Part 2 - Artists, Movements and Styles in Modern Art

                                         

                                                   

                                              

                                 Dada - Art and Anti-Art (1916-1922)

MAN RAY (1890 - 1976)

' cadea (Gift) 1921 ( Flat Iron with Brass Tacks )

Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky) on August 27 1890, in Pennsylvania. He was an American Modernist Artist in Painting, Photography, Assemblage, Collage, and Film. He spent most of his life in Europe, in France to be precise. His movements were; Dadaism and Surrealism. He died on the 18th of November 1976, in paris, France. 

INTERPRETATION OF THE PIECE

It looks so simple to give a clearer meaning to the dadaism theme behind it. The object is a flat iron with its surface pierced and fixed by an erected nails or tacks. The color is dark or black. The meaning of it can be attributed to the unpleasant social conditions at the time that had just gone contrary to the accepted norms, standards, or beliefs of the society in question. It was created to make mockery of the status quo, and to say that social conditions had been deviated from the basic direction they were supposed to have gone. Flat iron with the brass tacks at the center, had been used by Man Ray in a metaphoric way to say that, social conditions of the time had been misplaced and could no longer save the purpose it stood for. Thus, a flat iron saved the purpose of ironing, but no longer in that usage, and so as the society in that same context.

GEORGE GROSZ

GEORGE GROSZ (1893-1959)

'The Pillars of Society' 1926 (oil on canvas)                 

This is an artistic painting of George Grosz's dadaism expression that portrays the social injustices of the bourgeoisie. As he calls his painting, ' The Pillars of Society,' it tells you that top classes have the enormous advantages. So he was able to show the faces of the middle/ ruling classes to the public, and the hypocritical activities they are indulged in. As he himself put it, "Man has created an insidious system - a top and a bottom. A very few earn millions, while thousands upon thousands are on the verge of starvation”. 

Here you can see what he was trying to show to the public. He asserted that the top are the corrupt ones, and they created a system to help only themselves, left the many more section of the population to suffer or starve. The painting shows an officer holding a cup of wine or alcohol,  a political party leader, a press mogul, a judge or lawyer, a militia with a gun in the left hand and a stick on his right hand. He gave a good facial expression to tell their hypocrisy, corruption, double standards and other negative acts to the German public. He used bright colors, and put them in a confine place or room.

NEW YORK DADA

FRANCIS PICABIA (1879-1953)
'Love Parade' 1917 (oil on cardboard)

Francis Picabia was a French painter, and came to the U.S. mostly after the world war 1, when the continent had become a place for new exiled European artist and had started showing interest in modern art. His works were mostly cubism. He first visited New York in 1913. He wanted to promote Modern Art in this country, so he sometimes went back and forth Europe and America. 

The idea behind his ' Love Parade Portrait' was to show the connection that had started to exist in the American industrial society, where machines had become part of our everyday lives, or our inner souls. As he stated in a New York Tribune, The machine has become more than a mere adjunct of life. It is really a part of human life...perhaps the very soul...I have enlisted the machinery of the modern world, and introduced it into my studio.” 

I think he did well to create in his portrait a bond that exist between human being and machines at the time. I like the simple colors he used, and I noticed that the middle of this painting have the ' LOVE SIGN' to emphasize the name he gave to his painting.

MAX ERNST

MAX ERNST (1891-1976)

'The Chinese Nightingale' 1920 (photomontage)

Max Ernst was a German born, and his birthplace is Buhl, Germany in April 2 1891. He was a painter, sculptor, graphic designer, and a poet.  He was among the pioneers of Dada Movement and Surrealism. He died in Paris, France on the April 1st 1976.

I see the dada of this photo collage to symbolize a mystery and horror. It is like a fish and human hands in one depiction. I can also see a weapon, a bomb-like in this collage. It portrayed something fearful and horrendous to the people/society. According to Max,  it signified 'the systematic exploitation of the chance or artificially provoked confrontation of two or more mutually alien realities on an obviously inappropriate level - and the poetic spark which jumps across when these realities approach each other'. 

I think he was using his poetic expression to say that there was an alien/strange creature, that looks horrifying. Maybe the technology of the time that brought bombs, and other weapons.And perhaps he was saying these weapons are deadly, dangerous, ugly, and catastrophic. And trying to warn people to be mindful of these dangers. He did that in a satiric manner.