Written by: Raina Tian
With a series of prominent exhibitions in the 1960s, Post-minimalism arose as an emotional, abstract response to minimalism. The 1966 New York Exhibition, Eccentric Abstraction, curated by Lucy Lippard consisted of emotional, unconventional pieces Lippard recognized were influenced by Surrealism, Dadaism, and Expressionism. However, the term “Post-minimalism” was coined by Robert Pincus-Witten, a historian who, upon viewing the exhibition, recognized these pieces as a larger movement in response to Minimalism. The idea of the aesthetic was emphasized by the title of a 1969 White Museum exhibition, Anti-Illusion, where artists emphasized lack of expression through sculpture. Post-minimalism’s various principles were unified by little other than a response to minimalism and an emphasis on abstraction. Some sought to extend the goal of minimalism, creating art which was strongly defined yet abstract in nature while others rejected the cold, impersonal nature of minimalism. Those who sought to extend minimalism utilized processes which involved less “manipulation” of the material, presenting it in ways which seemed unprocessed or natural. The use of natural forces such as gravity to alter composition contrasted Minimalism’s intentional and precise manipulation of form and composition. Those who rejected Minimalism sought to reinject emotion and human expression into sculpture, focusing on themes related to human experience and perception. A unification of interests and practices, Post-minimalism is less of a movement and more of an umbrella term for its subcategories. This is due to the amorphous nature of the principles which the art followed and its focus on human experience and emotion, themes open to interpretation. Subcategories such as body art, performance art, and process art responded to minimalism each through their own characteristics and practices. Process art sought to include the process by which the piece was made in the meaning. Generally, its focus shifts from a desired form or shape to spontaneous moments in time during the process of creation. It emphasized the characteristics of the media it utilized while making clear the process to the viewer. Where Minimalism sought to conceal evidence of human touch, process art included the spontaneous actions of people in its meaning. Body art focused on using the human body as a medium of artistic expression. It sought to remove the impersonal nature of Minimalism through its literal incorporation of human experience. Human perception and experience were represented through bringing awareness of the passage of time and the physical experience of individuals. In Vito Acconci’s Blinks 1969, Acconci walked down a street and took a picture of the location of every one of his blinks. As the concept of pain is heavily linked to human experience, body art could sometimes be aggressive, such as in the case of Chris Burden’s performance pieces. Chris Burden sought to explore the experience of pain and human suffering through a combination of body art and performance art. He would place himself in endangering situations in stunts such as trapping himself in a locker without food for days and nailing himself to a car. Much of his art resulted in self-mutilation as part of the process or resulting experience. On the other hand, Anish Kapoor involves the viewer in his usually large and involved installations. His work aims to induce emotional responses and self-reflection through their usage of space and occasionally, reflective surfaces. Post-minimalism declined in the 1980s as traditional media grew once more in popularity. However, its influence remains prominent today as it laid the foundations for politically themed work such as performative stunts. As a multi-faceted movement, it maintains relevance today through strands such as performance art and process art.
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Written by: Jacqueline Yu Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, in my completely unbiased opinion, was a visionary, a mastermind, an expert draftsman who depicted the secret, seldom told lives of prostitutes and performers. His signature style of sharp and clear contour lines coupled with bright colors and dramatic lighting captivated and continues to captivate audiences. His works tell stories, lives of beauty, glamour, and hardship conveyed in the simplest of strokes. Lautrec was born on November 24, 1864 to an aristocratic family. He loved horses as a child and, despite being of bad health due to his parents being first cousins, often rode them. He suffered two horrible riding accidents, and his legs stopped growing. This incident would eventually cause Lautrec to be only five feet at full height and suffer from immense pain everyday. After his accidents, he started taking art lessons with Rene Princeteau, who helped Lautrec channel his love for horses into drawing and painting. As a result, much of his early work is of horses. Soon after beginning his painting career, Lautrec discovered the impressionists and was particularly impressed by Edgar Degas’ depictions of ballerinas and stage life. Lautrec moved to Paris and rebuffed the “École des Beaux-Arts,” the primary school for the arts at the time which taught students how to paint like the Italian Renaissance, in favor of taking private lessons from Leon Bonnat and Bernard Corman which he afforded with the aid of his parents. His private lessons taught Lautrec to take experimental approaches to art and to become friends with Vincent Van Gogh and Emile Bernard. Lautrec was a massive proponent of the Parisian nightlife. He was charming and witty and a staple in Montmartre, the nightclub/red light district. He frequented cabarets, bars, circuses, and brothels and was even known by the prostitutes as “the coffeepot” due to his short stature. He liked to sketch the women of Montmartre in action like many impressionists who worked “en plein air.” In contrast, his obsession with the urban nightlife is decisively different than most other impressionists like Manet who focused on upper-middle class leisure. As an artist, Lautrec was very popular. Businesses were constantly competing for consumers due to the influx of people looking for work in Paris, and they needed advertisements to win the hearts of the people. Lautrec’s first poster of Moulin rouge brought crowds of people to the cabaret, and he quickly became a hit among nightclubs. His dynamic forms and bold colors attracted the attention of common folk who would then visit the advertised establishment. Cabarets would thank Lautrec for his service and ensure he would continue doing work for them by giving him a free seat and displaying his paintings all over the walls. Montmartre became Lautrec’s gallery. At the end of his life, Lautrec’s popularity allowed him to go into any club or performance he wanted with VIP status. He became close with many prostitutes and sometimes even lived in brothels. He repaid the kindness and humanity of these women with money, drawing them in a series called Elles, and, in Suzanne Valadon’s case, art lessons. In 1901, Lautrec died from a combination of alcoholism and syphilis leaving behind hundreds of sketches, paintings, and posters. Lautrec’s art continues to be influential today, inspiring artists all around the world with his unique aesthetic and style. His pieces represent a period of time where the focus of impressionism began drifting away from the tranquillity and monotony of upper middle class lifestyle and nature scenes to a more vibrant, vivacious nightlife. Citations:
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/laut/hd_laut.htm https://www.theartstory.org/artist-toulouse-lautrec-henri.htm Written by: Alex Broening Salvador Dali is difficult to describe. Throughout his life he explored a vast variety of styles and mediums, switching between them often. Dali also seemed to personify the idea of a paradox. Even as an extremely public figure, Salvador Dali remained extremely enigmatic, and while fascinated by the metaphysical, Dali greatly desired wealth and fame. Dalí was a remarkably interesting artist, and his art, well known and ubiquitous, clearly shows both his eccentricity and genius. Born in 1904 on the outskirts of Barcelona, Dalí was an peculiar child. Self-centered, quick to anger, and very sensitive, he was clearly different than most children. He quickly showed an aptitude for art, and his mother actively encouraged his interest, nurturing his creativity and wild imagination. By the age of 10, Dalí was receiving drawing lessons, and was enrolled in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid in his late teens. Dalí’s skill was apparent, but his flamboyant and slightly odd personality continued to cause problems. Dalí experimented with a vast range of styles during his time at the Academy, but was ultimately expelled without a diploma when he refused to perform his oral exam in front of three professors that he believed were massively less intelligent than himself. After his expulsion, Dalí was inspired by futurism and cubism, as well as artists such as Giorgio de Chirico and Joan Miró. He was also interested in Freud’s idea of Psychoanalysis, and was drawn to a group of French Surrealists who were dedicated to making art with the application of Freud’s theories. Dalí really emerged into the Paris art scene with his contribution to the filming of Luis Bruñuel’s Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog). This 17-minute film released in 1929 was incoherent and dreamlike, showing sequences including a razor cutting into a woman’s eye, ants eating a rotten hand, and priests dragging dead donkeys. The film was sexually and politically shocking and made Dalí well known – even infamous. Dalí was soon invited to join the Surrealists, and began to produce the surreal art for which he is well known today. In the 1930s, Dalí became so invested in the psychoanalytical ideas of Freud and the dream-like quality of surrealism that he created his own method for an artist to tap into their subconscious. Called the Paranoiac Critical Method, Dalí claimed that through “systematic irrational thought and self-induced paranoid states,” he could tap into his unconscious and trigger a dreamlike state. Upon emergence from those states, Dalí would paint his dream-scapes, producing famous works such as The Persistence of Memory and Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War). Dalí’s works were filled with Freudian imagery as well as imagery he saw in his own dreams. He believed that these images and themes such as death, eroticism, and space were universally part of human subconsciousness, and that the symbols could be used to communicate to everyone through emotions, ideas, and instinct. In 1939, Dalí was removed from the Surrealist group by André Breton because of their different political beliefs. While his art stayed as charged and as bewildering as it had always been, Dalí began to explore more traditional styles of painting. Dalí’s fame grew, and so did his interactions with the wealthy and the famous. Between 1940, and 1948, Dalí lived in the United States, both in New York City and in California. In this time, he expanded his scope, designing sets, jewelry, clothing, and furniture. Dalí’s focus on wealth and fame naturally drew him to Hollywood, but he found little fame there. While in Hollywood, however, he worked with director Alfred Hitchcock to create the dream-sequence in the 1945 movie Spellbound. Dalí also worked with Walt Disney on the cartoon Destino, however that was put on hold, and only completed in 2003. After returning to Spain, Dalí continued to evolve, beginning a long period in which he made increasing use of visual illusions, trompe l'oeil, and negative space. While retaining much of his Surrealist roots, he became fascinated with nuclear physics and the role it played in his society, developing a style that he called “Nuclear Mysticism.” His 1951 Raphaelesque Head Exploding is an example of Dalí’s explorations into this territory. Dalí was just as famous for his stunts and publicity as for his art. Always the flamboyant character, Dalí often performed stunts to attract the public’s attention. Showing up to a lecture in a Rolls Royce painted as a cauliflower, and lying in a robe on a bed in a bookstore to promote his book are just a few examples of what was a common occurrence for Dalí. Dalí’s wife died in 1982, leaving Dalí in a state of deep depression. Dalí remained largely bedridden until his own death in 1989 at 84 years old. Dalí’s surrealism had had an enormous effect on the art of the 20th century, and would remain distinct and iconic for decades to come. |
ContributorsJACQUELINE YU is the co-founder of the MLWGS art history online magazine. She is an incredible artist and devotes much of her time to both participating in, experiencing, and appreciating art. Archives
April 2019
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