Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Optical Art

By: Juezan, J.P.

Definition, Characteristics and Artists of the style

What is Surrealism?

• Surrealism was a cultural movement which developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War
I and was largely influenced by Dada. The movement is best known for its visual artworks and
writings and the juxtaposition of uncommon imagery.

• A movement which sought to reflect the creative potential of the unconscious mind.

What is Surrealism?

• According to Salvador Dali Surrealism is said to be the symbolic language of the subconscious.
And to Guillaume Apollinaire it is the truth beyond realism.

• Artists painted (occasionally disturbing) illogical scenes with photographic precision, created
strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the
unconscious to express itself.

What is Surrealism?

• Surrealist often took inspiration from dreams. They were interested in exploring the
subconscious, and for this reason they worked closely with Sigmund Freud (the father of
modern psychology).

Characteristics of Surrealism

• Dream-like scenes and symbolic images

• Unexpected, illogical juxtapositions

• Automatism and a spirit of spontaneity

• Bizarre assemblages of ordinary objects

• Distorted figures and biomorphic shapes

• Distorted figures and biomorphic shapes

Artists of Surrealism

Man Ray
1890 - 1976

 An American surrealist.
  His arts are mostly photograph of strange and manipulated objects.

 Artist of an artwork entitle “Gift” which is created in 1958.

 Founder of the “Rayograph” which he created in reference to himself.

Méret Oppenheim
1913 – 1985

 A German surrealist who moved in Switzerland and learned the style.

 Her artwork entitled “Luncheon in Fur” became the emblem of surrealists. In addition, it is one
of her major works

 She also appeared in Man ray’s Photographs as a nude model.

 She is a symbol of women in the world of art.

Salvador Dali
1904-1989

 One of the most famous figures in art history, Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) is remembered as much
for his extravagant persona and iconic mustache as he is for his creative output—which spanned
painting, sculpture, and product and set design, as well as film

 Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship and the striking
and bizarre images in his work.

 He used Freudian imagery in most of his works.

Surrealism in the Philippines

Galo Ocampo (1913-1985) and Hernando Ocampo (1911-1978) were the artists the pioneered
surrealism in the Philippines.

They attracted a number of adherents and gave direction to what Filipino modernists for.

Its is said that the movement gave relief and provided personal solution to life during the years
following the trauma of World War I.

Definition, Characteristics and Artists of the style

What is Abstract Expressionism?

 a painting movement in which artists typically applied paint rapidly, and with force to their huge
canvases in an effort to show feelings and emotions.
  non-geometrically, sometimes applying paint with large brushes, and looks as if to be an
accident but is really quite planned.

 Produced in New York roughly between 1940-1960. Also known as “The New York School” art.

 Abstract Expressionism was the first art movement to influence artists over seas, rather than
vice versa.

2 forms of Abstract Expressionism

 Color Field (Mark Rothko) -

A style of painting that features large flat areas of color spread across the entire canvas to sugge
st that they extend beyond the canvas into infinity.

 Action Painting (Jackson Pollock) - is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled,
splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied.

Characteristics of Abstract Expressionism?

 Spontaneous

 Large canvases

 Generally applying paint rapidly (gestural, non-geometrically)

 Expressive/emotional (most often how people felt about the fast pace and confusion of modern
society)

 Non-representational/non-objective (no effort to represent subject matter)

 Emphasize physical process of painting (throwing, dripping)

Artists of Abstract Expressionism

Jackson Pollock
1912 - 1956

 An American painter of the movement and considered as the Father of Abstract Expressionism.

 He is labelled as “Jack the Dripper” because of the way that he do his painting.

 Canvases were usually on the floor, or the wall where he dripped or poured on the paint.

 He invented the style Action Painting in which what was to go on the canvas was not a picture
but an event.

Willem de Kooning
1904 - 1997
  A Dutch-born painter and decorator who went to New York and became one of the most
consistent longest-lived abstract expressionists.

 only abstract expressionist that does abstract art and one of the pioneer of the said movement.

 Blended traditional forms, with a sense of uncertainty.

Franz Kline
1910 - 1962

 An American painter who invented the technique Impasto.

 Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface in very
thick layers, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can
also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, it also provides texture; the paint appears to be
coming out of the canvas.

 large black & white compositions

 action painting

 like Chinese calligraphy almost

Abstract Expressionism in the Philippines

Jose T. Joya
1931 - 1995

 A national artist and a pioneer of abstract expressionism in the Philippines.

 Embraced the value of dynamic spontaneity and quick gestures in painting.

 His works was influenced by Kline however he developed his own style by using heavier
impastos and added with sand for textural effect.

 His work that best describe the style he developed is entitled “Granadian Arabesque” which is
created in1958.

Lee Aguinaldo
1933 – 2007

 Also a pioneer or modern art in the Philippines.

 A descendant of Emilio Aguinaldo.

 One of his major works is entitled “Homage to Pollock” which is created in 1953 from his Flick
Series was said to be inspired by the artist Pollock.
Granadian Arabesque, 1958

Definition, Characteristics and Artists of the style

What is Pop art?

 A style grounded in consumer culture, the mass media, and popular culture , thereby making it
more accessible to the average person. Pop art is short for popular art.

 Late 1950s and 1960s and reflected everyday life and common objects.

 Pop artists blurred the line between fine art and commercial art.

What is Pop art?

 According to Gretchen Berg, “Pop Artists did images that anybody walking down the street
could recognize in a split second…all the great modern things that the Abstract Expressionists
tried so hard not to notice at all.”

Characteristics of Pop Art?

 Pop Artists reflected 60’s culture by using new and different materials in their artworks
including: Acrylic Paints Plastics Photographs Fluorescent and Metallic colors Silkscreen ink
Canvas and Rubber for Sculpture.

 Pop Artists used common images from everyday culture as their sources including:

• Advertisements • Consumer goods

• Celebrities • Photographs

• Comic strips

Characteristics of Pop Art?

 Pop Artists used bold, flat colors and hard edge compositions adopted from commercial designs
like those found in:

•Billboards • Murals

• Magazines • Newspapers

 As well as new technologies and methods:

• Mass production • Fabrication

• Photography • Printing

• Serials
Characteristics of Pop Art?

 Pop art was appealing to many viewers, while others felt it made fun of common people and
their lives.

 Some people didn’t understand why Pop Artists were painting cheap, everyday objects.

 The function of art historically was to uphold and represent culture’s most valuable ideals. 

Artists of Pop Art

Andy Warhol

 A prominent figure in pop art.

 Part of his artistic practice was using new technologies and new ways of making art including:

• Photographic Silk-Screening

• Repetition • Mass production • Collaboration • Media events

 Warhol used the repetition of media events to critique and reframe cultural ideas through his
art. 

Andy Warhol

 Warhol took common everyday items and gave them importance as “art”. He raised questions
about the nature of art “What makes one work of art better than another?”

 Pop artists stretched the definitions of what art could be and how it can be made. “The Pop
idea, after all, was that anybody could do anything, so naturally we were all trying to do it all…”
Andy Warhol

Roy Lichtenstein

 well known pop artist

 for him comic book is another center piece of American culture.

 Lichtenstein adopted a commercial art style, showing everyday objects in a comic book style by
using bold and bright colors, prominent black outlines, balloons of speech or thought (or music)
and patterns of dots to create distinctive popular works.

Roy Lichtenstein

 Lichtenstein’s Painting process would start with selecting a character from one of the various
comics available. These were mostly blond, anonymous, beautiful women, often unhappily
bothered by men. 
  He would modify the existing picture a little bit,(sometimes taking liberties with the original
piece) but still imparting his personal style to it , giving it a mystical quality.

 “We don't copy the objects we use, we try to transform them and we hope they go on
transforming as look at them. ”

Pop Art in the Philippines

Definition, Characteristics and Artists of the style

What is Op art?

 Optical Art is a mathematically-theme form of Abstract art, which uses repetition of simple
shapes and colors to create vibrating effects, foreground-background confusion, an exaggerated
sense of depth, and other visual effects.

 It is all about physical sensations and it was developed in the United States sometime in the
1960’s.

 was coined to describe the work of a growing group of abstract painters. This movement was
led by Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley.

Characteristics of Op Art

 It exist to fool the eye. Op compositions create a sort of visual tension in the viewer’s mind that
gives works the illusion of movement.

Characteristics of Op Art

 It is geometrically based nature and almost without exception, eliminated realistic subject
matter.

 The elements (color, line and shape) are carefully chosen to achieve maximum effect. The aim is
to draw the viewer into the work, in more or less systematic ways.

Characteristics of Op Art

 Technique used are perspective and careful juxtaposition of color (like black-white) as well as
positive and negative spaces in a composition have equal attraction. Without both, op art could
not be created.

Artists of Op Art

Victor Vasarely

 A Hungarian-French artist
  According to the Masterworks Gallery in California, Vasarely is considered the father of the Op
Art and the leader of the movement.

 used disorientating effects to create often impossible images to the human eye, such as these
Vasarely prints and sculptures.

Victor Vasarely

 confined to academic painting and enrolled in the Bauhaus Muhely Academy in 1929. 

 Bauhaus trained its artists to create paintings based on foundational geometric forms such as
the cube, rectangle and the circle. 

 He created Zebres(Zebras) in 1937 and it is considered as the earliest example of Op art.

Victor Vasarely

 Vasarely also experimented with cubist, futurist, and surrealist painting briefly in 1944; however
he abandoned these styles in favor of optical art.

 His op-art paintings are distinguishable by their hypnotizing colors and distorted surfaces. 

Bridget Riley

 she is a British painter and designer who is the most celebrated exponent of Op art.

 She explores optical phenomena and juxtaposes color either by using a chromatic technique of
identifiable hues or by selecting achromatic colors (black, white or gray).

 Her works are inspired by Vasarely and she developed her own style by turning into colors.

Bridget Riley

 Riley's work shows a complete mastery of the effects characteristic of Op art, particularly subtle
variations in size, shape, or placement of serialized units in an overall pattern.

 Cataract 3 which is created in 1967 is her famous artwork.

End of the Lesson

By: Juezan, J.P.