90’s Post Modernism, Neville Brody & The Face magazine

By Sophia and Caitlin

What is Postmodernism?

◼ The term Postmodernism was first used in around 1970.◼ Postmodernism is seen as a reaction against modernism.

◼ What is Modernism?◼ Modernism was an early part of the 20th century and experimented with representations of

reality. ◼ Postmodernism began: in Germany and western America and spread to Europe, India, Asia◼ It broke the traditional rules that had been established and introduced a new sense of freedom,

allowing designers and artist to break the boundaries of the ‘norm’ and try out new, unusual and sometimes controversial styles.

◼ There is limited agreement on whether this movement has an end-point, although some suggest that we are already living in the Post-postmodern world (Armstrong, 2009).

Many say that Postmodernism is directly socially influenced with the Punk Movement of the 1980s and 1990s. Postmodernism has influenced many cultural fields, including religion, literary criticism, sociology, linguistics, architecture, history, anthropology, visual arts, and music. The punk subculture is a reflection of the Postmodern culture.

Differences?

Postmodernism in Architecture

The movement of postmodern architecture wasn’t made a movement until the 1970’s, it was derived from a previous movement called Modern Functionalism, which centered on the usability. However, some architects viewed functionalism as boring and dull.With the concept of postmodernism, architects merged art and functionality into one wider concept.Characteristics: the architecture is adapted and morphed, giving emphasis on unique forms. They are the opposite of traditional architecture, as they oppose structured ideas and typical conventional designs.

Architects grew bored of traditional design and the restrictive rules of modernism.

The Dancing House 1992-1996

The Dancing House is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building in Prague. It was designed by Croatian- Czech architect Vlado Milunic who worked with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. It was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.

Gehry originally named the house ‘Fred and Ginger’, after the famous dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as they said the building resembles a pair of dancers.

The non-traditional postmodernism design was controversial at the time as many were concerned that the building wouldn’t fit in with the historical environment.

Nevertheless, it has become one of the most famous modern architectural masterpieces of the city. The shape is supported by 99 concrete panels, each a different shape and dimension. The twisted metal structure is nicknamed Medusa.

Postmodernism in art

◼ Post-modern artists were known as Neo-expressionisms, who use vivid color to express different objects and human beings.

◼ ‘Postmodernism cannot be described as a coherent movement and lacks definitive characteristics. It can be better understood instead as a set of styles and attitudes that were affiliated in their reaction against modernism’

◼ The 90’s was a time when contemporary, postmodern and photo realist art was the most popular. Postmodern art describes the art movement which was to be a contradiction to the aspects of modernism. Forms of postmodern art include New Classicism and Appropriation art.

◼ It can be seen that postmodernist art presents a whole new chapter in the history of art which is different, fresh and unorthodox.

Postmodernism Art in the 90s. Cynical Realism (1990s to present)This is a contemporary Chinese art movement that started in the 1990s, mostly in the form of painting. It began in Beijing, by figures Yue Minjun, Fang Lijun, and Liu Wei. The prominent themes focus on socio-political issues and events since Revolutionary China.

Body Art (1990s to present)

This is a contemporary art in which the artist’s body becomes the actual canvas.Body art embraces a wide range of forms especially now in the present day including:Body painting, Tattoo art, Face-painting, nail-art, piercings, Make-up, Mime and Living statues and Photography.

‘Balloon Dog’ By Jeff Koons

The sculpture stands at 12ft high and crafted out of stainless steel. It is one out of five in a series, with other colours being yellow, blue, magenta and red. (1994-2000)Jeff Koons is known for his neo-pop kitsch style of avant-garde art.While some praise his work, many critics have divided opinions of his postmodernism art, some calling it ‘arid’ (unexciting) and ‘sterile’

Balloon Dog (orange) 2000, sold in Nov. of 2014 for around $58M

Its description from Christie’s auctions calls it one of the “most recognisable images in today’s canon of history” evolved from Koons desire to “re-create the ecstatic experiences of a child’s enjoyment of the world with universal signifiers”More of Jeff Koons Work

Young British Artists (YBAs)

◼ In the late 1980s and the 1990s, postmodernism art was rejuvenated by a generation of young artists, later named the Young British Artists, who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988.

◼ Many of the artists graduated from Goldsmiths College of Art in the late 1980s; Goldsmiths Fine Arts course is known for cultivating new forms of creativity through its abolishment of the traditional seperation of medias.

◼ Belonging to no specific movement and art style, the YBAs had a diverse mix of painters, sculptors, video/installation artists and photographers.

◼ They embraced an attitude of complete openness towards the materials used and the processes at which the art was made; they were know for using shock tactics, use of throwaway materials, and for being entrepreneurial with how they displayed their work. Two Fried Eggs and Kebab (1992) - Sarah Lucas

Right: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991) - Damien Hirst

Left: Cor! What a Bargain! (1992) - Michael Landy

Postmodernism in Graphic Design

Postmodernism didn’t have a big impact on graphic design until the middle of the 1980’s and carried on into the 90’s.

The designers basically created works without any set order or formation, completely denying the traditional conventions.

There wasn’t one unified graphic style, rather the movement was “an expressive and playful time for designers who wanted to go against the system.”

Key influential postmodern graphic designers include: Wolfgang Weingart, April Greiman, Tibor Kalman and Jamie Reid.

Neville Brody

THE MAN. THE MYTH. THE LEGEND.

o Neville Brody is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director. He studied at the London College of printing, where his teachers often criticised his experimental work as they preferred traditional methods, such as those featured in modernist design work.

o Brody started to gain recognition during the 1980’s when the ‘New Wave’ emerged.

o Poynor (2003) describes how “Britain’s new wave was identified with youth culture and popular music and these designers tended to position themselves outside of design’s professional mainstream”.

o His work is often abstract, and has been influenced and shaped by the rebellious, anarchistic nature of the punk period that was occurring in London around the 1970’s.

o At one point he was almost thrown out of the college for putting the Queen's head sideways on a postage stamp design!

o Brody's experimentation with his self-made sans-serif typography, along with his Pop Art and Dadaism influence, caught the attention of music record companies such as Fetish Records and Stiff records after he left college. His CD covers leads toward a grudgy and a punk scene.

o He made his name by working as art director for The Face Magazine. He changed up the "basic" and "structural" rules that existed in the British culture into a more artsy and vibrant aesthetic.

o Created the FUSE project with Jon Wozencroft in 1991, an interactive magazine.

o 1994-present day: continues to work as a graphic designer and and together with business partner Fwa Richards launched his own design practice, Research Studios, in London in 1994. Since then studios have been opened in Paris, Berlin and Barcelona.

THE FACE MAGAZINEo The Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May

1980 by Nick Logan.o The magazine was influential in showcasing a number of fashion, music, and style

trends of youth culture including New Romantic, and the "Hard Times" look of the early 1980s.

o The Face married music, popular culture, politics and street style with radical art direction and new fonts by Neville Brody.

o From 1981 to 1986, Neville Brody was typographer, graphic designer, and art director of the magazine.

o ‘It paid peanuts to a select bunch of savvy and passionate writers, photographers and “stylists” who gave the word a fresh meaning and inspired an avalanche of imitators in mainstream media, retail, advertising and beyond…’

o Frank J. Wilson said “It’s style changed immensely during it’s lifetime, originating from a showcase for the popular quasi-independent music acts of the time, before evolving into a lifestyle magazine focusing more on fashion and style trends of youth culture.”

o By May 2004, the magazine closed due sales and advertising revenue reducing significantly.

o In 2011, The Face magazine was added to the collection of the Design Museum, London, and also featured in the Postmodernism exhibition.

◼ In 1991, Neville Brody and Jon Wozencroft created the FUSE project. It is an interactive magazine that aims to challenge our current ideas about typography and visual language in an age of ever changing communications technology and media.

◼ Brody was also partly responsible for instigating the fusion between a magazine,

graphics design and typeface design. The magazine ranges in themes from “codes” and “runes” to “religion” and “pornography.” Each package includes a publication with articles relating to typography and surrounding subjects, four brand new fonts that are unique and revolutionary in some shape or form and four new posters designed by the type designer. In 1990, he also founded the FontFont typeface library together with Erik Spiekermann.

◼ FUSE originally consisted of 18 issues, published and distributed by FontShop. Each issue was packaged in a cardboard box with an accompanying floppy disk of fonts that were used in the posters which composed each issue.

◼ E-readers, high-definition screens, and computing are changing the way we read and communicate, therefore placing us on what feels like the precipice of a significant change in the digital and printed word.

sources

◼ http://www.cockrams-surveyors.co.uk/blog/buildings/defining-postmodern-architecture-and-its-characteristics/

◼ http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/postmodernism

◼ http://www.slideshare.net/southmadness/powerpointpost-modernism?next_slideshow=1

◼ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifestations_of_Postmodernism

◼ http://www.theartstory.org/definition-postmodernism.htm

◼ http://1990sblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/1990s-visual-art.html◼ http://www.handinglove.co.uk/the-face-magazine/◼ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeff-koons-balloon-dog-sculpture-655548◼ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynical_realism◼ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism#Graphic_design◼