「Look at the Picture and Talk about the Painting」New Realism: Art Is Not a Filter for Reality

New Realism!
In the last episode, we talked about realism. This time, let’s discuss new realism. It was an independent art movement that originated in France in the 1960s. Its core lies in directly confronting the real picture of the post-war consumer society and resisting the overly subjective expression of abstract expressionism and non-formal art at that time.

The New Realists advocate for “direct expression of true perception”, no longer simulating reality through brushes, but directly appropriating reality. Using everyday found objects and industrial waste as mediums, through techniques such as assembly and compression, Arman filled the gallery with garbage, responding to emptiness with “reality”, sealing vehicles with concrete to symbolize the discarded culture of the modern consumer society. Although Yves Klein is famous for his monochrome paintings, the “Void” exhibition and the “Anthropometry” series are all important practices of his in this movement.

Many people tend to confuse New Realism with New Dadaism. Although both use found objects, New Dadaism leans towards a playful form of anti-art and subversion, while New Realism has a distinct sociological perspective and does not pursue nihilistic deconstruction. Instead, it focuses on re-establishing the relationship between art and the consumer civilization.

The New Realism approach transforms the fragments, remnants and even the emptiness in life into testimonies of the era. Art is no longer a filter for reality; art itself is reality. It has also opened up a brand new path for contemporary art to root itself in reality and convey values.

The tea for today is all gone. Next time, I’ll brew a fresh pot and enjoy art with you again.