DO ARTISTS HAVE TO WORK IN A CONTEMPORARY STYLE?

Gee, I like Milt Gross. The picture he did above is so typical of his approach. It's cartoony, earthy, intellectually challenging, skillful, and it radiates happiness and good vibes.

For comparison here's (above) a frame grab from one of the better Post Modern cartoons. Cartoons with a PM look aren't exactly to my taste, even when they're as fun and creative as this show. Gross's work seems to be the product of a noble soul who's seen the dark side of life and managed to find humor in it. Post-Modern styles seem to be the product of artists who's aim is simply to be "nice" and entertaining. That's the feeling I get, anyway. 

Maybe it's just me but I'd feel strange showing a "nice" cartoon to someone who's been unemployed for a year, or to a G.I. in Afghanistan, or to someone who's been disappointed in love. Nice is fine but it seems like a narrow focus.  

On the other hand, what's wrong with being nice? I have a friend who uses nice to capture elusive qualities like charm and youth and femininity and I'd be horrified if something I said made her stop. Maybe I'm just out of sync with my time...a toothless fogey who angrily shakes his cane at passing airplanes. 

In my own defense I'll digress to a bit of history. I'm guessing that if you asked the average person living in 1968 which contemporary artist exemplified that era, the answer you'd get would be Peter Max (above). Even the Beatles favored that style. His was "The 60s Style."

Fast forward to 2014 and the artist everybody (or at least every comics fan) associates with the 60s isn't Peter Max, it's Robert Crumb (above). That's interesting because Crumb himself was a 1910s, 20s, 30s and 40s man. You don't see much of Peter Max in his work (above). His subject matter was highly contemporary, but his artistic influences were older.

Ditto John K.  John defines the modern funny style yet two of his biggest early influences were Bob Clampett and Hanna Barbera, people who did their best work in the 40s. late 50s and early 60s. Once again, the subject matter was contemporary but the influences were older. I hasten to add that Both Crumb and John developed startlingly original styles...I'm only talking about their early influences here.

So, is it necessary to draw in a "nice" Post Modern style in order to be a mirror to your time in 2014? No, that's not what John and Crumb did.  Of course, there's always room for something good, no matter what the style...even if it's Post Modern.

BTW: Thinking about Peter Max reminds me of what I like about the man. That blue picture of the Earth above is beautiful and deserves to be remembered. Most people aren't aware that after his psychedelic period he took up abstract painting, and some of the canvases aren't half bad.

What do you think of this one (above)? My friends say it's kitsch, and although it flirts with that, it still succeeds in making me think about the mystery of color.

Max didn't design Yellow Submarine but you can see that his ideas exerted an influence. I think The Blue Meanie was the best villain in an animated feature in the last half century.

[Thanks to a commenter who identified the Yellow Submarine designer as Heinz Edelmann. I just looked him up on google and was much impressed.]