Artist 45 Hannah Höch Dada Art
Hannah Höch was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage.
Photomontage, or fotomontage, is a type of collage in which the pasted items are from widely produced media to photos.
Höch's work was intended to dismantle the fable and dichotomy that existed in the concept of the "New Woman": an energetic, professional, and androgynous woman, who is ready to take her place as man's equal. Her interest in the topic was in how the dichotomy was structured, as well as in who structures social roles.
Other key themes in Höch's works were androgyny, political discourse, and shifting gender roles. These themes all interacted to create a feminist discourse surrounding Höch's works, which encouraged the liberation and agency of women continuing through to today.
Like other Dada artists, Höch's work came under close scrutiny by the Nazis as it was considered degenerate.
She was a bisexual preferring to not explicitly define her relationships. They were not only offended by her aesthetic, but also by her political messages and by the mere fact that she was a woman.
Her images portrayed androgynous individuals, which the Nazis despised. Nazi ideology appreciated artwork that portrayed the ideal Aryan German man and woman.
Höch was not only a rare female practicing prominently in the arts in the early part of the twentieth century—near unique as a female active in the Dada movement that coalesced in her time—she also consciously promoted the idea of women working creatively more generally in society.
Höch also helped expand the notion of what could be considered art by incorporating found elements of popular culture into "higher" art.
“I wish to blur the firm boundaries which we self-certain people tend to delineate around all we can achieve." - Hannah Höch
In part of celebrating LGBTQ artists it’s hard not to see how many artists simply wish to exist and be without judgement or being shunned.
I believe its perhaps the fear of between these boundaries that terrifies close minded people.
Never hate
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