MODULE 6 - EARLY 20th CENTURY GRAPHIC DESIGN

Module 6 - Early 20th Century Graphic Design - Chapters 13 to 15

This week I'm focusing my attention on Hannah Höch, who was born in 1889 and lived in Weimar, Germany during the height of World War I - which had a major influence on her dynamic and groundbreaking style of art. 

https://www.crfashionbook.com/culture/a22158013/cr-muse-artist-hannah-hoch/

Höch was a member of the German Dada group, which was considered a satirical group of artists (established in 1916) that was born from opposition to WWI and conventional art of the period (https://www.dadart.com/dadaism/dada/022-dada-berlin.html). Their art frequently made fun of the culture and German society stemming from the current political issues of the day (https://www.moma.org/artists/2675).

https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_mama_the_dadas_the_pioneering_feminist_artwork_of_hannah_hoech

Höch's typical art consisted of carefully constructed collages with her medium created from magazines,  fashion publications, and journals (https://www.moma.org/artists/2675).  She was known as one of the originator's of this type of art form. 

Hannah Höch: "there are no limits to the materials available for pictorial collages—above all they can be found in photography, but also in writing and printed matter, even in waste products” (Herrmann 2014).

Personally, I found Höch's work to be intriguing for the period and was most likely a jumping off point for many artist leading to pop art later in the history of graphic design. Modern day graphic design has elements of Höch's work and I believe she was a true artistic inventor of her time. More importantly, she was a woman making a name for herself in the Dada movement and was not afraid to make fun of the "modern woman" in Berlin of the time period - which hopefully made people take another look at their own mark on history at the time. 

1. Hannah Höch, “On Collage,” in Hannah Höch, ed. Dawn Ades, Daniel F. Herrmann (London: Whitechapel Gallery, 2014).