Introduction

 How have artists and designers reacted to different times in history, when major political uprisings and events occurred?

I am focusing on the way in which government and politics influences art through the years. One main category, which I can look at, is the propaganda posters, and how they have evolved from being political figures persuading young men to join the army, the way in which they have evolved was to manipulate the images so for each decade or year of poster production there was a fear or incentive to join the army. To how they have become street art by artists such as Shepard Fairey. Another artist which I have looked at is Mr Brainwash, he is another street artist who is unknown although there is speculation that he is in fact Shepard Fairey or Banksy but the reason why I chose his work is that it is in a different style to Fairey's but still uses similar starting points such as the politicians, the reason why I like his work is that he makes it vibrant so that it stands out from the rest so he can differentiate his work from the other big street artists, he mainly expresses the messages that politicians are somewhat spoilt celebrities as he uses Marilyn  Monroe inspired politicians, so in other words actually makes them resemble Marilyn Monroe. Thirdly, an artist that I looked at was Pablo Picasso, although it was originally a task during the lesson I looked into more detail and found that a number of his works are actually influenced by war. Finally another artist I am going to look at is Barbara Kruger, as her work is not all based on government and politics but the style of her work is a more interesting for the simplicity, as the words make the image what it is as it gives it an impact which the other artists styling’s sometimes lack, as her work actually makes you stop and think about the situation of her work and what it can mean if the meaning isn’t clear straight away. I chose the theme based on the different ways government has affected the way in which artists or designers present their work, it has escalated from the propaganda posters of World War 1 and 2, to the street art which people often see in city’s of today, these can be both positive reactions to the politician or government movement or a negative reaction, so the work could be a slander campaign. I will then plan to create a propaganda poster for modern day, compared to the main propaganda posters from World War 1 and 2; I will take inspiration from all of these artists and from the communist posters, as they on occasion have more interesting and intriguing designs over the traditional British and American posters. For my research of primary source materials, I will visit art galleries and exhibitions within the region, I will visit such places as Baltic mill, DLI gallery, and MIMA for inspiration through my project, but I may also go further afield to the Tate gallery in Liverpool or the Tate modern in London. I will also take photographs of what I see whilst walking through the city on my way to the galleries in case I find some street art, which I find interesting.