Post-Modernism...

Having never studied Post-Modernism before, I found it really interesting to read about. My own opinion so far, is that it is Modernism expanded, manifested and interpreted in various ways by many artists.

When we were asked to find a quote on Post Modernism, I found it quite hard because there were so many different opinions. Some people like it and some people really criticise it. So, I chose to look at this quote because for me, it sums up the negative outlook on Post-Modernism.

This quote is taken from Andreas Huyssen in 'The Post-Modern Reader' by Charles Jencks (1992).

"There are good reasons why any attempt to take the postmodern seriously...meets with...resistance. It is indeed tempting to dismiss many of the current manifestations of postmodernism as a fraud perpetrated on a gullible public by the...art market in which reputations are built and gobbled up faster than painters can paint"


Whilst I was reading this quote, I made these notes on what I thought Huyssen was talking about:

• mass production, consumerism, money and fame
• is there a loss of relationship between artist and their work?
• many manifestations - can art really be anything? there seems to be no true definitions of art anymore because so many people interpret it in different ways
• is art Now appreciated like it was before Post-Modernism? 
• some of the art can't be taken seriously - is it a joke?
• Post Modernism makes art simple, easy and more accessible to everyone - not everyone can paint like Rembrandt but everyone can turn a toilet upside down and sign it like Duchamp. 

Huyssen then goes on to talk about "the frenzied brushwork of the new expressionists". Is he saying here that the traditional and cultural value of art has been lost? Artists are so concerned with money and fame that they churn out art as quick as possible in order to be noticed and appreciated? We could link this to Pop Artist Andy Warhol. He was in the art business for the fame, glamour and money. And he made that no secret. When I saw this iconic image of the Marylin Diptych in the flesh at the Tate Modern in London, I was disappointed at first because the paint has quite obviously applied hastily and carelessly. It's almost as if the quicker Warhol completed this piece, the quicker he could start another one. So, this links into what Huyssen was saying - was art really taken seriously or was it just another money making scheme? Warhol is essentially just bombarding the public with multiple images of materialism, celebrity and glamour which is something that they/we see everyday in magazines and on the TV.