POST-MODERNISM AND MODERNISM

Postmodernism was a reaction against modernism. Modernism was generally based on idealism and a utopian vision of human life and society and a belief in progress. It assumed that certain ultimate universal principles or truths such as those formulated by religion or science could be used to understand or explain reality. Modernist artists experimented with form, technique and processes rather than focusing on subjects, believing they could find a way of purely reflecting the modern world. It is generally very simple and non decorative. Modern art rejected tradition so it looked very different to anything anyone had seen before.

While modernism was based on idealism and reason, postmodernism was born of scepticism and a suspicion of reason. It challenged the notion that there are universal certainties or truths. Postmodern art drew on philosophy of the mid to late twentieth century, and advocated that individual experience and interpretation of our experience was more concrete than abstract principles. While the modernists championed clarity and simplicity; postmodernism embraced complex and often contradictory layers of meaning. Cultural identity was a big part of postmodernism, with people realizing that modernism was dominated by straight white men. Within post modern art, it is popular to include quotes or words on their art since it fits with the idea of questioning things. There are no rules about what postmodern art is but there tends to be a lot of contrasting and questioning. The works of post modernism are often abstract and somewhat strange. There is an objective to display that everyone has different reality and there is such thing as human nature instead of nurture.

The modernist approach links to my previous studies of Sugimoto and Monet’s Hay Stacks that focus on mainly the depiction of light and how it shapes the environment. Rather than focusing on subjects these artists use lighting and textures as a way of reflecting the modern world.

Modern Art

Time Period – From 1450 – 1960

Gender Spread – Most of the artists in the modern times were male

Mindset – Go with the ideas in every way

Influence – Political and society pressure

Postmodern Art

Time Period – From 1960 to present

Gender Spread – Mixture of both

Mindset – Question the changes and movinf towards new ones quickly

Influence – Free of any pressures

In the Modern work, whatever the meaning was given by the writer was considered to be the only meaning but in postmodern times, people tend to make their own mind and deduce the idea according to their will. In modern era people tended to enjoy the modernism but in the postmodern era, people are questioning the changes and moving towards new ones quickly. Arts in the modern times was influenced by political and society pressure while the postmodern art is free from all those factors.