Monday, March 21, 2011

W.W. 5 Hans Bellmer



Hans Bellmer was a German artist who strongly opposed the beliefs of the new German State and the Nazi party. This is turn caused him to create a project that would oppose the Fascist mindset of Germany.

He created the life-sized pubescent dolls, which was said to demean the Germans and their outlook on what the perfect body or human should look like. It is also said that Bellmer created this project because of his personal life. He was said to have met a number of beautiful teenage girls during his lifetime, including his cousin.

Bellmer actually constructed his own dolls and placed them in a meticulous way so people would get the idea behind them. Bellmer made a book The Doll (Die Puppe) in 1934 with 10 photos of dolls. He was never credited for the book because the Nazi's said his art/photography was declared degenerate.

No matter what the purpose was behind Bellmers' decision to put out this strange series I think it was very creative and meaningful to the right people. Bellmer wasn't a follower of the German movement under Hitler, so he decided to do something about it in a very artistic way causing some controversy. And i think Bellmer had a vision and carried it out even though he knew it would get rejected by his country. I think he knew someday it would be accepted somewhere and people would talk about the very strange collection and his obsession with nude female teenagers.

After WWII Bellmer quit the doll project but continued to do erotic sketches, sexually explicit photographs and so on. Even the this may seem awkward in many eyes the female body is a beautiful thing and shouldn't be seen as perverted. I don't like how Bellmer used teenagers because that just seems very disrespectful and wrong. So if he would've used women of age I think he would've been more accepted globally in the art community.

1 comment:

  1. Bellmer is an interesting find - creepy, yes, but somehow a significant voice given his circumstances. Nice find.

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