Monday 10 February 2014

1910-1919 - Shell Shock - World War I

Shell Shock

 when World War I ended, in soldiers minds there was something left, something they couldn't handle. It's called "Shell Shock". Depression, anxiety, inappropriate behavior, strange fears & phobias -  in 1914 through 1918 caused by trauma of the battle.



"Arthur Hubbard was one of millions of men who suffered psychological trauma as a result of their war experiences. Symptoms ranged from uncontrollable diarrhoea to unrelenting anxiety. Soldiers who had bayoneted men in the face developed hysterical tics of their own facial muscles. Stomach cramps seized men who knifed their foes in the abdomen. Snipers lost their sight. Terrifying nightmares of being unable to withdraw bayonets from the enemies' bodies persisted long after the slaughter."


sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/shellshock_01.shtml

80's - David Bowie "NeoExpressionism"

"Basquiat" written by Julian Schnabel, Lech J. Majewski, John Bowe is a 1996 biopic/drama film directed by fellow painter Julian Schnabel which is based on the life of American postmodernist/neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat,  Basquiat, born in Brooklyn, used his graffiti roots as a foundation to create collage-style paintings on canvas. (...) Jeffrey Wright portrays Basquiat, and David Bowie plays Basquiat's friend and mentor Andy Warhol. "


Thin White Duke Live at the Cleveland Auditorium, February 28, 1976. Very rare bootleg by the name of Neo Expressionism captures Bowie early in the Station to Station tour

sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolar_%E2%80%93_1976_Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnsUFIMlgFg&list=PL0411661992262C7E

80's - Neo Expressionism

Neo-expressionism in 80's

"...Neo-expressionism is a style of modern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s and dominated the art market until the mid-1980s. Related to American Lyrical Abstraction of the 60s and 70s, Bay Area Figurative School of the 50s and 60s, the continuation of Abstract Expressionism, New Image Painting and precedents in Pop painting, it developed as a reaction against the conceptual art and minimal art of the 1970s..."


posters by Robert Wovlerton



Neo-expressionism was popular in USA, Italy and Germany in 80's. Georg Baselitz in 1963 opened an exhibition in West Germany and that's where everything started. As an opposite to minimalism and conceptual art works were made with a use of wide range of materials. Neo-expressionism art movement was highly criticized because of its influence to expanding art market. Painting in that style wasn't focused on its concept and subject matter but on its form.


works by Georg Baselitz


Trend associated with Neo-Expressionism was the arrival of graffiti art in the galleries. This was particularly significant in New York, where Jean-Michel Basquiat became known for his aggressive brush strokes, broad splatters of paint and emotionally-charged subject matter.

"Fallen Angel" Jean-Michel Basquiat (1981)

Jean-Michel Basquiat (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was a Haitian-American artist. Basquiat first achieved notoriety as part of SAMO, an informal graffiti group who wrote enigmatic epigrams in the cultural hotbed of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City during the late 1970s where the hip hop, post-punk and street art movements had coalesced.  In 1982, Basquiat also worked briefly with musician and artist David Bowie.



sources:
http://www.theartstory.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts
http://fineartamerica.com/