 1974 and took five years to complete. It was a symbolic work depicting a massive ceremonial banquet on a triangular table measuring one thousand square feet, and having thirty-nine place-setting for an equal number of honored guests ranging from mythical times to modern. The embroidered runner commemorated the guest of honor. The use of vaginal imagery in the platters was a shock treatment for the male dominated society. Moreover, there are several elements of art works involved in the creation of Dinner Party, like embroidery and China painting. Through such an amazing work, Judy has underscored the historic relevance of the second sex as well as she could focus on the wretched of women because of the domination of men. Dinner Party is still considered as a masterly blend of several artistic and social elements together to promulgate the importance of women through history. Another prominent work belonging to the Woman House category is, Ironing Performance, 1972. It portrays a woman with an unkempt hair standing by a table with an iron; eyes glued in concentration and head tilted a little to the left. The left side of her face merges with pitched darkness, while the right is painted in red. The background is black, except for the mix of pale blue and brown. The area at the tablecloth is giving off a yellowish white and is specked with dark spots that slightly merge with the dominant white color. The domestic drudgery of women has been portrayed with the use of color and figure .The woman here is the representative of the class apart who are inherit burden from generation to generation. The profuse use of black is a telling element that speaks volumes of their situation. Here, Judy is pertinently political with the calculated aim of educating society of women’s deplorable state and tries to exhort them to awakening. Absence of vaginal imagery is conspicuous as the sub human state of woman has many dimensions and can be seen overriding in several spheres of their life. Her other work Woman House, The menstruation Bath Room, portrays a bathroom with a dustbin filled with trash placed at a raised plateau on the ground. This speaks obviously of the wretched anatomical situation of woman. The whole space is thick with yellow, barring the patches of blue at the top and edges, as if spilled from a receptacle. On the wall is a raised platform with household goods. The dominance of yellow and blue creates an opacity that verbalizes the condition of second sex. By the subtle use of color and figures, Judy gives a sense that women languish forever within an ever-shrinking space. The artist doesn’t portray her theme in explicit terms in menstruation bathroom but it vigorously seeks to address the mean existence of woman. All three artists approached the wretchedness of human situation using the full potential of their artistic tools and it underlines the relevance of the art as a medium to express political slant of the artist. These artists have also used art to register their criticism for the social order existing in their times. It appears to be often extending to the realm of the propaganda work. But one has to admit the fact that art cannot ever remain purely for entertainment purpose alone. It is a great tool that can appeal to the mind of humanity. The place where weapon fails is the place where the brush or pen can win, because art has the great moral strength that stems from the artists’ innermost soul and strike with might against the maddening chaos of every life and its follies. All artists discussed here used the full potential of their medium to vocalize their reaction; so they are political in a profound sense of the word. Annexure-I Art of Rivera Source: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2004/rivera/returntospain.shtm Annexure-II Art of Grosz Source: http://www.graphicwitness.org/historic/gr0.htm Annexure-III Art of Judy Chicago Source: http://www.genders.org/g32/g32_bailey.html Work Cited Badikian, Beatriz. Diego Rivera. St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. 3 Mar. 2007 . Abrechnung Folgt! 57 Politische Zeichnungen. 3 Mar. 2007 . Sanders, Tim. Feature Article: Satires on the System. 3 Mar. 2007 . Liss, Barbara. Book Reviews. Setting the Table. 23 Mar. 2007. 3 Mar. 2007 . Read More