Further Biographical Context for Eva Hannah
Born in 1942, Eva Hannah grew up during the 1960s and was inspired by the artistic atmosphere of the time. Historically established in the context of the Cold War, the 1960s represent an extremely influential era which engendered an important number of breaks and questioned the order of all things. In Europe, The Iron Curtain and the Berlin wall would permanently mark people and beliefs, while in the U.S, events such as the Cuban missile crisis and Vietnam war would forever impact generations to come. From education to gender issues and ideologies, a re-definition of social standards in Western society developed, with revolutionary values and movements evolving in a cradle of innovation. Honesty and an void of emotions were key concepts in the highly influential movement of Minimalism, embodied by artists such as Frank Stella, Donald Judd and Agnes Martin. Bored of the gestural elements of Abstract Expressionism, Minimalist artists focused on delivering artworks mainly gathering polished, pure lines and geometrical elements. Digging further into some of the concepts inherent to Abstract Expressionism, artists like Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland and Helen Frankenthaler practiced Colour Field Painting – decidedly relating to Minimalism, with a fundamentally ruled-based approach, devoid of any emotional aspect. Several schools of philosophy deeply influenced creatives, Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti were artists heavily persuaded by the ideas of Existentialism, who achieved worldwide success through their depiction of the human form and the anguish often linked to the human condition. worldwide, an important number of art movements echoed with the radical changes of the 1960s, often prone to their own regional distinctions. In Italy, Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni initiated Spatialism, while in Germany, the Zero group adopted similar ideas under the leadership of Günther Uecker.