"Painting and Politics: 1976-90"

This piece looks at how many people saw painting as becoming almost obsolete in the 1950s/60s/70s because of the advent of mass media and the prevalence of photography.  A reinvention of painting would need to be brought about in order for it to continue as an important means of art creation.  During this time period, a rebirth of figurative painting occurred as a response to the abstract expressionism and minimalism of the previous decades.  This figurative work was heavily influenced by German expressionists, and a return to more narrative works went along with this "rediscovery" of the figurative tradition.  Many painters during this time also created a kind of playful critique of the concept of the photograph in their work; this served as a sort of hallmark of the movement towards collage and the more widespread creation of multimedia works of art (post-modernism).  In the early 1980s, "East Village" art and street art became popular and were seen by some as kitschy.  Some of the popular artists of this movement, such as Mike Bidlo, were interested in the concept of the copy and "original" art.  The reading goes on to look at defining the "feminine" in art, as all of the earlier artists discussed were male.  This concept embraces characteristics such as passivity, sensuousness, and tentativeness.