Art Analysis: Mid Modern Exhibit - How the Vietnam War Affected the Arts
The Vietnam War, like all wars, heavily affected the people, culture, and values of the countries involved. It brought environmental devastation to Vietnam, killed ~500,000 civilians, killed ~58,000 American soldiers, wounded ~153,000 more soldiers, induced PTSD, strengthened communism, tarnished the USA's reputation by showing how corrupt it was, and many other effects (BBC). Art was also greatly affected by the war, during and afterward, artists created works showing the horrors of the war or protested the war while happening. Such examples include Claes Oldenburg's Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, Leon Golub's Vietnam II, Martha Rosler's Red Stripe Kitchen or Cleaning the Drapes, Peter Saul's Saigon, Jesse's Travino's Mi Vida, and many more.
(Golub, Leon Vietnam II, 1973)
(Rosler, Martha Red Stripe Kitchen, 1967-72)
(Rosler, Martha Cleaning the Drapes, 1967-72)
(Saul, Peter Saigon, 1967)
(Trevino, Jesse Mi Vida, 1971-72)
(Oldenburg, Claes Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, 1969-74)
Oldenburg, in collaboration with his alma mater, created and placed Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks in Yale's Beinecke Plaza in 1969 to protest the Vietnam War. This sculpture stands 24 feet tall and is constructed of cor-ten steel, aluminum, cast resin, and polyurethane enamel. The objects of lipstick on caterpillar tracks juxtapositions America's blatant consumerism and brutal war efforts. It's also a critique of gender as it places a feminine product on the "masculine machinery of war" (Khan Academy). The feminine associations of the lipstick tube and its phallic/bullet-like shape language juxtaposes American citizens' allure to sensual everyday commodities as they are blind to the war their country is waging.
This piece excellently uses shape, space, and color to drive home its message of America's blindness in the war. The shape is chunky, simplistic, and large. Which helps to simplify its message for its audience. Its large stature in the open Beinecke Plaza helps to draw attention to it and highlights the important signal of commodities that people normally wouldn't think twice about. The colors are simple and unblended. The base caterpillar is dark blueish-gray common to mechanized war vehicles, while the lipstick has a soft red tip and hard brass body. Similar to a bullet's red tip and brass casing.
Vietnam II is painted as acrylic on a three-meter-high by twelve-meter-long canvas as it depicts several American soldiers the moment before firing upon Vietnamese civilians. The canvas is un-stretched and ripped at the bottom which elevates the tension and brutality of the scene. There's a strong emotional dialogue between the aggression of the soldiers and the terror of the civilians on the left. The increase of rips on the right helps show the civilians' chaos and distraught contrasted to the few rips on the left which shows the soldiers ordered demeanor. It looks like a slightly blurry horror scene.
Golub uses line, shape, and color excellently to show the frenzy of emotions within this scene. There are a lot of visible lines that muddy the figures' features and highlight the ugliness emotions of the scene. The soldiers have straighter, more precise lines on their weapons and vehicle to show the cold order they are in, while the skin of both sides is messy and chaotic. It is similar to the shapes of figures. The soldiers are more orderly while the terrified Vietnamese are a mob of chaotic, organic shapes. Color also helps to show the stark difference between the two groups, the soldiers are dressed in death black while the civilians are in an innocent white.
Red Stripe Kitchen acts as a protest against the Vietnam War as it depicts American soldiers investigating a modern American kitchen. Rosler is "bringing the war home", which is also the name of the series this piece is in. The piece is a 23 1/4" x 17 3/4" photomontage, which, similar to a collage, is a single image made out of other photos. The Vietnam War was considered to be "the first 'living room war' because of the unprecedented way in which television carried images of the ongoing carnage into American households" (Guggenheim). But Rosler didn't think it was enough, that it was still too remote for American citizens, so her Bringing the War Home series showed the war more forcefully in common American areas to the American public.
Rosler's use of color, space, and texture helps to juxtapose the clean American household with the gritty war and soldiers. Its use of color is very evident, the kitchen consists mostly of clean, sparkling white and red displays of America's ignorant, innocent, offhanded view of the war. On the other hand, the soldiers are colored in dark camo to match their dirty jobs. The spacing also helps display America's distance from Vietnam as the soldiers are far in the back, almost in the hallway, away from mundane and orderly pots and pans. The soldiers are also more ruggedly textured than the kitchen. There are ruffles and crinkles as they bend down, giving them a little grit and realism, compared to the overwhelming flatness of the kitchen's walls and counters. The only texture the kitchen has is the wooden countertops and woven stools, but they only help give a sense of home and are flattened and smoothed to match the kitchen.
Also part of Rosler's Bringing the War Home series, Cleaning the Drapes brings the war more vividly to American audiences by showing a lady opening her window which cuts directly to battlement in the war. Unlike Red Stripe Kitchen, the juxtaposition of civilian life and soldiers are directly next to each other, and there's very little breathing space in between. It is printed on a 17 5/16" x 23 3/4" page.
Rosler uses color and texture to great effect. The dull colors, or lack of colors, help create a sense of monotony and disconnect between the domestic woman and the war scene. Similar to Red Stripe Kitchen, the texture juxtaposes the woman's cleanliness and homely aura with the war grit and roughness.
Saigon is an incredibly unique depiction of the atrocities of the Vietnam War. Saul painted it with acrylics, oils, enamel, and fiber-tipped pens on a 93 1/4" x 142 1/4" canvas. It colorfully and cartoonishly depicts wrongdoings Saul thought were happening in Vietnam, he had no experience with war yet still decided to make an antiwar piece (Whitney). There are uprooted palm trees, a river of blood, and a spiked bomb in the background. While the foreground shows American GIs drinking Coca-Cola as they rape, dismember, and torture a Vietnamese family. "White Boys Torturing and Raping the People of Saigon: High Classic Version" is written in Oriental-style letters in the lower left and right corners (Whitney).
Saul's use of color, shape, and space help elevate this painting into a frenzied chaotic mess, similar to the war atrocities depicted. The colors are incredibly vivid, diverse, and bright. Which both confuses the eyes and elevates the horrors with absurdity. The bright value tones also help to ironically lighten up the mood, bring light to the situation, and possibly show the GI's blindness to it by how bright it is. Saul's shape language is also incredibly wild, and its boldness helps bring attention to the scene. Its mostly curvy shapes and lines make the scene more frenetic and chaotic, similar to the chaos of raiding a city. The spacing in this painting is very clustered which gives a sense of containment, possible claustrophobia, and unease. None of the figures are allowed to breathe and the proximity of GIs to the Vietnamese within the context of the scene makes it uncomfortable to watch.
Mi Vida depicts a different aspect of the Vietnam War as a self-portrait of Trevino's life after losing his right hand in the war. It's a raw and honest depiction of a veteran by a veteran artist. Trevino painted this massive photorealistic piece on a massive 8 x 14 feet canvas with his left hand as he was still learning to use it. It shows several important aspects of Trevino's life, there's his green Ford Mustang (which he bought with disability pay). There are some cigarettes, pills, and coffee which he used to soothe his pain. There's a depiction of him before he lost his hand on the right. Most prominently his Purple Heart medal hangs off his prosthetic hand front and center. Behind that, there's the large face of a friend who had died. "Her intense visage is lucid but mysterious, confronting the viewer from either the artist's past or the afterlife" (Smithsonian Art). It is a piece that depicts the effects of the Vietnam War on one man, the journey he took afterward, and the strength he had to carry on.
Trevino uses space, shape, and value with excellent effect. All the subjects are cleanly and clearly spaced from each other. The spacing makes all the subjects feel equally important to Trevino's life. However, there is an importance hierarchy to it as the most important things are dead center. The shapes are equally as controlled as the spacing, they are tidy and realistic. Which makes the painting focus more on the subject's depiction than the emotional response that might emanate from them. The value of this painting is dark and moody, which accurately describes Trevino's experiences as dark and difficult. The brightest spot is the background lady's face which represents Trevino's relationship with death. Also, the only pure white area only exists to illuminate his past, pre-prosthetic self, but he is still in black and white.
I don't have any personal connection to the Vietnam War or any of the selected pieces. But I do appreciate their historical value as they show the emotional response and political climate during the war and after, and those who were directly affected or just viewed it from the side. My favorite piece is Trevino's Mi Vida as cleanly and clearly shows important objects in his life that are connected to the war. It feels deeply personal. I wouldn't want to own any copies of these pieces in my home though.
Works Cited:
Dosch, Mya. “Claes Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks.” Khan Academy, 25 Sept. 2018, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/a/oldenburg-lipstick-ascending-on-caterpillar-tracks. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Guggenheim. “Martha Rosler: Red Stripe Kitchen.” The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation, 2024, www.guggenheim.org/artwork/13810. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Ho, Melissa. “Remembering Artist and Veteran Jesse Treviño.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, 28 Feb. 2023, americanart.si.edu/blog/remembering-jesse-trevino. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
“Impact of the War - the Vietnam War - National 5 History Revision - BBC Bitesize.” BBC News, BBC, 27 Jan. 2023, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zv7bkqt/revision/6. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Jackson, Pierce. “Sinister Pop: Peter Saul, Saigon, 1967.” Whitney Museum of American Art, 2012, whitney.org/media/390. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Orellana, Tally de. “Leon Golub Paintings, Bio, Ideas.” Edited by Rebecca Baillie, The Art Story, 17 July 2018, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/golub-leon/#:~:text=Marking%20a%20shift%20from%20previous,being%20televised%20at%20the%20time. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Rosler, Martha. “Martha Rosler. Cleaning the Drapes from the Series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home. c. 1967-72 | MOMA.” Museum of Modern Art, 2024, www.moma.org/audio/playlist/297/4092. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Saul, Peter. “Peter Saul: Saigon.” Peter Saul | Saigon | Whitney Museum of American Art, 2024, whitney.org/collection/works/1388. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Hi Eli,
ReplyDeleteI'm really fascinated by the design of the sculpture "Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks." It's intriguing to see how an artist can draw inspiration from war tanks and other forms of weaponry to create a thought-provoking piece. Your explanation in the blog was particularly insightful, as it highlighted how the juxtaposition of lipstick—often associated with beauty and femininity—against the brutal imagery of caterpillar tracks forces us to confront the stark contrast between America’s rampant consumerism and its intense war efforts.
I appreciated the way you broke down the elements of the sculpture, including shape, space, and color, which all contribute to its powerful message about America’s disengagement from the realities of war. The chunky, simplistic, and large form of the sculpture stands out, almost demanding our attention and prompting us to reflect on our values.
Moreover, it's important to consider the historical context in which this piece was created. Many people opposed the Vietnam War, and the artist’s clear dissent is evident through this artwork. It's a striking commentary on the illusion of normalcy and consumer culture while highlighting the deeper issues that plagued the country at that time. Your post sheds light on these elements beautifully. Great work!
Your article did a great job of highlighting the Vietnam War's broad impact on society, culture, and art. It was a pivotal moment that inspired artists to reflect on its consequences, critique systems, and address issues like environmental damage, human suffering, PTSD, and the U.S.'s tarnished reputation. I can see that the artists often use their work to process turmoil, question authority, and drive change.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job of highlighting Vietnam and the broad differences of artwork shown. There was an immense impact on society and the way the individuals were impacted by this art. Many individuals were affected by PTSD. I loved the historical pieces you chose and how important this was for people to understand what was going on in Vietnam. You did a great explanation of shape and color in these images. Many of these demand attention while spreading the issues of war.
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