Art of Kitsch

Within the framework of the "U.S. Art Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” project today’s session of the WOA’s Gabfest club (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was devoted to the topic “Art of Kitsch”. After an illustrative video the group tried to give their own definitions of this genre of popular art.
According to Walter Benjamin, kitsch "offers instantaneous emotional gratification without intellectual effort, without the requirement of distance, without sublimation".
Once the idea of kitsch art was presented the group was introduced to the works of Jeff Koons. He is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects - such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. He lives and works in New York City. His works have sold for substantial sums of money, including at least one world record auction price for a work by a living artist. Critics are sharply divided in their views of Koons. Some view his work as pioneering and of major art-historical importance. Others dismiss his work as kitsch: crass and based on cynical self-merchandising.
 

As today’s Gabfest session was attended by our American guest Mr. Brian the group was given a task to tell him about Ukrainian kitsch. The majority of the examples were from the popular music field. The introduction of the so called “village glam” style allowed the group to tell Brian fun facts about Ukrainian history and culture. The examples of the Soviet times’ kitsch allowed the group to pick up some new vocabulary.
The session was difficult, but educational for all participants.
Number of participants – 19 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please