Hoch's work was definitely the most interesting, and my favorite, that we have studied so far in this class. I found each one of her pieces to be not only beautiful, but also visually stimulating and thought provoking. I have always been drawn to collage, partially because I never had the technical skills of a painter or sketch artist, but also because I think being able to collage well takes a very interesting set of skills. While it does not necessarily require that you can precisely draw a shape or image, it does require an amazing appreciation and use of texture, color, shape, image and space, just to name a few. This is why to me it is obvious that she would have worked in an editorial department, especially in that of fashion design, sewing, and the occasional writing on various art topics. It is clear that she is used to working with a wide range of mediums and that she was able to translate a lot of different commercial art into her pieces, with knowledge of every material. As the article states "it ignored her masterly manipulation of the photomontage medium, which to this eye reached far beyond the talent of the other Dadaists."
Hoch was not only innovative with her stylistic approach to her pieces, but also with the social messages she delivered. She advocates for women's rights during a time when they had barely started to emerge to the public. She shows the emergence of women who are intelligent, professional, and capable. As the article states, one of her photomantages even displays a map of the countries where women have voting rights. She focused on the growing female identity in a time where she herself had little standing herself being a female in a predominately male art industry. I am not only extremely impressed by her photomontage, but also her ability to channel all of her passion and confidence with women's rights into the pieces she creates.
The photomontage images we have been studying immediately reminded me of a series of books I read when I was much younger called Griffin and Sabine. The image I posted above is an example of the photomontage they use to illustrate each story in the series.
Collaging does take a set of skills, I agree, because a lot of times when I see collages I feel like I am just looking at a mess of cutout pieces from a magazine or from a photo. Some of her artwork is quite impressive, I do agree with you, and you can definitely see the passion she has for trying to announce to the world the powers that women have. But doesn't making abstract collages kind of counter act the message she is trying to send? What I mean is, she wants women to be portrayed as being seen as equal as men, but the messiness of some of the art pieces seem to give off the feeling that we women are crazy. Maybe she wants to show that we are a good kind of crazy, maybe a creative crazy, what do you think? (Sorry that this comment is so long).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it must have been very hard to channel all of her passion and confidence into her artwork. She is a very strong woman even without the support of her own husband! I think her artwork shows how amazing Hoch must be. She was not willing to give up anything for anyone. She kept strong and has amazing artwork for everyone to enjoy.
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