Postmodernism

Postmodernism arose in the late 20th century, more specifically in the 1960s. It was kicked into action via artists growing tiresome of the very strict and minimal ethos of modernism, wanting to have more freedom to express themselves. A very popular style that came from it was 'Pop Art'; taking its influence from the culture of the time. It was known for using bold colours, strong lineage, and not having many boundaries at all in the way of subject proving to be very different from the limited, grid-orientated manor of modernism.






The motivation of the movement was to bring back the freedom to art and design. It was renown for believing in the idea of deconstruction, specifically taking something apart in order to create something new and original. Influences would come from subject matter that most modernist's were cynical about, ranging from the past all the way to the present. Postmodernism was especially favored by the fine art would, as it took away the limitations modernism had put in place and allowed the artist to roam back to their traditional roots of art and design. One of the major differences between modernism and post-modernism is the fact that modernism's influences stemmed from the technology of the industrial focused society of the time period, where as post-modernism took influence from the ideology of taking apart and combining multiple subjects together to create something innovative and original.
 

Robert Rauschenberg

One of the earliest post-modrnist artists to rise was Robert Rauschenberg. His work is bursting with expression and is follows the rule of post-modernism to be totally free. Taking influence from the cultural surroundings, he rejected the idea of structure and the mechanical themes of modernism. Like a lot of pop artists, he made use of bold colours and expression in the context of overlapping and combining various images. Similarly to Kurt Schwitters, he used the collage technique, but in a very different way. As Schwitters was a modernist, you can distinctly see how his collages are structured with grid layouts and have very little decoration, whereas Rauschenburg's approach is to deem grid structure not even a consideration, displaying expressive chaos and a bold colour scheme. It is aimed to create an emotional response through images and themes that people can relate to and recognise. Personally, I love Rauschenburg's style, his influence on later artists and culture as a whole 
is brilliant and I would love to attempt to create pieces of work like his in my life.