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 Postmodernism
was a late 20th century movement that opposed the Modernist
preoccupation with purity of form and technique, and aimed to eradicate
the divisions between art, popular culture, and the media. Postmodern
artists employed influences from an array of past movements, applying
them to modern forms. Postmodernists embraced diversity and rejected the
distinction between "high" and "low" art. Ignoring genre boundaries, the
movement encourages the mix of ideas, medias, and forms to promote
parody, humor, and irony. The overall impression of postmodern art is
one of pastiche and appropriation, often promoting parody or irony. It
also aims to blur the boundaries between high art and low art.Postmodernist art has been, since its beginnings in the movements of the 1960s, art that was inherently political and simultaneously engaged with and critical of commercial mass culture. All these movements are linked to the development of multimedia performance art and conceptual art, a term that designates art that is neither painting nor sculpture, art of the mind rather than art of the eye. The logical extension of this definition is that nearly anything, properly "framed" or designated as such, might be thought of as art. One of the most distinctive characteristics of postmodernist art is the dissolution of traditional categories of art and artworks, and the proliferation of new and hybrid forms that have broadened these categories to an unprecedented degree. Andy Warhol (see above) is often considered a pop artist, but his work loudly speaks to the intentions of postmodernism as well. He is perhaps best known for his multi-colored and repetitive images. Warhol’s main objective in his art pieces was to mimic the pervasiveness of the media in culture, and demonstrate how the amount of cultural images produced is so overwhelming that there is tendency to feel affectless toward them. Because of this objective, Warhol appropriates iconic cultural images, of objects or of people, in his art which creates a very postmodern feel. Postmodern art departs from modern art in its abandonment of political advocacy for a singular ideology. The modernist avant-garde viewed art as an agent of social change and even helped to shape many of the political movements of the twentieth century. Futurism aided in promoting Italian fascism with its aesthetic of the machine. By the nineteen-seventies, the political ideals that fueled modernism had given way to profound disillusionment with abhorrent wars such as Vietnam, ultra-utilitarian architecture, and academic minimalism. Artists began to use artistic styles independently of their original political agenda. This appropriation of historic styles irrespective of their original ideological contexts sets postmodern art apart from modern art.  Barbara
Kruger (shown here) is an example of a postmodern artist. Kruger's
magazine cutout-like pieces speak for issues of the self and
identity. Kruger worked for a fashion magazine, and her art pieces
incorporate appropriated media images with strong, pithy phrases that
often relate to objectification of women and other cultural issues that
women face.Postmodernists use a combination of style elements from the past, such as the classical and the baroque, and apply them to spare modern forms, often with ironic effect. Their slightly off-key familiarity creates a more immediate appeal than the strict severity of modernism. One characteristic of postmodern art is its conflation of high and low culture through the use of industrial materials and pop culture imagery. |
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