Art Movements in Tate Modern

SURREALISM

One of the most recognizable examples of surreal work is 'Lobster Telephone' made by Salvador Dali. It is a juxtaposition of two objects which are normally not associated with each other so that it becomes hilarious and together, they lose their primary functions. However, for Dali, both objects had very sexual connocations and he believed that they can reveal unconscious desires. To explain the creation, Dali simply stated that he could not understand why when ordering a grilled lobster in a restaurant he was never served a boiled phone instead.

Anyway, there are many suppositions about the meaning of the work. Some people think that it is just a statement of luxury. It is worth reminding that in 1936, when the work was made, telephone was still a modern, technological invention and a lobster was a representative of luxury and wealth. The best explanation probably would be to say that it is a reflection of Dali's odd sense of humour. He also said once that putting these two things together is simply funny.

FUTURISM

Futurism was all about showing speed, technology, objects such as car, airplane and the industrial city. Piece of art which definitely shows all of this is 'Suburban Train Arriving in Paris' made by Gino Severini (one of futurism key figures). While spending a few weeks in Paris and watching trains passing by with soldiers, artist got inspired to paint a new piece of art. To show the movemets, he made rhythmic, broken, interpenetrating forms and used cheerful, flickering colors.

POSTMODENISM

In postmodernism art can be literally anything, even a can of coca cola. Artists' aim was to equal the artist with the viewer. It was about multilayeredness, ambiguity and mixing reality with illusion.

Pop art is a specific branch from postmodernism and the most famous representative of it is definitely Andy Warhol who from the beginning of his career wanted to change the triviality into the piece of art and be a determinant of the new esthetics. He played with size, colour and format and wanted the audience to interpret his works in its own way.

In 1967 he made 'Self Portrait' which was part of famous series of autoportraits. Fourty of them were printed on canvas in different colours but in the same size. All of them were made from the same photography on which artist is holding his hand in a position of thoughtfulness. Warhol used bright psychedelic colours. Warhol said that he wanted to completely minimalize human features.

REFERENCES

1. © Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation/DACS, London 2018, Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dali-lobster-telephone-t03257

2. 2012 · Totallyhistory.com ·, Available at: http://totallyhistory.com/lobster-telephone/

3. 'Suburban Train Arriving in Paris', Available at: http://artblogbybob.blogspot.com/2009/04/express-train.html

4. © 2018 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Right Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London, Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-self-portrait-t01288

5. © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018, Available at: © 2018 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Right Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London