The history of art Essay Example for Free

The history of art Essay The history of art is closely related with the common history. With this statement I’d like to highlight the close connection between â€Å"culture wars† and the history of civil rights, especially in the USA. After the struggle for equal treatment for people of any gender or race it was time to start struggle for equal treatment for people of different sexuality. The issue of norm and perversion in the human sexuality is always under debate in the society. Jonathan Katz made some researches of the social aspect of homosexuality, in particular he observed the relationship between the art and â€Å"culture wars†, but I’d like to point out his other observation. In his article â€Å"The Invention of Heterosexuality† Katz tells that the very term â€Å"heterosexuality† has the medical origin, and it gained the meaning of social norm only after the World War II. The term â€Å"heterosexuality† as the sexual norm has, according to Katz, social not biological nature. Thus, the taboo on open homosexuality had not natural but social origin and thus it could be lifted. In 1980s the struggle against the taboo on open homosexuality reflected in the different forms of postmodernism art. Thus, Robert Mapplethorpe created a series of black-and white photography with the homosexual thematic. He proclaimed the aesthetics of naked male bodies including genitals and the homosexual erotic. His works as well the works of other artist, who proclaimed homosexuality, had a wide social resonance. Some influential Senators started the campaign against the homosexuality, contrasting it with Christian moral and family values and linking homosexuality with the AIDS epidemic. The role of art in the â€Å"culture wars† was to convince the society to change the attitude to homosexuals. For now it is possible to say that the attitude really changed to more tolerant. The art proclaiming homosexuality undoubtedly was one of the influential factors in changing the situation. References Jonathan Ned Katz. The Invention of Heterosexuality. 1995. Retrieved July 11 2010 from http://kasamaproject. org/2008/06/27/katz-the-invention-of-heterosexuality/ Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation website. Retrieved July 11 2010 from http://www. mapplethorpe. org/foundation. html Robert Summers, Art History Visual Culture. http://ospace. otis. edu/robtsum/Contemporary_Video_and_Body_Art_Practices, accessed 09 July 2010