John Heartfield began to make photomontages as a member of the Berlin branch of international Dada around 1920. Schooled in graphic arts and having worked briefly in animated film, Heartfield (who had anglicized his given name, Helmut Herzfeld, in 1917 as a protest against wartime nationalism) subsequently developed a cinematic effect in montages that he made for book illustration.
Bogus building inspection notices with the forged signature of city Building Inspection Director Frank Chiu appeared on buildings in San Francisco's South of Market area, prompting an investigation by exasperated city officials.
Francisco Goya created “The Disasters of War” from 1810-1820. These 80 etchings and aquatints show scenes from the Spanish struggle against the French army under Napolean Bonaparte, who invaded Spain in 1808. When Napolean tried to install his brother Joseph Bonaparte, as King of Spain, the Spanish fought back, eventually aided by the British and the Portugese.
The late, late snow has finally disappeared from Berlin’s streets. Visible once again, here and there, are the “stumble stones” –Stolpersteine in German – with their brief, tragic messages.
Many Berlin tourists will enjoy the night life. They may also look upwards – at the giant TV tower, the Brandenburg Gate, at ancient and less ancient churches. There is a wide assortment of memorial monuments, some impressive, some uninspiring.
The Norman Rockwell Museum is very unique. It attracts people of all ages from all around the world to visit. I’ve heard adults saying “I remember selling that copy of The Post door to door!” or seen children’s excited faces when they find something on the scavenger hunt list. The Rockwell Museum has something for everyone, and this summer I was lucky enough to receive an internship there.
After winning the TED Prize on March 2, 2011, the French-artist JR launched the Inside Out Project, in his first TED Talk. Using his own artistic practice as inspiration, this participatory platform helps individuals and communities to make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. Through their “Actions,” communities around the world have sparked collaborations and conversations.
Moving Chains is a monumental 110-foot long kinetic sculpture that evokes the hull of a ship, built from steel and Sapele, a tree native to West Africa commonly referred to as African Mahogany. Inside of the sculpture, nine chains run overhead: rotating on a maritime sprocket system, eight of the chains represent the pace of the currents in New York Harbor, while a ninth central chain moves more quickly, mimicking the pace of a ship in transit.
Graffiti art is particularly viewed as a powerful form of social protest, and the (illegal) act of defacing can be as important as the message itself. Artist Void One has been arrested on numerous occasions for his politically-charged interventions.
“I didn’t set out to make political art but art is a platform where I can vent my frustrations” – Void One.
The US-Mexico border wall has become a battleground for political theater, but also various artistic interventions. One of these outstanding artworks is the pink seesaws. They went viral after they were installed by the two creative architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello. Between the erect giant steel posts of the border fence lie small gaps a couple of inches apart. It is this space where they installed the seesaws.
This is an organization and online platform that registers cases of street harassment in Peru and disseminates information about the subject. People can report cases and get in touch with the organization to talk or learn more about what to do when being sexually harassed.
It was October 31st, 2012, when a new artist appeared on social media. In a series of video clips, she proposed with a soft and slow speech that Peru hide its poverty. Her project consisted of installing vinyl pieces to avoid what she called "the visual pollution." She titled the project Don't be poor, be fashion(able).
A street photography exhibition located in Beijing’s most crowded tourist attractions, Dongsi Hutong, to get a voice the Chinese government’s censorship of art works in public space. To hedge the city’s regulation , the human body photography were displayed in the street stores of Dongsi Hutong.
Catcalls of NYC is an organization that uses Instagram and everyday intervention as a platform of raising awareness about street sexual harassment. The group receives direct messages from people who have been catcalled on the street. The group goes to the location of the harassment and writes the catcall on the sidewalk in chalk. The Instagram account CatcallsofNYC then posts on their account a picture of the chalk writing.
On Feb 17, 2020, the official account of The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League on Weibo announced the launch of its virtual idols "Hongqiman" and "Jiangshanjiao", and set up a new official microblog, and called on people to "come and support the League Idols".
As the New Museum’s 2023–24 Artist-in-Residence, Camilo Godoy will create a performance exploring movement, breathing, and mourning practices. The title of his residency is borrowed from an embroidered work made by the queer Paraguayan artist Feliciano Centurión in 1995, the year before he died of AIDS-related complications.
As the world watches Cairo burn, I can’t help but think that the flames of protest engulfing Egypt were sparked by Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire on December 17 after police confiscated his vegetable cart. The desperation that he expressed through his act of self-immolation caught on, literally, and spread across the country, into Algeria, and now to Egypt.
There have now been ten coordinated 40 Days for Life campaigns since 2007, mobilizing people of faith and conscience in 440 cities across the United States and Canada, plus cities in Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belize, Denmark, England, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Poland, Puerto Rico and Spain.During these unified efforts, participants witnessed countless blessings from God:
The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have a new mascot: a roughly 12-foot-high figure of wood blocks holding a bright yellow umbrella in its outstretched right hand. The students call it Umbrella Man.
Umbrellas emerged as a symbol of the demonstrations after dozens of students wielded them on the night of Sept. 28 to fend off pepper spray as they jostled with the police.
In the broad context of the modern world of art, the work of Beili Liu has always seemed extraordinary in visual terms and deeply profound in thematic development. Born in China and living in the United States, much of her work usually circles themes tightly interwoven with notions of identity, culture, and time.
I went on a graffiti tour that went through NOHO, SOHO and the Lower East Side last weekend. We saw works by street artists - Space Invader and Roa - that were remarkable. Roa had created a commissioned mural of a bird on the side of a building, and the former artist derived his work from the unforgettable arcade game, Space Invader.