| Benjamin H.D. Buchloh's Neo-Avant-Garde theory succeeded and developed the Avant-Garde theory put forward by Peter Burger, who has divided the 20th century avant-garde art into two artistical concepts as Historical Avant-Garde and Neo-Avant-Garde. Buchloh took up this division and responded to Burger's criticism of the Neo-Avant-Garde by pointing out the essential difference between the two kinds of Avant-Garde art. According to the theory of Buchloh, not only the value of Neo-Avant-Garde consists in the internal change of art paradigm, but also closely related to the society, economy, culture and other external factors in the late capitalist society. Therefore, instead of discussing whether painting will eventually be replaced by photography from the perspective of aesthetics and function, this thesis will focus on the status transition between photography and painting in the context of the society of spectacle:on the one hand, commercial photography infuses new ideas into painting while traditional painting was declining; on the other hand, its inherent Avant-gardism allows painting to rival the popularity of photography when the massive mechanical reproduction make artwork as the production in consumption society.Gerhard Richter is an important artist in the Avant-Garde art criticism of Buchloh, who regards Richter's transformation from "Socialist Realism" to "Capitalist Realism" as the personal experience that has far-reaching influence on him. In Buchloh's Neo-Avant-Garde theory, Richter's painting reflects several contradictions. First of all, the painting motifs, such as sensitive political issues, significant public incidents, commercial advertisement, personal family life and other subjects were appeared on the picture in a nearly anonymous way, which was differ from Pop art that rooted in the society of spectacle, expressed the confrontation to the spectacle and the awareness of any intervention of social ideology. Secondly, he references plenty of photographic images, the combination of the photography that based on the mechanical production and the painting that based on the traditional crafts, formed conflict between using value and aesthetic value. Furthermore, classical paradigms in the period of historical Avant-Garde, which was aimed to deliberate the essence of painting and resist the art system has changed their method, purpose and significance in Richter's painting, and once again involved in the context of the society of spectacle. |
PDF Full Text Request