reACTION
Whether inadvertently or deliberately, pieces of artwork have caused upheaval and effectuated change since ancient times. Increasingly, more and more artists became aware of the growing influence of art on the public and the impact their works caused, as well as their role in shaping cultural reactions to their enviroment. Initially, many of these were simple reactions to the natural, political, or social environment present at the time, such as the cave paintings that merely captured and depicted prehistoric lives. Eventually, these would become infused with propaganda, advocacy, politics, and campaigns, among other themes, to become powerful statements that would shape society and communities as a whole. Such is the case of the multiple renditions of the “Boston Massacre”, depicting the decease of the freed slave Crispus Attucks, at the hands of the British soldiers, used in favor of the American Revolution.
Nonetheless, it was not until the 20th century, in which these renditions would take full shape as reactions to specific events, policies, conventions, practices, or aspects of society and directly address them. These pieces, inspired not by exemplary/popular themes, but rather, motivated by dissent or the desire to expose a new subject or notion, rose to become the norm, especially towards the end of the century. Through performances and unprecedented displays, figures such as Andy Warhol came into the public eye to delight the general populous with their revolutionary ideas. From opposition to the global conflicts, to social order and injustice, to social conventions and to the encroachment of culture by industrialization, these “reactions” transcended the realm of art and were embedded into history. Moreover, a few art movements based themselves entirely on this principle such as Arte Povera, Pop Art and Protest Art, while others heavily adopted the philosophies employed by comparable movements, such as Synchromism and American Scene Painting. In the following exhibition, we explore these movements and their lasting heritage.