~Modernism VS. Postmodernism Era~

Modernism is defined as the characterized radical break from the traditional forms of prose and verse. On the other hand, postmodernism is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions. Modernism is a philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; particularly in the years following World War 1. The hot topic that was on everyone's mind was a revolution, especially an artist's mind. As stated in the Guerrilla Girls exclaim, "In Western art, movement and "isms" appeared, one after another: impressionism, postimpressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, dadaism, surrealism, expressionism, and abstract expressionism" (Guerrilla Girls 59). All of the isms that were mentioned by the Guerrilla Girls gave the birth of modernism which left a big change in the art world. The female artists wanted to be their own person; it was like breaking the chain of modernism. Traditional values and conventional methods like the colors, lines, and shapes grew in new techniques. With freedom and everything that the female worked hard for was still being challenged by the male gaze because they did not take change well.

Modernism allowed females to speak up within the society through some of their amazing paintings. One amazing painting that we will be mentioning is Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo the Broken Column, 1944

Frida Kahlo was a woman who used her own body to define strength, she also was the face of the new modernism. Frida endured a really tragic life when she went through a rough trolley accident that would've ended her life (but it didn't). The Guerrilla Girls' stated, " But it is enough to say that my pelvis was smashed, my spinal cord was mangled, and I was sewn back together but was crippled for life" (Guerrilla Girls' 78).  Her paintings were mostly of herself to show the people what her body went through. Her paintings symbolized her pain and mainly strength. As we all remember her by her famous unibrow. The unibrow symbolizes that she doesn't care about anyone else and what they think; the why can guys grow hair and a girl can't type of approach. She was the type of female artist that demanded respect from everyone especially males. The trolley accident wasn't the only pain she endured, but she also felt pain towards her lover Diego. Her relationship with Diego wasn't simple which caused a lot of complications with her life. She expresses that hurt while painting  a piece called "The Broken Column." When observing the painting you can see the pain by the nails. Her body is split into a column showing the injury she faced by the trolley accident. If you look closely you see small and large nails symbolizing the small pains and the largest pains she is enduring. The one that stood out was the nail that is on her chest which was for Diego. Her face shows sadness which shows tears. Not only does the tears represent sadness it also shows the freedom that she gave herself. Frida's artwork will forever live because of the amount of power and meaning her artwork brings to the people. 


Post-Modernism came about during the time the second world war ended. This movement is categorized between the social and cultural environment during the 19th and 20th centuries. Chadwick states, "The breaking down of the unified (though hardly monolithic) traditions od exposing assumption underlying many of the beliefs that defined vanguard art, engaged of conceptual and modernism" (Chadwick 380). Postmodernism artists developed a whole different type of art. Art does not have to be displayed inside the art galleries but they can do art anywhere. Art is not defined and restricted. Postmodernism wants you only to ask a question and they won't give you an answer because there isn't an answer to your question. Art can basically be whatever the hell you want it to be; art can make no scene (which is considered to be the best type of art). The postmodernism style also is different because it was full of ideologies, skepticism, sarcasm, and irony. The women artist increased in number but still are overlooked and challenged by male artists. 

Cindy Sherman, "Untitled Film Still #6" 1977

The female artist that attracted my attention the most was Cindy Sherman. She literally photographed herself and used her body as an art piece. She would dress up and take on the role of different women in society. Cindy Sherman started her own little untitled film stills. Se portrays in a way to impersonate a typical archetypal female which is the ingenue, the housewife, the actress, and the victim. When observing this type of artwork you can see the emotion on her face and the way she is positioned. She used her own camera, in which she used "her own body in the conventions of advertising and film images of women" (Chadwick 383). She took a lot of amazing photographs that challenged the notions of the norm and they are still shown today. Sherman is not trying to be sexual or use her body as an object of desire by the male gaze, but instead "Positioning herself with an art-historical tradition that has for centuries objectified and fetishized the female body" (Chadwick 383). She stood out to me because she is no longer allowing the female body to be gazed by the male gaze in a sexual manner, but instead is getting people to think of how the females were and still being treated by the society in itself. 

In conclusion, we discussed the difference and evolution of modernism and postmodernism. Modernism is everything that makes sense in the art world and nothing that is not the norm. Postmodernism was opposed to the reactions of modernism and wanted to tare it down! Postmodernism's goal was to not make sense and to give the seekers to make sense of it or to think why this is here. 

Work Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Langara College, 2016

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin, 1998.