Existing comment:
Artists Respond
American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975
A divisive and controversial conflict, the Vietnam War had a profound impact on American politics and society. It also radically affected the art of its time. As the 1960s began, the most influential U.S. art movements, like color field painting, minimalism, and pop, were abstract or coolly detached from topical issues. But as media coverage of the war intensified and the horrific human toll continued to mount, many artists in the United States felt like the painter Philip Guston, who asked, "What kind of man am I, sitting at home reading magazines, going into a frustrated fury about everything -- and then going into my studio to adjust a red to a blue?" The moral urgency of the Vietnam War compelled a shift from ideals of aesthetic purity toward those of shared conscience and civic action. Artists of all kinds chose to engage -- with their present moment, with politics, and with the public sphere.
Focusing on the height of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, this exhibition emphasizes a "real time" experience of the war period as seen through the eyes of American artists. Some sought to raise political consciousness about the war and, they hoped, to help end it. Others produced art that was not explicitly activist yet was steeped in the imagery and emotions of the conflict. New artistic forms emphasizing the intersection of art and lived experience, such as body art and institutional critique, emerged during this period. So, too, did a greater diversity of voices, as artists of color and women demanded to be heard. The works assembled here make vivid an era in which artists struggled to address the turbulent times and openly questioned issues central to American civic life. |