Research - Politics And Identity
Political art is something that has a strong relationship between politics and the arts, especially between various kinds of art and power. And this has been the case across various geographies, cultures and periods. Throughout the history of mankind, one thing has been common in art, and that is there always have been some artists who have challenged the status quo when it comes to the political situation in their country.
Some people say that politics is an art that either explicitly opposes or implicitly supports the status quo is political art. And this happens because different people have different views on what makes art political. But one generally acceptable definition that all agree with is that art can be said political if it portrays all the direct and indirect influences of politics on society.
There are four major functions of political art - sociopolitical expression, propaganda, protest and satire.
- Sociopolitical Expression: The artist tries to express concerns regarding specific social and political issues to help common man understanding the current political and social issue.
- Propaganda: Sometimes, these artists are also used to communicate some agenda for or against the government. This is called Propaganda.
- Protest: One more function of political art is to disapprove of the actions or decisions of the politicians. This way, the art is used as a tool for protest.
- Satire: In this art form, the artist chooses to show his funny side and chooses humour to portray a serious political event and create awareness among society.
In Political art, there are 3 categories - portrayal, promotion or projections.
Portrayal - As the name suggests, this art form shows a mirror of the political scenario in present or past. It simply puts on canvas what is happening, or what happened in the past or a possible scenario of what may happen. This art form describes events or situations that may occur as a result of the prevailing social or political structures. Any political perspective is implicit in the art but is also free-floating.
Promotion - This art form presents ways and means to resolve a particular problem. In which a particular aspect of an event is ‘promoted’ over other aspects, hence the name. This aspect would focus on the people who are actively struggling to change the situation in which they find themselves. Here a particular view of the event is promoted over other images of the same event, which may have an opposing view. Unlike ‘Portrayal’, his art form has a positive effect only. It is hard to create an opposing point of view. The art styles or movements of Socialist Realism and ‘Political Art’ (such as banners and posters etc.) and Social Realism to some extent are examples of ‘Promotion’.
Projection - This art form involves a current political situation and then extrapolates it to form a new image of the entire situation. This art form tries to speculate what could happen in future, due to the current political situation. Such speculative art can have a positive effect by suggesting thoughts that are outside one’s usual ways of thinking. Art styles or movements such as Surrealism, collage, utopian or visionary images are perfect examples of this art form.
Some political artists include Banksy, who is an artist whose identity is unknown. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stencilling technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls and bridges throughout the world.
Kissing Coppers is a Banksy stencil that pictures two British policemen kissing. It was originally unveiled on the wall of The Prince Albert pub in Brighton in 2004. It gained significant attention due to Banksy's notoriety as a provocative street artist and activist. Kissing Coppers has frequently been regarded as one of Banksy’s most notable works, so much so that it was selected as the most iconic British piece of art at The Other Art Fair in London.
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