In this blog post, we will examine the characteristics and development of the hyperrealism art movement, explore how artists attempted to precisely reproduce everyday scenes, and examine how these artworks communicate with viewers.
If you see a couple dressed as tourists standing motionless in an art museum for a long time, you will probably look at them again. And when you realize that they are works of art, you will be surprised. Hyperrealism is an art movement that reproduces reality in such a way that it can be believed to be real.
Hyperrealism is an art movement that developed from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, aiming for precise depictions similar to photographs. Artists mainly select scenes commonly seen in everyday life and strive to reproduce them as if they actually exist in front of the viewer. Hyperrealistic works often leave a deep impression on viewers due to their ability to challenge human visual perception, transforming artworks from mere objects of appreciation into vehicles for interaction with the audience.
When selecting subjects that are commonly seen around us, such as tourists, the higher the degree of realism, the more realistic the work is considered to be. Hyperrealism, which pursues both the realism of the subject and the realism of expression, is clearly evident when compared to pop art, which is also a form of realism. Both developed in the United States in the 1960s and remain popular today, and they share the common feature of focusing on everyday life in capitalist society at the time. Pop art transformed subjects in a suggestive manner, while hyperrealism sought to reproduce them accurately. Therefore, pop art mainly pursues the realism of the subject, while hyperrealism pursues not only the realism of the subject but also the realism of expression, continuing the tradition of trompe l’oeil. Pop art mainly used print media that could easily communicate with the public rather than accurately reproducing the subject, while hyperrealism actively used new materials and mechanical methods to pursue methods of accurately reproducing the subject.
The development of hyperrealism is also deeply related to the social and economic context of the time. The 1960s and 1970s were a period of rapid economic prosperity and consumerism in the United States. This brought a new perception of the real world to people, which was also reflected in art. Hyperrealist artists sought to criticize consumerism and materialism through visual representations that went beyond the accuracy of photography, or, conversely, to explore the human psychology and social phenomena hidden within them.
Duane Hanson is a representative artist of hyperrealism, which realistically depicts everyday life under capitalism. His work “Woman Pushing a Shopping Cart” (1969) can be interpreted as a critical view of contemporary people living buried in material abundance. The subjects of this work are a shopping cart filled with goods and a woman. She is the subject of desire and symbolizes greed for material things, while the shopping cart filled with goods is the object of desire and symbolizes material things. Therefore, the composition of the woman pushing a shopping cart overflowing with goods shows the tendency toward excessive consumption amid material abundance.
In terms of technique, this work was created without a display stand so that it could be displayed naturally in a living space. Instead of modeling clay to create the form of a person, the artist used a real mold technique, applying plaster directly to a person to create a mold, and then reproduced the form and size of the person exactly. In addition, instead of bronze, which is the traditional material for three-dimensional works, synthetic resin, polyester, and fiberglass were used, and airbrush coloring was applied to reproduce the texture and color of human skin. To this, objects such as wigs, necklaces, and clothing were added, and shopping carts and groceries were used as they are to enhance the realism.
The main goal of realism in art is to capture reality and convey it effectively. There are various ways to express the reality captured by the artist. Realist artists, such as hyperrealists and pop artists, communicate with viewers by conveying reality in their own unique ways, such as reproducing objects as they are or transforming them in a subtle way. This goes beyond simple visual satisfaction and provides an opportunity for viewers to reflect on the society and era to which they belong. The precise depictions of hyperrealism and the symbolic expressions of pop art ultimately provide us with an opportunity to see various aspects of reality from a new perspective.
