Social Realism was an art movement that saw the goal of art as something more than art for art’s sake. These artists saw art as being a tool for bringing strong political and social commentaries to the masses. It was art for the sake of the forsaken. This show looks at this movement’s continual influences on today’s contemporary artist and the lasting humanist legacy that it has provided.

Does the early to mid-Twentieth Century art movement of Social Realism, relate in any way to the contemporary concerns of American art? Curated, critiqued, and censored, contemporary art searches for a rhythm that moves in flux with society, adapting to concepts, techniques and trends that have become popular avenues of artistic expression has allowed for the social commentary often found in Social Realism, to make a revival in today contemporary artist

Social realism has evolved into a timeless-means for celebrating individuality and the character of its subjects today. Social realism, a young yet piercing artform, evolved into a means for appraising ordinary people’s true character, personality, and style, and furthermore, diminishing society’s tendency to reduce people to its desired perception of them and hierarchical structures. Today the contemporary artists social commentaries shines a light on people’s brilliance and individuality.

The past few years have brought about an astronomical shift in societal perception, by which the purpose of social realism has been rejuvenated. Although a lot of these issues have always been present, there has been a surge in concepts such as ‘passing the mic’ — a catchphrase describing the need for non-marginalized people to give marginalized communities the opportunity to take up space and tell their own stories, rather than having someone else do it for them — and striving for equality. This covers issues relating to race, gender, sexual orientation, and class, which one can only hope is being recognized as more than a trend and are here to stay.