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How Is Propaganda Used In Contemporary Art?

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“The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity”

Today in the 21st century, Propaganda is often associated with information that is of a biased or misleading which is used to promote a political cause or a point of view. However, in contemporary art, the use of propaganda is utilized by contemporary artists to highlight different versions of realities that challenge society’s perspectives, beliefs and views of certain subjects and topics of today. Artists today appropriate well-known imageries from art history to create abstruse compositions in order to question the reality of society. Fairy tales and well-known imagry, especially, are the common thread throughout the fabric of children around …show more content…

Upon viewing the piece, the audience is presented with a twisted reality of the American television sitcom, the Flintstones. the piece consists of Wilma Flintstone positioned on the right with part of her breast on full display while her husband, the lovable Fred Flintstone, has been altered to show the different stages of the evolution of man, in the form of several heads. By appropriating characters from the Flintstones, a show that concerns itself on the juxtaposition of modern everyday concerns in a Stone Age setting, Schorr is able to uncover the stereotypical realities of men and women in the 21st century. Schorr has used apes as a symbolic representation of the primitive and the animal nature of man as well as forms a clear relationship between ape and man. In addition, Wilma Flintstone has been portrayed in a sexual manner which; the significant portion of her breasts is visible, which forms a powerful statement that concerns itself with the stereotypical portrayal of men and women in society; men are animals while women are portrayed as sex figures. Furthermore, the strong, vibrant colour scheme creates a luminance cartoon yet realistic appearance which connotes the similarities and comparisons between the show and reality. There is also an evident contrast between colours as darker tones and …show more content…

The piece is a re-imagination of the tale which shows Red Riding Hood as a plump young woman, strolling alone through a sunny forest while slurping a soft drink. The backstory behind this piece that the artist has provided her audience is as stated; “Her whole life, Little Red Riding Hood took care of her mother and grandmother and never did anything for herself or took the time to be good to herself; she’s always giving to others. And she gets to a point where she just doesn’t care anymore, and then when she goes over to her grandmother’, she takes over McDonald’s because it’s fast and convenient.” (The Daily Beast, 2013) In other words, this particular piece highlights the on-going issue of obesity and food disorders in the 21st century and by appropriating the well-known children’s character into this situation, it allows the audience to see the extensive and crucial message that the artist is trying to convey. Similar to her Snow White piece, the composition of the piece have been carefully and artificially arranged yet the general position of the performers don’t seem posed. Additionally, the symbols within the piece obviously heightens the concept such as her well-known red cape which represents the traditional yet innocent symbol and characterisation often associated with Red Riding

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