Transgressors of Convention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Transgressors of Convention - Essay Example The researcher of the essay "Transgressors of Convention" gives a critique on three works of Modern art. Modern art consists of includes cubism, expressionism and constructivism. Other forms of modern art, examined in this paper, are Primitivism, Avant-Garde and Performance Art. Their relationship to other works in the Modern art era include their similarities in color usage, strength, vividness, shock factor and other types of emotional appeal, minimalist approaches, unexplained elements or nonrepresentational elements, even lack of traditional materials. Their differences show the desire of an artist to be individually judged from their counterparts, despite evidence that explains the subconcious ‘community’ that shows up in all artists’ work. As Sholette writes, â€Å"how can the artist be defined as an autonomous producer detached from politics, history and the market?† given the constant grouping of people, even through debit cards that are created wit h a computer program called â€Å"Clever†. "Clever locates these Web-based fraternities "even before members are aware of their community's existence. And â€Å"the boundary between Self and Other is fluid rather than fixed. And â€Å"the boundary between Self and Other is fluid rather than fixed.† The Activist art collective critiques the bourgeois notion of self-institutionalization. But much of Modern art is simply the â€Å"challenging of the power of realism† by producing pieces with their own power. Die Bruckebegan as an offshoot of German expressionistism.... o be the evolutionary 'bridge' between the man of today and the 'superman' of tomorrow, but instead seemed to show their yearning to return to natural origins. Primitivism provides an alternative to the "sophisticated illusionism" and offered a more 'authentic' way of being. (Stokstad 2002) Three Nudes - Dune Picture from Nidden 1913 This work is representative of that which draws from primitivistic concepts2 of Africa, South America, "children and the mentally ill." (Stokstad 2002) Semi-representational, the figures in the piece are developed as a part of the whole instead of being separated from the background, as in portrait work. The message seems to be about the unity between these women figures and Nature. Considered crude drawing and simplistic in its arrangement of elements, the composition holds power in its saturation of color, the strength of its lines, the movement of its forms. Despite its seeming lack of thought, the design elements are planned and executed as well as a formal painting. The Die Brucke artists did go back to Nature to northern Germany during their summer breaks and their paintings often reflected their dislike for urban life, urban alienation. The contrasts are shown from their paintings of the psychological distancing of city society (Kirchner, Street, Berlin) to the inviting warmth of Three Nudes. (Stokstad 2002) Perhaps the freedom felt by more citizens of Europe in the early part of last century led the Die Brucke artists toward greater criticism of their world, to Expressionism and Activist art. But it was still not socially acceptable. 2 The word 'primitive' . . . categorized art of Africa, Pacific Islands and indigenous Americas . . . means 'early' . . . implies that these civilizations are frozen in their cultural development