Early 20th Century

1. DESCRIBE A DADA ARTWORK?

"MONA LISA"

                         -LEONARDO DA VINCI                            

                                                          "L.H.O.O.Q" -

                                    MARCEL DUCHAMP

During the early 20th century, after World War 1, a strong movement started to happen. This huge event started to changed millions of peoples lives, including artist and their views on politics. This started the Dada movement.  Dada artists both embraced and critiqued modernity. This included critiques about our new technologies, films, newspapers, even advertisements. Dadaist's believed in subversive and revolutionary ideals. According to Art Factory, " Dada or dadaism was also a form of artistic anarchy born out of disgust for the social, political, and cultural values of the time. It embraced elements of art, music, poetry, theater, dance, and politics" Dada was more of protest movement that was happening during this era. A perfect example would be this art piece called" L.H.O.O.Q" which is a work of art by Marcel Duchamp. Now this piece is known to be " Mona Lisa" which was originally created by Leonardo da Vinci. However Duchamp creates his own version of it. As you can see Duchamp drew a mustache and a goatee. This is actually one of the well known act of degrading a famous work of art. Actually if you pronounce the title in French, it spells out " She has a hot bum" very odd right? Duchamp's goal was to lead his contemporaries to challenge the usual standards set out for artwork in the public eye. Referencing to this piece, he wanted to continuously challenge what the public perceived as art. He expressed his notion by creating this piece to show that art does not always have to be beautiful. Duchamp took this piece of beauty and transformed it into something unconventional. Not only did Duchamp create a piece that shocked viewers visually, he created something that forced his audience to think about what they were seeing. Just like this piece! What do you think it truly means? 

2.WHAT WERE THE INFLUENCES OF JACOB LAWRENCE?

Jacob Lawrence is known be one of the most important artist of the 20th century. His influences came from the African American history. He is known for depicting important moments in African American History by using narrative paintings. He as well created such a unique American vision that affirms the place of ANY individuals in our society and honors the struggle for true independence. Jacob Lawrence was known to be a " Expressionist". This work by Lawrence is called Builders Number #1. We see a male sitting on a workbench surrounded by so many tools and fasteners.  He is alone and reflective, weighing the projects ahead.  If we look closely at his expression we can really picture his emotions. In this piece Lawrence really captures the labor lifestyle and the social struggle. Overall Jacob Lawrence did call his work dynamic cubism, meaning he was interested in simple shapes, bold colors, and patterns. And we can actually see a bit of these qualities in this piece.