20TH Century Modern Art

Moving toward the present day in our Art history timeline, the ability to name the art period becomes more difficult, however art historians have come to settle on the term Modemism. Not only is the period difficult to categorize the artwork from roughly 1907-present day are so wide ranging, it is impossible to pinpoint how different art genres exactly relate to one another. Yet they are connected by the social conditions in which they exist and are responses to those conditions though they respond in very different ways. In postwar America (WWII), New York city becomes the art capital of the world and two artistic genres emerged first Abstract Expressionism and second Pop Art both art genres were grappling with the question of what is art and how to represent a world shaped by global capitalism consumer culture and mass media. In this case assignment you will be comparing Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock’s One Number 31 with PoP Artist Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can’s. Pollock can be read as championing the role of the artist as his art seems a pure abstraction of his body movements and his handling of the paintbrush, whereas Warhol seems to not have any real connection to the making of his art, as he uploads the everyday, mass-produced object as subject matter for high art. Discuss briefly the history of Abstract Expressionism ND Pop Art and these two artist in particular, the ways these artist represent the tension between individualism and mass production ( a tension that defines America capitalist society) and how the artworks approach questions as to the role of the artist and the role of art in society.