Throughout art history, artists have been finding ways to branch out from societal norms and  standards. By using many different techniques and art movements, artists have been able to voice their opinions on many political and social problems going on in our society.  Whether it be speaking out against police brutality toward the black community, confronting social taboos, or dissolving obstructive gender stereotypes, art has been used to communicate issues with the public and send messages to people all around the world. 

While researching I stumbled upon an article by Precious Adesina, she gave me an understanding of the history of art involving police brutality specifically toward people with African and Caribbean heritage as well as recent events such as the black lives matter movement. 

 At the beginning of her article Adesina introduces her audience to artist Tam Joseph who focuses on topics such as police brutality. In his 1982 artwork named “In Spirit of the Carnival” Joseph depicted a character wearing a bright yellow Dominican masquerade costume know as a “Sensay” being surrounded by policemen and their dogs. Joseph painted this inspired by his own experiences as a child during the Notting Hill Carnival, he witnessed a lot of tension between people attending the carnival and the police sparking this artwork.

In the third paragraph of the article we are informed of  the Life between Islands exhibition in Tate London depicting Caribbean-British art from the 1950s up until now, which was created by the director of the gallery Alex Farquharson and the art historian David A. Bailey. 

Alex Farquharson said he has seen many artists including himself criticized and discriminate against, however he says  “Some of the documentary photography reflects that depressing reality and the courageous struggles against it, but there are as many photographs in the exhibition from the 60s, 70s and 80s that convey creativity, joy, intimacy and community.” 

Adesina makes note that the artworks from many decades ago are still relevant today especially with more recent events such as the Black Lives Movement, which erupted after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. I completely agree, with her because unfortunately unless everyone magically wakes up with a kind heart and open mind, things like racial profiling, brutality, and just racism in general will continue to happen.

When investigating some more I came across an article entitled The History of Modern & Contemporary Art which took me through a deep dive of the many art movements across history and their purposes. And while reading I found myself captivated by two art movements in particular – Viennese Actionism and Expressionism. 

According to the article Viennese Actionism was an art movement in Austria that used performances to confront controversial “societal taboos”. The author notes that the performances were mainly “proactive and violent”, and covered topics such as sexuality, religion, and political oppression. I was fascinated by the topic because of its gruesome approach in spreading their main message of challenging “traditional art venues and  hierarchies” as the author puts it. I even did a bit of extra research on this art style, and it is safe to say that  people were certainly shocked and disturbed, and this feeling would have been even more intense during 1960s when it first kicked off. These kind of performances could honestly still be very useful in our society, because a lot of the time, in order for people to truly listen they need to be shown something so shocking that they can’t ignore it. 

The Expression art movement started around the 1910s and ended in the 1930s, and focused on emphasizing “raw emotion, personal experience, and subjective interpretation” as written by Walker. She describes art during this era as “distorted forms, exaggerated lines, and intense, often non-naturalistic colors” used to convey messages regarding psychological and emotional anxieties from the rapidly changing world. 

I really enjoyed this art form because after so many years of stoned cold, phlegmatic realism, it was refreshing to see artists during the Expressionism movement take a different approach even during such a conservative time period. 

For my final bit of research I wanted to investigate the ways art impacts our views on gender and found an article by Grace Fussel named Breaking Gender Stereotypes Through Innovative Illustration.

In the third paragraph of the article Fussel notes that “visual culture” plays a tremendous role in the way gender is seen in our society, and even suggests that it should be used as a solution to dismantling toxic gender stereotypes and bring new ideas surrounding the topic of gender norms. Then in her fifth paragraph she goes onto define gender stereotyping stating, “Stereotyping ensures that individuals are limited in their roles as a result of their gender.” She also makes it known to her audience that gender stereotypes can form during childhood based on various  factors such as the environment you grew up in and the people you considered role models. I liked that this was added into her article because when you can place where exactly such ideas come from, you can recognize that part of yourself and work toward becoming more self aware about your role in those concepts.

In the second section of her article entitled Rethinking Gender Roles Fussell introduces her audience to a New-Zealand based graphic designer named Kate Bennett, and shows us one of her artworks. The art depicts two cut out with stereotypical accessories associated with men and women. The women’s section included things like dresses, makeup, purses and high heels. And in the men’s section it, showed a pair of boots, a beer, a tank top, and a hammer.

It made me want to roll my eyes because it is apart of the same outdated narrative that started many of the toxic concepts we have about gender in our society today, however at the bottom she puts the words “I am more than this.” Even a simple design like this speaks volumes and illustrates a powerful message – that we should not let our gender define us or stop us from doing things solely because it is “meant for” girls or boys. 

Aside from the plethora of information given in these articles, I love that these authors took the time to list and research the more exotic art movements throughout history up until now and bring attention to their meaning and themes.