Communication In Art

I chose two artists who both used their art to communicate messages. One boldly and with actual statements, the other more subtly through images portrayed in his works. These two artists are Mark Tansey and Barbara Kruger. First we will explore a little bit about Tansey. Born in 1949 to art historians I’m sure Tansey grew up exposed to all kinds of art as well as techniques. Tansey tends towards monochromatic imagery but his paintings are powerful nonetheless. Some of his works had a social message like Purity Test painted in 1982.

Purity Test 1982

The spiral the Native Americans are looking at is called Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson, however the native Americans don’t know it is supposed to be art and are trying to interpret it as a symbol. I think this is a commentary on what we do every time we look at art. Effectively I believe Tansey is equating the viewers with the Native Americans looking for symbolism when there might not be any. Or conversely thinking an event is natural when in fact it is man-made. Apparently the Spiral Jetty disappeared when the water level of the body of water it is located in rises, I”m sure this appeared quite mystical to native Americans at the time.

Tansey also painted The Innocent Eye Test in 1981 which I believe is also a commentary on the way we view art. In this painting a cow is being shown a painting by some gentleman, and they want to see what the cow’s reaction is. I believe Tansey was attempting to show us that when an artist is unveiling a new piece, we are the cow and he simply wants to see what our reaction is. It is quite a funny painting it has all the ceremony of an unveiling…but with cows instead of people!

The Innocent Eye Test 1981

Something I noticed was the use of the word test. When I think of tests I think of passing or failing,and I wonder what exactly the reaction would have to be for the piece to fail. The last piece I chose by Tansey is a little bit more humorous, and in keeping with his style monochromatic. I particularly love the impatience the female character is communicating to the man who is attempting to open the gate with his key. You can see it in the way she holds her body, tilts her head, and how he appears to be rushing to open the gate. This painting to me communicates the attitude of women of the era he chose to portray, which I think is the 40’s or 50’s as he has several paintings featuring people from that time period. Glamorous movie stars like the woman I imagine in that gown didn’t wait for anything and certainly not for a man to find The Key!

The Key 1984

So where Tansey communicates his messages through humor, reflection, and more subtle cues, which makes the viewer work more to understand and digest the message; my second artist Barbara Kruger literally pastes statements across imagery to challenge the viewer.

Kruger is a social activist and often uses her art to draw attention to her cause. Kruger was born in New Jersey in 1945 and is an avid feminist and fights against the idea presented by consumerism that women’s bodies are a commodity. Kruger often selects images in popular magazines and then creates phrases designed to incite passion, stir thought, and challenge beliefs. I chose several pieces because I love the boldness of her work.

Your Body Is A Battleground 1989

This piece is a commentary on the issue of abortion and how rights regarding women’s bodies, and things happening inside of them are being decided by external forces (legislators) and yet directly affect women’s lives. I absolutely love how Kruger speaks directly to women and basically has created a call to arms. Kruger’s message is no subtle blending of cues, it is a kick to the face and I appreciate that boldness.

Pro-Life for the Unborn Pro Death for the Born 2000

Again this piece is a commentary regarding abortion and the hypocrisy surrounding fighting for the right of an unborn fetus to be brought into this world only to starve, live on the streets, not have access to medical care by cutting entitlement programs and not supporting mothers. This piece asks the question why do the people making these laws care about the child before it is born and not once it is outside the womb. I think she specifically pictured Bush because he was a representative of the party known for pushing the anti-abortion agenda. Again she is not subtle, she is communicating quite clearly her opinions regarding this hypocrisy.

If We Can They Can Unknown

I picked this piece because of all the legal changes regarding gay marriage lately. I love the symbolism of two people holding hands, united, and that she used the bold red color to divide the image. I think this symbolizes the way some are trying to keep gay couples apart by not legally recognizing their unions when they are actually already a unit. I love this piece and how she again chooses to communicate so boldly, however I do think this piece has more of a hidden message due to the placement of the color on the photograph.

Both of these artists communicated with their viewer and what I really enjoyed was the variety in how they chose to do so. Tansey evoked ideals of days gone by, his color palette was deliberately old fashioned, and because of his painting method he had to create his works very quickly. Kruger used a more modern medium of magazine photographs covered with bold colors and words but both artists communicated the need for their viewer to think, really think about their world and what goes on in it.

Sources

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/tansey_ext.html

http://www.evl.uic.edu/davidson/CurrentProjects98/ET_VisualInfo/Mark_Tansey.html

http://www.barbarakruger.com/biography.shtml

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/Barbara-Kruger.html

http://www2.palomar.edu/users/mhudelson/StudyGuides/20thCentLate_WA.html

The Great Depression

This era has been of huge impact in my life. I was raised by my grandmother and she experienced some parts of the Great Depression and as a result had some behaviors and beliefs that she passed along to me and still continue to influence me today. I was extremely excited to explore the art of this time period and see some of what she might have seen. I was particularly drawn to images of the working class, as my grandmother was a member of that culture. I will explore the art created during this time with the angle of interpreting changes in society at the time, and how they were reflected in the art created. The first piece I chose was created by Hugo Gellert in 1933 and titled The Working Day, no. 37. I chose to focus on works by Hugo Gellert because I wanted to create a sense of his viewpoint of the time and I particularly enjoyed his focus on the working man.

The Working Day, no. 37. 1933

I love this piece, Hugo was a political activist who wrote as well as drew and often his art was a representative of his writing since the two were tied inextricably together. This piece was created I believe to show how both African Americans and Caucasian working men were experiencing the Great Depression, back to back with tools in hand. These were no weak men shirking their duties, they faced the difficulties of the day unflinchingly and with determination. This is clear in the broad shoulders, large muscles from working long hours, and their clothing, designed for hard work. This piece to me speaks of pride, determination, and a willingness to work together, these men are not at odds they are comrades. All qualities needed to build a life in the Great Depression.

Primary Accumulation 19. 1933

In keeping with his portrayals of working men, the man in this piece, Primary Accumulation 19 is muscular and dressed for work. The character’s hand is clenched, in anger or determination, and his neck muscles are clearly bulging from the force of his shouts into the bullhorn. This man is speaking to the crowd, probably leading one of the many strikes that occurred during this era as men pushed for better working conditions, better pay, and better working hours. The idea of the 8 hour work day was relatively new at this time, and previously men were used to laboring as long as there was light and sometimes after; 12 hour days were not uncommon, but during the Great Depression working men began to push for a balance of their work and home life, and one of the ways they expressed their discontent was through labor strikes. I love the intensity of this drawing, the energy I can imagine he created in the crowd as he used his body honed by years of hard labor to physically make his point, lashing his hand through the air.

The Wounded Striker and the Soldier. 1936

As sometimes happens with strikes and riots, oftentimes police were called in to disperse the crowds. Wealthy factory and mine owners did not want their labor force banding together and sowing discontentt so they often used their connections with the police force in order to physically deter protesters from staying in their groups. This piece shows a soldier with his bayonet point at the neck of what is clearly another working man, the same overalls and broad muscular shoulders, and the same chiseled jawline. Clearly Gellert envisioned the working man as strong and shaped by his work, in contrast the soldier is not as well built nor as defined facially. Perhaps this was done to create the impression of uniformity among the soldiers, we may never know. I can’t help but wonder if Gellert is trying to call to mind the saying “stabbed in the back” by the positioning of the bodies in this picture, since in fact the soldiers were working men as well, just working for the interests of the wealthy.

I greatly enjoyed all of Gellert’s works, and he often used the same title but added numbers afterwards for his pieces, thereby creating a series. If you want to know more about his political leanings, and his experiences during the Great Depression I highly recommend visiting the links I’ve provided. Hugo Gellert was originally born in Hungary but immigrated to the United States, his life was touched by WWI like many people of the time when his brother was called to serve. Gellert’s brother was a conscientious objector who refused to participate in the war and was placed in military prison where he was suspiciously shot and killed. Military information claimed it was suicide but the circumstances said otherwise and I believe this event helped drive Gellert to create the art he did. Gellert used his drawings to highlight the rampant greed of wealthy railroad barons and steel tycoons, as well as to highlight the strength and fortitude of the working class; he rallied people behind images they could understand and relate to and I believe had a huge impact on society during the Great Depression.

Sources

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/artgallery.htm

http://allinsongallery.com/gellert/index.html

http://www.graphicwitness.org/contemp/gellert1.htm

http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/hugo-gellert-papers-7845/more