Book Description
Social Realism was first labeled as a definable art movement in the 1920s, when art and propaganda merged during the Russian Revolution. Much of today's social art goes beyond mere "social realism," following a path from realism to abstraction and transcendence, initially trod by artists such as Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, an abstraction encoded with utopian ideology.
In the late twentieth century a strikingly different kind of social realism emerged. Though propaganda plays heavily into the mix, so does a darker reality borne out on the streets of urban centers and in rural backyards, languishing in a post-industrial depression. Since the 1980s, socially conscious artists have increasingly addressed issues of narcissism/vanity/ consumption, commerce, sex, drugs, and AIDS. Work by 25 artists is represented in Social Strategies, including Jenny Holzer, Gilbert & George, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres.
