Essay on Guernica: Historical Background and Political Analysis

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Essay on Guernica: Historical Background and Political Analysis

Write a political analysis of a popular cultural artefact (TV series, film, book, play, sculpture, meme).

In contemporary society, popular culture can be an object of collective social, economic and political expression. Street (1997, p. 7) acknowledges popular culture as a mass-produced artefact and ‘made available to a large number of individuals’ such as music, art, films and clothing. Popular culture practices are essential as communicative applicators to how meaning is challenged and circulated. In which, their social and cultural artefacts manifest power potential, inherent presuppositions, philosophical ideologies that are shaped to render meaning. Thus, social and cultural products have a political effect on the presentation and dispersal of world politics. In which, art is a form of entertainment that can be used to respond to contemporaneous events and deliver political influence as seen in ‘Guernica.’ Where Picasso’s timeless piece exists as a synthesis of pop culture and political statement to remind society of the horrors of war and its destructive nature, art characteristically transcends time and can be formed and shaped from contextual social conditions events. In which, contemporary artistic gestures are virtually linked to the artist and their world through a dialogical and confound vision. Picasso portrays different forms of conflict and configurations through fragmented figures in his angry denunciation in the history of world art. The artwork is featured internationally through various mediums of media. In which, his influence of world political discourse is acknowledged globally for his pacifist art production.

Pablos Picasso was a renowned artist during the twentieth century as a Spanish colonial, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer. Pablo Picasso’s conceptual practice deconstructed the ideologies and traditional conventions of perspective, in which, his unique style was one of the driving forces during the renaissance. Picasso revolutionized the concept of space and manipulated art as an arrangement of signs and symbols advocating metaphorical and candid references to a subject.

Picasso represents a poignant pacifist message against war and its atrocities through his portrayal of the 1937 bombing in Guernica.

Picasso depicts his homeland Spain during Europe’s political instability, where small-town Guernica, had been subjected to a terror bombing exercise by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War. The town was recognized as the ‘northern bastion of the Republican resistance movement and the epicentre of Basque culture’ in which, contributed to its distinction as a target. The painting is significant of the pain, sorrow and conflict of the republican forces, of communists, socialists, anarchists against the nationalists. During this period, the Nationalists were provided material support by Germany and commenced to experiment with intense aerial bombardment.

The artefact is represented as a mural-sized oil painting. Picasso’s monochromatic palette of grey, black and white embody a gloomy atmosphere to express the sorrow and pain. The intense violence appears in a flux, where the visual spacing is compressed with shifting perspectives. The subjects within the artwork are assembled through distorted and semi-abstracted forms, intermittent and disconnected.

Guernica has repeatedly been featured ‘totally, or partially, in drawing, vignettes, posters and banners at demonstrations’ within protests against armed conflicts within global politics. Each component or configuration within the artwork reflects a unique demeanour and can be redefined.

Since 1937, Guernica has been acknowledged globally for its political effect as a powerful anti-war sentiment to connect and visualize various political and historical proceedings. According to Held (1988, p.33), Guernica was on ‘everybody’s lips and had come to serve as a symbol for the victims of the fascist terror.’ Picasso, therefore, created an opportunity for his modernist statement to exist as a potent icon to be contemporarily featured in protests and demonstrations. At the time Guernica was challenged by both the right and left, however surprisingly received acclaim from the (ibid.) ‘left and from the liberal bourgeoisie’ and various artists. Picasso’s cubist and non-realist form influenced societies to take on the use of avant-gardism for political statements. For the first time in history, photography from the catastrophes of the war was dispersed globally to public audiences, who were able to connect Guernica with pictures from the Spanish Warfront on a personal level. As a (Lesser, p.16) ‘Republican weapon,’ the works political influence ‘denounced Franco and the Nationalists’ and condemned (ibid.) ‘Fascism as a whole.’ In 1981 after the war, the artwork was returned to Spain and was romanticized as an (ibid.) ‘masterpiece by Picasso,’ inevitably drawing the publics attention. In which, the war and the dictatorships tragedies (ibid.) ‘entered the public sphere as it was necessary to understand in order to understand the artwork itself. Antonia Saura was a Spanish artist and released a critical reaction to them (ibid. p.91) ‘storm of publicity and blatant disregard of traumatic history that characterized Guernica’s return.’ In the twenty-first century, Guernica remains demonstrated across disparate geographical regions in the fights against states geopolitical strategies that abuse human and civil rights, against the injustice of racism and parochialism and unjust economic interests. The artwork creatively avoids the unmediated reference to the town’s tragedy and instead promotes a pacifist symbol against all forms of violence and brutality that ‘could join and unite histories without nullifying them.’ Alberto Schommer (1928-) is a celebrated photographer in Basque who appropriated a photograph ‘El Guernica Movido’ to commemorate the 11-M Madrid train bombings. Guernica was featured again to revive the tragedy of Guernica and rejuvenate Picasso’s characters. Except for this time, the horse as (ibid. p. 102) ‘the entire Spanish nation and the bull is Al-Qaeda.’ In which, Guernica became a symbol of unification for the Spanish Populace.

Furthermore, many other contemporary artists commemorate Guernica to comment on disastrous events. According to Benjamin Hannavy Cousen, Guernica is a (Lesser, p. 104) ‘Cultural memory’ that (ibid.) ‘became the ‘memory’ of the event beyond its temporal moment.’ Indicating, the artworks timeless persona in resonating with contemporaneous events. Sophie Matisse combined Picasso’s work with the material practice of Henri Matisse to commemorate the September 11th attacks in 2001. A reproduction of the artwork lives within the UN Security Council as a grim reminder for (Kemmel, 2018) ‘world stakeholders of the horror of war.’ The message and metaphor of Picasso’s were was felt so strongly that in 2003, the United Nations under scrutiny for covering the Guernica Tapestry during ColiPowells visit to propose the war in Iraq. In which, protestors held picket signs outside the museum in Spain holding a replica of Guernica, shouting ‘No a la Guerra!.’

Similarly, in New York spread the same anti-war message with their own Guernica replica. In which the effect on society was felt majorly through the combination of covering up the Guernica tapestry and the initiation of the Iraqi War. The incident evoked artist, Patterson Carver to create a (Lesser, p.111) ‘cutting humourous criticism’ about the Bush administration and the proposed war. In which the artworks iconic and archetypal nature encourages the audience to challenge their conventional perceptions of war as ‘heroic’ and instead as the ultimate brutal act of self-destruction.

While the bombing of the Spanish city Guernica occurred over 80 years ago, the memory transcends time. Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ is globally renowned and is displayed in Madrid at the Reina Sofia Museum. As one of the most significant historical icons through its use and appropriation, the artworks antithetical progression combines an artistic and political connotation. The artworks political effect unites audiences as a universal allegory and resonates to the tragedy and suffering all over the world. The painting virtually affirms the power and autonomous nature of art within politics. Initially, on commission by the Spanish republican government and followed by its role in fundraising for refugees in Spain, the painting is a trajectory within Spanish history. Picasso himself acknowledged the work as (Danchev, 2010) ‘an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy.’ As a universal allegory, the artworks timeless and placeless portrayal of affliction only strengthens its a meaningful force with time.

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