Annotation
American visual artists have frequently sought to combine their creative talent with a deeper commitment to social and political criticism and change. This mini-course will explore some of the highlights of this powerful tradition of North American art. The class will include the early 20th century works of the “Ashcan” School, through the Depression, focusing on such iconic artists as Reginald Marsh, Grant Wood, Ben Shahn, William Gropper, Philip Evergood, and many others. Themes include labor strife, political corruption, poverty, economic devastation, and legal injustice. Celebrated photographers like Jacob Riis, Lewis Hine, Margaret Bourke-White, and Dorothea Lange will also be included in this brief survey.
Post-World War II visual social commentary will also be featured. Such artists as George Tooker, Paul Cadmus, George Segal, Duane Hanson, Leon Golub, Barbara Kruger, Elizabeth Catlett, Charles White, Faith Ringgold, and others will be shown. Themes include the cold war, bureaucracy, racial injustice, sexism and patriarchy, social protest and agitation, and many related issues of the recent past and present, including the expression of visual art that artists created during the widespread protests in 2020 following the murder of African American George Floyd. A major feature of the course will include examples from the African American artistic tradition, because that tradition regularly focuses on historical and contemporary racism in America, making it a fundamental feature of visual social commentary.
Paul Von Blum is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. Read a recent interview with him in Czech at https://www.em.muni.cz/udalosti/15710-paul-von-blum-americane-se-nedokazou-poucit-z-minulosti. Or visit his personal website to read about his life as a tireless activist,https://www.paulvonblum.com/