The anti-Nazi propaganda poster that Ben commissioned for the United States Office of War Information is nothing short of eye-catching, but in a shocking and mortifying kind of way. Most of his works is notable for being realistic, but in a grim manner that concentrates on matters that most people would rather remain ignorant or blind to. He forces us to recognize forces such as malnutrition, war, genocide, and corruption through his vibrant pieces. There aren't as many strong pieces that are shown publicly by the government in this modern era, apparently to shield us of the "horrors of wartime" etc. Like how the beheading of Pearl in the Middle East was censored and the killings of those in Afghanistan aren't blatantly shown. The government doesn't want to create a riot or protests/any sort of chaotic commotion out of the people, so this sort of poster that Ben did was actually revolutionary for his time and of course, rare in that the U.S. Office of War only allowed 2 of his posters to be published out of the many more critical ones that he finished. (Much to his admitted disappointment)
Ben's social-activist artistic style can be traced through his childhood and the environment of his upbringing. Born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1898, a young Ben immediately faced the desperation of hardship when his revolutionist of a father was exiled to Siberia, leaving him, his mother, and siblings surrounded in a state of hostility. They were able to escape to the shores of America and reunite with their father in New York, which during that time, was also experiencing poverty and a state of turmoil due to the effects of the Great Depression. Ben's experiences from his father's revolutionary influences and the social problems that he personally viewed in front of him shaped his decision to embark on a (starving artist) career of creating works that sent out a message; graphic design that was meant for activism and to rile up viewers to do something about these dire issues. He ditched his path of going to medical school and went through a trek of artistic pursuit. Interestingly enough, Ben wasn't too keen about traditional European art and instead focused more on modernism.
His creative style was a mixture of expressive and visual languages, lithography, character portrayals and urban art. Ben often paired together contrasting values or scenes in order to create a surprise element to his pieces, or to emit an aura of tension in order to seed out a reaction from the audience. He included aspects such as starving children, farmers toiling in the field, blood, sweat, death, the corruption of society and humans that we don't usually see in art. The stereotype is that art is supposed to be something aesthetically pleasing, but these graphic designers of the modern age threw away that assumption and used art as a communicative tool to send out a strong, dramatic message against social problems. Ben was especially one of the most monumental of these artists and his works are often attributed to having encouraged some of the points of Roosevelt's New Deal. His invested work in photography and design that showed the devastation of people during times of hardship made people realize the troubles that were going on, which poked at the government to do something about it. Ben to this day is, of course, long dead, but remains a fascinating figure that can definitely inspire all of us to think outside of the box of the potential of what graphic design is capable of.
(This is a in-depth montage about Ben's life and achievements)
Sources:
Meggs, Phillip B., and Alsto W. Purvis. Meggs History of Graphic Design. 5th. new jersey: John Wiley, 2012. 360. ebook.
<http://xroads.virginia.edu/~am482_04/am_scene/bioshahn.html>
<http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/this_is_nazi_brutality/images_html/this_is_nazi_brutality.html>
<http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTshahn.htm>
<http://www.georgekrevskygallery.com/artists/shahn/index.html.>
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