Question by hello: Art History: What influenced art/artists in the 1980’s?
What 1940 events etc influenced an art style created in 1980 ? I was thinking of the branding rise but I don’t know what to write about that? Thanks.
I mean 1980, sorry!
Add your own answer in the comments!
Only 1940 events? Please clarify. – Done. Thanks!
1980’s artists were influenced by feminism which had gained much momentum in the late 70’s
1980: Artwork: Davida Allen painted her sexual fantasy pictures of actor Sam Neill. While the paintings followed in the tradition of the Burt Reynolds nude centerfold in Cosmopolitan in 1972, in 1980s Australia the artist raised eyebrows for depicting a man as a sex object.
1980: Women at Work : a week of women’s performance, June 1980. George Paton and Ewing Gallery, Melbourne University. Artists included Jill Orr and Bonita Ely.
1981: In an iconic photograph, Heaven or Hell? (1981), the Feminist Art Workers, dressed as cherubic hunters, fed each other from the tips of long arrows. This is a reference to a fable about a sumptuous banquet whose only dining utensils were forks so long diners were only able to eat if they fed one another—a metaphor for collaboration.
1981: Carnival Knowledge, a New York-based collective that explored issues related to women’s sexuality, staged a carnival with a pro-choice theme, called Bazaar Conceptions, in the New School’s Graduate Center. It featured more than 20 sculptures and games, drawing an estimated 2,500 participants.
1984: For the satiric Second Coming (1984), Carnival Knowledge, a New York-based collective that explored issues related to women’s sexuality, created a double collaboration with a recently formed support group of female porn stars, including the later infamous performance artist Annie Sprinkle. One aim was exploring whether a kind of pornography could exist that was not degrading “to women—or men or children.” However, the event brought punitive measures launched by conservative members of Congress against the producing venue Franklin Furnace, which had received federal grants.
1985: The Guerilla Girls, which rose to some renown, formed anonymously in 1985 in response to a Museum of Modern Art survey that included only 13 women alongside 166 white males. The group launched a highly effective street-postering campaign, simple statistics starkly revealing the lack of representation of women and people of color in galleries and museums. The signature gorilla mask apparently was inspired by one member’s mistake spelling “guerrilla.” However, it turned into a highly effective publicity tool, even as it served to mask participants’ identities, as some feared reprisals for being linked with feminism.
1985: Women of Sweetgrass, Cedar, and Sage is a major exhibition of female Native American artists, at the American Indian Community House in New York, curated by Harmony Hammond and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
1985-7: Suzanne Lacy worked with The Whisper Minnesota Project to create Crystal Quilt, a living tableaux performed by 430 women over the age of 60 on Mother’s Day at the IDS Center’s Crystal Court in Minneapolis. The piece aimed to change public perceptions of older women by providing a creative outlet and an open forum. The performance was staged on an 82-foot rug with tables placed on it designed by Miriam Schapiro to resemble a quilt. The women sat and discussed their lives, and every ten minutes they changed the placement of their arms on the tables thus altering the quilt’s pattern when seen from above. Snippets of their conversations were amplified on speakers and the entire event was broadcast live on public television.
1986: First issue of M/E/A/N/I/N/G, ed. Susan Bee and Mira Schor
1987: Exhibition: Feminist Narratives, George Paton Gallery, curated by Juliana Engberg. Artists: Pat Brassington, Debra Dawes, Leah MacKinnon, Andrea Paton, Ann Wulf.
1988: Exhibition: Judy Chicago (American) The Dinner Party (1979), Melbourne Exhibition Buildings.
1989: Artwork: Something More by Tracey Moffatt.
stpeteblueslover
September 8, 2013 at 2:36 pm
Much of American art in the 1980s was shaped by and responded to the consumerism and feel-good conservatism of the Reagan era. In a decade preoccupied with success and image, art got bigger: bigger in scope and ambition (elaborate sets, large casts, and complex narratives for commercial musicals), bigger in theme (epic visions in the works of Neo-Expressionist painters), bigger in budget (record advances for new novels), and bigger in promotion (hyping of pop albums and art auctions). Art also became far bigger as a cultural presence. From twenty-four-hour-a-day media coverage to in-your-face images of pop art, video, and graffiti, art was more immediate, available, and accessible than ever before. The new scale and influence of art suited Americans in the 1980s. With more disposable income than in the 1970s and weary of the pervasive pessimism of that decade, they wanted to enjoy themselves again. (1)
An EXcellent article discussing what influenced art is at (2) below.
laura
September 8, 2013 at 2:50 pm