The Pictures Generation was referred to as the time when appropriation became one w
ith the works the artists produced. Appropriation was the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them. “Appropriation artists wants the viewer to recognize the images they copy, and they hope that the viewer will bring all of his/her original associations with the image to the artist’s new context, be it a painting, a sculpture, a collage, a combine or an entire installation”.
This allowed the artists to develop new meanings in a whole different context. Douglas Crimp truly believed that they have witnessed a break from Modernism. What lead him to believe this was the meaning that was hidden behind the paintings and work. There was an underlying and hidden “story”. Underneath each picture, there’s another picture. “Corruption of art mediums, the lines that separated mediums have finally been blurred”.
The exhibition “Pictures” and art in the 1970’s was under the influence of postmodernism because the artists were engaged with appropriation. Before, the artists focused on new ideas and new objects. It broke away from the concept of “originality” where the artist was viewed or thought to have been a creator of art works and their meanings. All art has to be representational. Without an audience, art would have no meaning. The use of photography made the artist a mere chronically rather than a creative individual genius. Roslin Crowst’s opinion was that a lot came before pieces of work. Nothing was new and nothing was original. For example, the male nude is nothing new to art. It is just recycled like all art is recycled.
Edward Weston Cindy Sherman 1978
Torso of Neil 1927 Untitled Film
“Warhol isolated the image of these products to stimulate product recognition (just like in advertising) and stir up associations with the idea of Campbell’s soup – that mmm mmm good feeling. He also tapped into a whole bunch of other associations, such as consumerism, commercialism, big business, fast food, middle class values, and food representing love. As an appropriated image, these specific soup labels could resonate with meaning (like a stone tossed into a pond) and so much more”.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/identity-body/identity-body-united-states/a/the-pictures-generation
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/identity-body/identity-body-united-states/a/what-is-appropriation
file:///Users/morrison/Downloads/Crimp_Pictures%20(1).pdf
http://artistsspace.org/exhibitions/pictures