Of course the artist can serve as a social critic and an active member of the community. The hypocrisy only shines through if the artist is hypocritical through his or her actions. Say, for example, if an artist uses art to deliver positive messages to the community about the environment such as encouraged recycling/water conservation/electricity conservation etc., yet owns a SUV and takes 45 minute showers, then of course theyd be hypocritical. Art is merely a vehicle through which society can be critiqued, and it can never be one hundred percent objective. In the case of Andy Warhol, i had no idea he was allegedly being critical of society, in terms of subject choice, it didn’t really shine through; in terms of aesthically though, he was definitely commenting on what he though art could be.
Why must we assume that the artist is always trying to come up with an underlying theme or meaning when he/she is creating a work of art? Maybe, seeing as he was a professional artist, he just had a certain inspiring though in his mind that he wanted to put onto canvas. He assessed the work from an art perspective, and simply liked and decided to arrange the shapes and colors the way he did. I know often time I do that with my artwork. For example, I don’t think the bright colors of the camouflage were an anti war statement. In fact, if anything, he was propping up the military and the beauty of the patterning used on their clothes.
I don’t particularly care for the artist acting as a social critic anyway. I find the art to be like one line emboldened statements, like commericals that pander to the masses and appeal to a select group of people who will follow the statement. Often their work is based off of scant facts that mislead the public about a specific eventt. Its like reading political cartoons for the full scope of the news. Sometimes there main purpose is not to inform, but merely instigate. There is this innate sense within artists that they are always the underdogs whose job is to challenge the “status quo.” I believe though, that everyone is connected to the status quo so there is no point in trying to distance oneself from it.
So Andy Warhol commented on society with works such as the Cambell Soup Cans, Jesus, Last Supper, and other such American icons, yet its not as though he lived independent from these things. To me, it seems like he is poking fun at things people cherish yet reaping the rewards of what he criticizes.
