Appropriation in Postmodernism

Appropriation in Postmodernism

Duality is seen a lot around the world. It is shown in the street, with people and mostly in artworks. Appropriation and post modernism is also seen in artworks and shared with duality. All of these can be found in artworks of famous artists around the world. It is not hidden but sometimes invites the viewer just have to look hard and think to actually understand what they are looking at.
Appropriation and post modernism are two well known words in the art industry. They can be seen in artworks and even used in biographies of artists and their works. To appropriate is to take possession of something. When using Appropriation, artists deliberately copy images to take possession of them in their art. They are not stealing or plagiarizing. They are not passing off these images as their very own. Appropriation artists want the viewer to recognize the images they copy, and they hope that the viewer will bring all of his/her original associations with the image to the artist's new context, be it a painting, a sculpture, a collage, a combine or an entire installation¹. The definition of post modernism is that it is any of a number of trends or movements in the arts and literature developing in the 1970s in reaction to or rejection of the dogma, principles, or practices of established modernism. This shows especially in architecture and the decorative arts running counter to the practice and influence of the International Style and encouraging the use of elements from historical vernacular styles and often playful illusion, decoration, and complexity².

These two meanings fit into each other perfectly in art. Historical precedents such as Dada and Surrealism established the idea of "appropriation" early in the century. In visual arts, it is a tool for innovation and is also used in other mediums as well. Leo Steinberg a recognised art historian, acknowledged the brief post-modern era in the beginning of 1972, when artists appropriated...