ASHER p2 t4

Surrealism was an important art movement in Post Modern Era. Because of the massive destruction and loss of life brought about by the war, the artists’ motivations were significantly political: to satirize humanity, technology, and even art. Because of the tragedies and destruction
caused by the war, people tended to believe that any faith in humanity's nature and ability to improve themselves through art and culture was unrealistic and unreasonable. In the Post Modern Era, the surrealists were heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud, who was an Austrian founder of psychoanalysis. Freud’s distinction between people’s instincts and desires and people’s rational behavior, inspired many artists to create art and express themselves in a more abstract way in the postmodern era. Moreover, Freud thought that people repress their real desires into the unconscious part of their minds. In order for individuals to enjoy psychological health, he pointed out that they must bring these desires to the awareness of the consciousness. Inspired by Freud, artists of surrealism, especially Pollack and Warhol, supported the idea that ordinary and depictive expressions are significant, but those expressions must be open to the full range of imagination. Freud's work with free association, dream analysis was a groundbreaking way for the Surrealists to convey their messages of imagination. Both Pollack and Warhol were strongly influenced by Freud’s abstract expressions, and Pollack created his unique style of drip painting. More importantly, both Warhol and Pollock’s emphasis on the process of creation and their approach to making art was profoundly influenced by Freud.