1945-1959

"In the wake of World War II, Kline, along with some of his fellow Abstract Expressionists, was interested in delivering a message through his art." - Director, Glenn Lowry.

 

 

Franz Jozef Kline is known as an artist who painted in black&white. But above we see his works in color. He is an action painter because his works are not about figures or imagery but they are all about brush strokes and use of canvas. He was creating his paintings from the beginning of 40's till the end of the 50's. 

"Painting No.2" 1954 by Franz Kline, on of his the most popular works in black and white

He created paintings of what he saw through his entire life and he was influenced and inspired by lots of artists and people who knew him said he was influenced by Japanese Calligraphy but he denied that connection.
During World War II, in art, fashion, design and everywhere else colors were very limited, there was lots of shades of grey, black, dark brown, navy. After WW2 ended people wanted to create something new, to experiment with colors and texture that's when "action painting" and "abstract expressionism" started.

 Artist Paul Jenkins Paintings Wallpapers

sources: http://paintingwallpaper.com/artist-paul-jenkins-paintings-wallpapers/

World War II

Artists - World War II

"A war artist will have depicted some aspect of war through art; this might be a pictorial record or it might commemorate how war shapes lives. A war artist creates a visual account of war by showing its impact as men and women are shown waiting, preparing, fighting, suffering, celebrating"

Contracted by the "War Artists' Advisory Committee" (WAAC) Laura Knight was an official artist during Second World War. Her works in the time of WW2 represent working or fighting woman mainly, there is also few painting that shows daily life during that time.

"Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring" (1943) by Laura Knight.

"A Balloon Site, Coventry" (1943)  by Laura Knight

"Take-Off: Interior of a Bomber Aircraft" (1943) by Laura Knight

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/

Slavery Art - modern & old

Kara Walker is a African-American artist who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence and indentity in her works. Her exhibition called "Slavery! Slavery!" represents a panoramic journey into Picturesque Southern Slavery or "Life at 'Ol' Virginny's Hole' (sketches from Plantation Life)". In a way, Walker's goal with her art is to make the viewer gasp and laugh at the same time. "I want to provoke the audience in the most enjoyable way possible"

Installation view, "no place (like home)," at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1997. Cut paper and adhesive on wall, 12 x 85 feet. Photo by Dan Dennehy for The Wal.

Other photos from "Slavery! Slavery!" exhibition.

"Am I Not a Man and Brother?"

is a design of the medallion created as part of anti-slavery campaign by Josiah Wedgwood, 1787.

sources:

http://libertyasia.org
http://www.answers.com/topic/kara-walker#ixzz2rb7GCGoa

1970s

Jamie Reid (born 1947) is an English artist and anarchist with connections to the Situationists. His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of aransom note, came close to defining the image of punk rock, particularly in the UK

Jamie Reid’s signature newspaper-cutting graphics have become synonymous with the spirit of British punk rock music, having appeared on seminal Sex Pistols’ punk records of the 1970s including Never Mind the Bollocks, Anarchy in the UK, Union Jack, God Save the Queen and Pretty Vacant. 

CRASS - WERE AN ENGLISH PUNK ROCK BAND FORMED IN 1997. .... which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life and a resistance movement. The word "crass" itself means showing no intelligence and sensitivity. Past members are: Steve Ignorant, Penny Rimbaud, Gee Vaucher, N. A. Palmer, Pete Wright, Phill Free, Eve Libertine, Joy De Vivire (aka Virginia Creeper she was the second female singer along with Eve Libertine), Mick Duffield, John Loder, Steve Herman. 

"FIGHT WAR, NOT WARS. DESTROY POWER NOT PEOPLE" - Crass

Crass logo was designed by designer Dave King who was friend of . Their graphic works, tape colleges, poetry and improvisation are considered as ART PUNK. Their logo is probably one of the most common punk tattoos. He was asked by Pen to design logo for their "Reality Asylum" single, " A little frontis piece. I'd print them up on on this rough grey paper and it had a militaristic, communistic feel about it. i thought it'd be nice to have a little insignia on it" So Dave King set the work on a design incorporating the subject matter of the book which are family, state and church - all the power structures. The Crass logo itself if we try to see is a connection of Christian cross, the Swastika, the Union Jack and two snakes devouring each others tails. Dave King said about the logo "The biggest single influence was the Japanese family crests".  It was possible to see original designs for what became the Crass symbol in San Francisco in gallery Goteblud. This exhibition closed on March 5th 2012. Dave King once attended The Crass concert and called all the protestors and fans "keeper of the punk flame".

Propaganda Art...

"And babies" is a propaganda art from 1969, December 26. It's an iconic anti-Vietnam War poster. The picture represents dozen dead and partyl naked South Vietnamese women and children in controlled positions. The caption on the poster is a quote from Mike Wallace CBS News television interview with U.S soldier Paul Meadlo who participated in the massacre. The Quote is: ..........

Q. "So you fired something like sixty-seven shots?"

A. "Right."

Q. "And you killed how many? At that time?"

A. "Well, I fired them automatic, so you can’t- You just spray the area on them and so you can’t know how many you killed ‘cause they were going fast. So I might have killed ten or fifteen of them."

Q. "Men, women, and children?"

A. "Men, women, and children."

Q. "And babies?"

A. "And babies."

Original photograph taken by U.S photographer Ronald L. Heaberle called "My Lai Masscare"

 sources: 

boingboing.net/2012/01/31/free-the-crass-symbol-by-t.html
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nx84SWfUhmgC&pg=PA195&lpg=PA195&dq=cubism+in+1970s&source=bl&ots=P7Oanzx7qp&sig=Aovh-oTdl3KxxDsjqOnQZrzgNRM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uDXmUovMBOK47Qb4x4HwBw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false