The Big One copyright Dave Putnam 72'' by 48''

What we now call midcentury modernism became the western world's dominant art form in the 1960s. That decade was the "big one" for modern artists. In this painting I try to capture the tension and upheaval of the 60s by using colors and shapes that are seemingly at war with each other and by using techniques pioneered by Jackson Pollack. Chaos and structure coexist on the same canvas, clawing at the viewers subconscious and transporting him back to the pivotal decade as surely as a time machine.

Whatever happened to midcentury modernism or more simply modern art? The art world has moved on to post modernism. Broad movements used to last for centuries. Then they lasted for decades. And now movements are so fleeting there is barely any continuity at all. Einstein once said that he was a midget standing on the shoulders of giants. This is how genuine progress is made, building on the past not trying to reinvent the future every two seconds.