Artists included in Tate Modern’s ‘In The Studio’ display are the focus for this talk. From the birth of Modern Art, artists have vigorously explored the figure and still life settings, in their studio. The Cubists, led by Picasso and Braque, represented reality through fragmenting images with overlapping viewpoints. Artists continually explored and reinvented the mundane, such as Pierre’s Bonnard’s obsessive repetition of quiet domestic scenes. Moore, Picasso and Matisse incorporated the study of non-Western sculpture into their figures and facial features, whilst the Surrealists attempted to tap into the unconscious through the analysis of dreams in order to paint from the imagination and both understand humanity and undermine authority. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the representation of women was constantly in flux and alters in parallel with the developments in women rights. This is evident in the female figure’s position as object in, for example, Modigliani, Degas and Dali’s works and as subject and artist in Louise Bourgeois and Dorothea Tanning’s art.

On witnessing the catastrophes of WWI & WWII, artists felt compelled to respond; they rejected the traditional and accepted European practice of art-making, with their works becoming more abstract and often using experimental materials. Artists, such as Jackson Pollock, began moving away from the human figure and became more interested in how abstract works could have an immersive effect on the viewer. Through the enveloping effect of minimal but completely emotive works, for example by Yves Klein, the simplicity of painting with white by Robert Ryman and others and works inspired by Avant-Garde music, the reduction of an image in a work of art affects the viewer in a revolutionary modern way. Tate Modern’s ‘In The Studio’ display compares, for example, Gerhard Richter’s art to Op artists such as Bridget Riley and the ‘Artist and Society’ display places Ben Nicholson’s abstract work alongside that of Piet Mondrian. Through this comparative approach in a thematically curated display, it’s possible to position these artists within a broad context of Modern Art so as to gain an overall understanding of post-war art and culture.

Tate Modern’s ‘Media Networks’ display explores the evolving ways in which 20th century artists responded to the modern world and the impact of technological advancements and mass media. Whilst technology enabled progress and network, it also presented a new set of issues for artists, such as Fernande Léger and Eduardo Paolozzi, to examine. Mass media provided artists with an array of visual material to interpret, as exemplified in the work of Roy Lichtenstein. Through posters, pop art, activism and installation, artists have continually commented on our ever-changing world. Modern artists challenged the idea that only a select few materials are suitable for creating art. Beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s pioneering urinal, artists have utilised the readymade object, everyday materials and unconventional mediums, to create conceptual art that rejects and challenges the tradition of art making and makes use of the abundance of materials in our consumer-led society. By placing familiar objects in unexpected contexts, by Man Ray for example, conceptual art dealt with the revolutionary idea that the concept is more important than the finished object.