The Modernist Era, Part II (Module 7)

In the late forties, my grandmother was exiled from her home in Germany, so information regarding those who had to flee from the Nazis or were exiled as a result of the war, always attract my attention.  When reading about the closure of The Baunhaus, I was reminded of the this reoccurring issue of fleeing and exile.  I wondered if fleeing artist was still an occurrence in contemporary war torn areas.  My search did not yield the expected results, initially, I did not happen to find an incident of current artist leaving a war torn country.  However, I found instances of artists leaving for political reasons.

Konstatin Altunin painted a satirical portrait of the Russian prime minister and president, each in women's underwear.  It reminded me of Thomas Nast's works satirizing Tammany Hall during the nineteenth century (Meggs & Purvis, 2012).  I found it interesting that current political climate dictates whether a satirical or scathing work is acceptable.  While Nast's works caused his targets to loose there elections, Altunin was forced to flee to France (MSN News, 2013).

Konstatin, 2013, from The Guardian

However, upon further inspection, I was able to find anecdotes of artists fleeing war zones, as The Bauhaus faculty did.   According to Dehghanpisheh (2012), Wissam Shaabi resisted leaving his home in Syria to escape to Lebanon, but eventually he did just that.  Shaabi's story also relates to the story of The Bauhaus faculty, in that his work was not directly targeting any political figures.  Instead, Shaabi actually used bright colors and aimed to convey hope in the midst of dealing with the war.  Yet, he found himself in danger.  This is where Shaabi's story differs from the faculty of the Bauhaus, as he was not directly targeted by political parties (as the Nazis harassed the faculty, Meggs & Purvis, 2012), but was just impacted by the general danger and lack of exhibition opportunities that a war zone brought.

Shaabi, 2012, untitled

Works Cited

Associated Press in Moscow (2013, August 28). Artist flees Russia after painting Putin and Medvedev in pants. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/28/putin-pants-art-russia-konstantin-altunin-moscow

Associated Press in Moscow (2013, August 28).  Artist who painted Putin in underwear flees Russia.  MSN News. Retrieved from http://news.msn.com/world/artist-who-painted-putin-in-underwear-flees-russia

Dehghanpisheh, B. (2012, November 6).  Syria’s artists flee war-torn country, but they dream and paint of home.  The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-11-06/world/35505642_1_paintings-damascus-artists

Meggs, P. B., & Purvis, A. W. (2012). Meggs' History of Graphic Design (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Shaabi, W., Syrian Artists Bare Their Thoughts in ‘True Colors’.  Al Mahha Art Blog. Retrieved from http://almahha.com/2012/11/06/syrian-artists-bare-their-thoughts-in-true-colors/