Retro : Viral Vintage @ The Vintage & Designer Markets West End

Come and say hi and pick up a bargain at the West End Vintage & Designer Market @ The Rumpus Room (56 Russell St West End) August 6th! 

Mao & The Cultural Revolution

Years ago, in the 90s, I was browsing at the Valley Markets in Brunswick Street, and came across a stall that was full of kitschy chinese items... lighters and watches and tins, all plastered with a familiar face. I got talking to the stall owner who as it turned out, made regular trips to China to buy up all his stock. The items he had for sale, were all propaganda items from the Cultural Revolution in China headed by Chairman Mao- Mao Zedong aka Mao Tse Tung. I didn't buy any of his stuff. But now I look back with a little regret. What happened to all that stuff? I look back at myself then. With no interest in Chinese history or even what happened yesterday- and wish I'd had the foresight to at least have grabbed an alarm clock...

I didn't even realise at the time, that the main reason I would have recognised this famous face was because of a portrait that Andy Warhol made of the Chinese leader in 1972 at a time when China was re-opening to the west. Warhol had a talent for recognising that fame was about image and that fame had the ability to transform images into icons- and icons lived on beyond the time where they were created. At the turning point of the Cold War, Warhol appropriated Chinese political iconography and used it to boost his own publicity machine.

Kynaston McShine from Gallery Warhol suggests, "If Warhol can be regarded as an artist of strategy, his choice of Mao as a subject - as the ultimate star - was brilliant. The image of Mao, taken from the portrait photograph reproduced in the chairman's so-called Little Red Book, is probably the one recognized by more of the world's population than any other - a ready-made icon representing absolute political and cultural power. In Warhol's hands this image could be considered ominously and universally threatening, or a parody, or both."

After listing many political and strategical achievements about Mao, Wikipedia says, "Mao remains a controversial figure to this day, with a contentious legacy that is subject to continuing revision and fierce debate. He is officially held in high regard in China as a great political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Additionally, he is viewed as an intellectual, poet, philosopher, and visionary.
Conversely, nationwide political campaigns led by Mao, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, are blamed for millions of deaths, causing severe famine and damage to the culture, society and economy of China. Moreover, although China's population almost doubled during the period of Mao's leadership[3 (from around 550 to over 900 million),[4] his rule from 1949 to 1976 is believed to have caused the deaths of 40 to 70 million people.[5][6]

Despite the ongoing dispute, he is still regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history,[7] and was named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time Magazine.[8]"

It's not surprising then that Andy Warhol saw Mao as a fitting subject. Gallery Warhol goes on to say, "Committed to mining popular culture for his iconography, Warhol moved seamlessly from his earlier portraits of celebrities to that of a political figure and authoritarian ruler. In doing so, he indirectly but incisively exposed the power of mass media in the creation, canonization and commodification of personas for the purpose of collective absorption. While his simplified, logo-like representation and repetition of glamorous stars reflect the consumerist ethos of American capitalism and the advertising and publicity machinations that underpinned it, Warhol's Mao reveals the centrally controlled propaganda apparatus of Chinese communism. Mao's physiognomy was propagated via billboards, posters and pamphlets throughout China as a means of stating his omnipresence as both a benevolent and fearsome leader, casting a watchful eye over his subjects. Having engineered the persecution of intellectuals and artists through the Cultural Revolution, and extinguished the potential Chinese equivalents of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, Mao essentially replaced such figures and turned himself into the communist counterpart of a Pop icon."

Is Paris Hilton taking tips from Mao? Infiltrating the lives and minds of peasant masses with cheap pop crap and as much exposure as possible?

What of all the little bits of pieces of propaganda that are floating around in the world with Mao face plastered on them? What does it mean to have made oneself a product or symbol? Along with copies of the famous "Little Red Book" which was distributed to every Chinese citizen with quotes and Maoist ideology 101, a multitude of objects were produced that were dedicated to the Maoist cause... ashtrays, alarm clocks, lighters that play music (the east is red), posters, badges, wall-paper for nurseries, ceramic statuettes of peasants riding rockets, and mangos?  (I'm not going to go all history lesson on you... more on the mangos below) Jeez what a guy. You could put your smoke out on his face or wax mango as a salute to his greatness... But that is his greatness. In the everyday object, part of all of our lives, not just your average Chinese citizen. His fame, his image reaches far beyond any of his words could. But what does it mean now? In our current time, in the context of Chinese history and the country's current "Cultural Revolution"? What does it mean now in our fame obsessed capitalist culture and the machine of fame? What does the Mao lighter mean now that it no longer lights? What now that the wax mangos have melted and the alarm clocks no longer tick? Is there much of a difference between political leader and celebrity or brand? 

Mao has become symbol for so many things- to east and west alike. And perhaps his greatest legacy was not a cultural revolution in China, or a great strategist who overcame threats to his dictatorship through propaganda, but more a living demonstration of the power of imagery in our daily lives. 

More on Mangoes:

http://chineseposters.net/themes/mao-mangoes.php

http://www.theeastisred.com/misc/misc8.htm

Gallery Warhol:
http://www.gallerywarhol.com/andy-warhol-mao-1972-FS-II.93.htm


Wikipedia Mao Zedong:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong


Some random Maoist Propaganda for sale:
http://www.zitantique.com/articles.html


Maoist Badges for sale: 
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74184709/collectible-chairman-mao-propaganda?ref=v1_other_2

      

The History of the Clutch Purse

The word Clutch arose in Middle English derived from the now obsolete word clitch- from Old English Clyccan which meant bend or clench. The modern meaning of the word is a device for engaging a motor vehicle's gears- which came from the meaning of clutch in the 19th century, "coupling for bringing working parts together." And when you think about it, that is exactly what happens when you pack your Clutch purse for a night out. It's a small bag for the essential items required for an evening out or special occasion- all the working parts, lipstick, money, keys... brought together in a small bag.

But the clutch is not a new fashion. According to Simon Steph at ezine articles, fashion style, "Small purses known as reticules were used by women as far back in time as the end of the medieval period, favored because of their lightness and convenience. These early clutch bags reached their peak of popularity during the 19th century in both Europe and America, and then, rather inexplicably, died out close to the turn of the century in the 20th."

Although I don't know if it is inexplicable. The 20th century brought more opportunities for women, more liberation. Maybe we just needed to carry more stuff? World War I opened up opportunities for women to go to work in factories which had an effect on the length of skirts / dresses and also hair. Both were shortened for reasons of safety and practicality. And while women certainly didn't enjoy the kind of equality we have now, going to work probably necessitated porting more things around to accommodate a working day.

Shoulder bags and larger purses became more fashionable in the early 20th century. And Steph from ezine suggests that this was, "perhaps partly because the large quantity of leather was a sign of ostentation in the sudden abundance of manufactured goods that the 20th century brought."

World War II, like WWI before it, had a similar effect on fashion. The war brought rations for everything; and anything frivolous, like large leather bags or purses, were in short supply. The shortage of leather meant simpler, smaller designs and the Clutch came back into fashion. It's interesting to think that something that was created out of necessity is now considered to be more of a luxury purse- mainly for evening wear or special occasions.

By the late 70s, early 80s, women's situation in terms of liberation and work choices had changed dramatically from the beginning of the century. Fashion-era.com outlines the changes throughout this time stating, "There were many sought after accessories in the 1980s.  The early 80s saw a vogue for clutch handbags in many colours with matching shoes." They also go on to say that, "1980s fashion favoured applied decoration on suits and T-shirts and beadwork on clothing which all pandered to the ideals of a time of conspicuous consumption. The 1980s was a time of greed and individuals living a lie that they had everything whether it be fashion, champagne or property." It's interesting that the reticule that had once been brought back into fashion from a need to consume less, became a symbol of excess during the 80s when women could afford to buy numerous purses in a wide array of colours with matching shoes or other accessories.

Certainly this lipstick red beauty would make any modern woman stand out in a crowd! A great piece of late 70s early 80s history that represents as much how far women have come in the last century, as it does great style!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69742481/red-leather-clutch-1970s

Thanks for visiting!

Big Eyed Kids Movement

Its funny how certain things remain in our memories... especially shapes and colours and smells and sounds. I came across this great print recently and didn't really know why it was special. I just knew that it resonated with something in my memory and took it home to find out more... I recalled that my childhood best friend had "Big Eyed Columbines" hanging in her bedroom, but it was a style that I recognised from imagery in my childhood.

What I discovered was the "Big Eyed Kid" movement also known as the "Keane Eyed Kids". These were heavily mass produced prints made and widely distributed in the 1960s and 1970s.

There is some dispute about who was the originator of the Keane Eyes Movement. According to a Wikipedia article, Walter Keane claimed that his inspiration for the Big Eyed style came from the people he saw in Europe after World War II and was quoted as saying,  "My psyche was scarred in my art student days in Europe, just after World War II, by an ineradicable memory of war-wracked innocents. In their eyes lurk all of mankind's questions and answers. If mankind would look deep into the soul of the very young, he wouldn't need a road map. I wanted other people to know about those eyes, too. I want my paintings to clobber you in the heart and make you yell, 'DO SOMETHING!"

This claim was disputed, however, by "Margaret Keane" whose work can be found at: http://www.keane-eyes.com/. The Wikipedia article goes on to document a running battle between the family that started out painting and exhibiting together, but ended up in court fighting over who was the originator of the "Big Eyes" style. Both Margaret and Walter Keane's work was collected widely, with Walter being quoted in 1991 as saying, "I painted the waifs of the world." Margaret won the lawsuit and is now widely recognised as the original creator of the style and also Walter's work.
Many other artists also worked in this style including:- Gig, Eden, Eve, Lee, Franka, Maio, Goji, Sherle, Igor and Miki.

The typical common feature of these works was large exagerated heads and large eyes, often tiny button noses. The poses and drawing style are typically niave as is the subject matter- children, pussy cats and puppies, columbines, sad clowns- vulnerable subjects; often with tears near overflowing or a tear running down the cheek. Considered very kitsch by some, and because of their mass prodcution they are still not terribly valuable, however, their popularity has increased in recent times as more people begin to collect them.

I thought that this one that I found was particularly interesting, as it contains native Australian fauna and what looks like an aboriginal child posing with the flowers in front of her chest and wearing only a strategically tied cloth over her groin. In terms of historical representation it shows the naive attitude towards Australia's indigenous people as represented in white pop art in the 1960s and 1970s. It's also a great piece for any collector of "Big Eyed" art.

Print available for sale at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/70207683/1960s-1970s-aboriginal-big-eyed-kid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Keane

http://besmirched.tripod.com/margaret.html

A new movie about Margaret Keane's life is also due to be made in June.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20176423,00.html