Military
Clothing and Art
Andy Warhol and Thomas Hirschhorn are just two
of the significant artists inspired by camouflage in military clothing
War and art have always had a close if uneasy connection. From the poetry
of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon to the epic paintings and sculptures
inspired by the pathos, brutality and sometimes the glorification of
war. Camouflage used in military clothing has had a big impact on art
and fashion. The couturiers of Paris in 1914 adapted the camouflage destined
for military clothing and turned the abstract patterns into women’s
clothing.
Military clothing and modernity
Camouflage in military clothing represented
modernity in many ways and the earliest camouflage artists were from
the abstract expressionists
in France. Painters, artists and theatre designers were all enrolled
by the military to develop camouflage in clothing. Hundreds of artists
have had a role in the design and evolution of camouflage in military
clothing. And as the peace movement came about in the 1960s, artists
also took the camouflage which represented military clothing and the
army, and often subverted its symbolism.
Andy Warhol and camouflage
Andy Warhol’s ‘Camouflage paintings’ were produced
a year before his death in 1986. It’s hard not to read any significance
into the choice of material so associated with the army and military
clothing. The paintings were derived from a 40-inch square swatch of
army surplus camouflage netting. Warhol manipulated the colour and pattern
so that although, like military clothing, there is a sense of uniformity,
each painting is unique. Camouflage shapes are slippery and elusive and
as such are appealing to artists as well as to the army who use the shapes
and colours on their military clothing for concealment. Warhol’s
Camouflage series is a study in misdirection and hiding.
Other major artists who were inspired by the use of camouflage in military
clothing were:
• Alain Jacquet
•
Thomas Hirschhorn for his ‘Utopia: One World, One War, One Army,
One Dress, 2005)
•
Vera von Lehndorff (aka Veruschka) and Holger Trülzsch
Art and the military
The painter and naturalist Abbott Handerson Thayer
is credited with having a direct contribution on the military’s
adoption of camouflage in its military clothing and uniforms. His book,
Concealing Coloration
in the Animal Kingdom, painted camouflage at work in nature. By World
War One, America had enlisted artists and designers into the Camouflage
Corps to study camouflage and many were influenced by Thayer. And so
art and the military have always been close, if uneasy bed fellows.
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the Forces worldwide. John Bull Military Clothing is based at the Catterick
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