380 ChaPter^7
sofa. In the center was a body-builder wearing only a speedo and holding a
lollipop, with clear homoerotic overtones to him. Not as overtly political as
Tooker’s work, but quite famous, was “Flag” by Jasper Johns [1954-55]. Upon
first view, it is simply a painting of the American flag, with its stars and stripes.
But in 1955, as the Cold War was being waged, the painting was controversial.
While some saw it as a symbol of patriotism, others believed that Johns was
criticizing the U.S. simply by recreating its most revered symbol. “Flag” was a
loaded subject, and Johns was suspicious of authority, so he believed that each
person viewing this painting should bring his or her own views to it–not be
told by the artist what to think– and some could see it as patriotic, but others
could also be angry about or opposed to American actions, as symbolized by
the flag.
Finally, and not unlike the jazz performers who traveled to Europe to
showcase American culture, the government also found art useful in this
period, especially the school called “abstract expressionism,” which was most
identified with Jackson Pollock, a veteran of the WPA arts program, as noted.
Abstract expressionism, to critics, amounted to little more than flicking a
brush or dripping paint on canvas. One critic said, “this is not art–it’s a joke
in bad taste.” But the government saw it as an important way to contrast
American “freedom” and “creativity” with Stalin’s Socialist Realism, and so
sponsored shows of work by Pollock and others throughout Europe and else-
where. Art, again, was being used as a means of both resistance and contain-
ment.Conformity, or Madness? The Beatniks
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hys-
terical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking
for an angry fix.. .” And so began one of the more famous, to some infa-
mous, poems in American literary history, Howl, by a gay Jewish radical poet
who had spent time in a mental institution and would become one of the
leading figures in arts and politics over the next few decades— Allen Ginsberg.
Howl [1956] was a long poem, at times chaotic, deeply political, about the
numbing conformity of American life. Hence, Ginsberg’s “best minds” being
“destroyed by madness” were those on the margins of society, like artists, drug
users, “bums,” and others who had rejected typical conformist values. He