-
The 2016 Turner Prize and the Monotony of Controversy
It’s Turner Prize time again, and the four finalists for 2016 have been named: Michael Dean, Anthea Hamilton, Helen Marten, and Josephine Pryde. Anthea Hamilton’s “butt wall” has been dubbed quite controversial, and looking through the prize’s history, so many articles have been written about the weirdest, most outrageous, or most controversial art pieces of the Turner Prize history. The point always boils down to: “Is that really art?” And it’s not an illegitimate question or topic to bring up; it’s an important source of discussion, but in the grand scheme of art… screw it. It doesn’t matter. But let’s take a look at why we shouldn’t get hung up…
-
De la degeneración artística y política
Un acontecimiento que ha pasado a los anales de la historia del arte es la famosa exposición ‘Entartete Kunst’, celebrada en Múnich en 1937. Hitler encomendó a expertos acólitos reunir todo el arte ‘degenerado’ que encontraran para celebrar una gran muestra donde dejar constancia del riesgo de decadencia que vivía la cultura europea por culpa de los artistas de vanguardia. Al año siguiente organizó otra exposición, esta vez con un elenco de artistas que representaban lo que él consideraba el gran arte alemán, basado en una especie de revival neoclásico. Huelga decir que la primera exposición la visitó infinitamente más gente que la segunda. Uno de los artistas presentes en…
-
Filth for Filth’s Sake
It is not the mission of art to wallow in filth for filth’s sake, to paint the human being only in a state of putrefaction, to draw cretins as symbols of motherhood, or to present deformed idiots as representatives of manly strength. So declared Adolf Hitler in 1935, leaving no uncertainty over his views on much of modern art. Many German and Austrian artists at the time were trying to express their own views of the world and their anger and despair towards society following the horrors of the First World War, yet Hitler saw only intolerable statements undermining his vision of a perfect German society. In 1937, the Degenerate…
-
I’m not crazy; my mother had me tested.
Arguably, most forms of art worth lengthy discussion have a bit of madness behind them, whether it is a painting, film, or novel. Personally, I find that my creative work suffers a bit when everything in my life feels completely balanced. Think about the mental states of various actors, painters, and authors. Off of the top of my head, I can come up with Tilda Swinson, Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Hemingway, Tolstoy, Poe, Wolfe, Caravaggio, (cough) Hitler… I could list tons and tons, but I’d much rather hear from you. But madness is rather subjective, isn’t it?
-
Breaking up and making up
When I think of the relationship between Russia and Germany the first thing that comes to mind is Carrie and Mr Big or maybe Ross and Rachel for those of you that never dug into Sex and the City – in which case, shame on you. The on-again, off-again saga of their affairs is almost too much for the common person to handle. They’re on – they’re politicking together and mutually militaristic; Russia is sharing her energy sources because of her dependence on Germany’s finances. If that’s not a relationship, I don’t know what is! And then Leo von Caprivi had to go and cut Russia out, ruining the three-way…
This is an interactive art blog in multi languages, you will find new articles on artists, art history, exhibitions, etc. Contributions welcome.
You must be logged in to post a comment.