“…it was not very easy for a woman to impose herself as a modern artist in Germany…Most of our male colleagues continued for a long while to look upon us as charming and gifted amateurs, denying us implicitly any really professional status.” – Hannah Hӧch***
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Hannah Hӧch is one of the few and first female artists of the Dada art movement and the only female to have been recognized by the formal Berlin Dadaist group. Hӧch is considered one of the first to explore and introduce the medium of photomontage. Her work tends to construe strong feminist ideals, but also reflects the surrounding art movement with references to modernity and
machinery.
Hӧch gives new context to the images she appropriates by
manipulating spatial relationships and the scale of human figures such as the image pictured to the left in her piece "Grotesque". She alters perception and depth to emphasize certain aspects of the composition, allowing some elements to serve as a background. Collage was also manipulated by Höch to evoke strange and fantastical worlds. She was fascinated by the ‘otherness’ of flowers and often featured their forms and those of the organic environment to create landscapes that seemed unexpected, enchanting and threatening.*
While viewing collections of her work, certain subjects
and images are repeatedly used, yet are generally easily explained. Some of the consistently implemented components directly relate to the Dada movement and aesthetic, yet others are particularly unique to Hӧch. To comprehend Hӧch’s work fully, it is essential to recognize the cultural and social environment in which it was produced, particularly the framework of Dada. The manifestations of Dadaism varied in every country; however the general sense of absurdity was present in each.**
machinery.
Hӧch gives new context to the images she appropriates by
manipulating spatial relationships and the scale of human figures such as the image pictured to the left in her piece "Grotesque". She alters perception and depth to emphasize certain aspects of the composition, allowing some elements to serve as a background. Collage was also manipulated by Höch to evoke strange and fantastical worlds. She was fascinated by the ‘otherness’ of flowers and often featured their forms and those of the organic environment to create landscapes that seemed unexpected, enchanting and threatening.*
While viewing collections of her work, certain subjects
and images are repeatedly used, yet are generally easily explained. Some of the consistently implemented components directly relate to the Dada movement and aesthetic, yet others are particularly unique to Hӧch. To comprehend Hӧch’s work fully, it is essential to recognize the cultural and social environment in which it was produced, particularly the framework of Dada. The manifestations of Dadaism varied in every country; however the general sense of absurdity was present in each.**
*Richter, Gerhard. Afterness: Figures of Following in Modern Thought and Aesthetics. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.
**Makholm, Kristin. “Strange Beauty: Hannah Höch and the Photomontage.” MoMA, Vol. 1, No. 24 (Winter/Spring, 1997), pp. 19-23.
***Roditi Edouard , "Interview with Hannah Höch," Arts Magazine Vol. 34, No. 3 (Dec. 1959)
**Makholm, Kristin. “Strange Beauty: Hannah Höch and the Photomontage.” MoMA, Vol. 1, No. 24 (Winter/Spring, 1997), pp. 19-23.
***Roditi Edouard , "Interview with Hannah Höch," Arts Magazine Vol. 34, No. 3 (Dec. 1959)