Art & Drugs
 
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Painting

Influences of nature drugs on the painting are for centuries well-known, e.g. of

  • hallucinogenic mushrooms (psilocybin) on the art and culture of Central- and South American Indian
  • Peyote (mescaline) on the art and textile organization of north and Central American Indian peoples like the Apaches
  • Hashish and marijuana on the ornamental painting and architecture in the Arab and Indian area.

In the 30's drugs such as cocaine or opiates played a stronger role in the representing art in Germany, e.g. Otto Dix (1925) "Portrait of the dancer Anita Berber", who was cocaine dependent, or the picture "station Königsstein" (1917) of the expressionistic "bridge" artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who had come medicine- and drug-dependently into a sanatorium at Königstein/Taunus.

Hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, mescaline or psilocybin affected the modern painting of the Surrealists, like the French painter and author Henri Michaux, or the magic realism, which developed themselves further in the 60's to the psychedelic art. Young artists in San Francisco the poster organization and/or kind of poster began to develop center of the decade for art trend. They painted psychedelic concert posters, with visual elements of LSD Trips, like fire spitting fabulous creatures, "Mandala" similar ornamentations used and surrealistic volume Logos, e.g. the Graffitti artists Bill Graham, Stanley Mouse or Rick Griffin.

Music

Likewise drugs in the music played an inspiring role, e.g. Cannabis as sacral drug for the Rastafarian culture and music in Jamaica (Reggae), LSD for the psychedelic music of the Beatles or the Doors in the 60 years and Ecstasy for the current music of the today's "party scene", e.g. Techno, Rave or House music.

Also drugs such as cocaine and heroin, including their destructive and/or self-destructive consequences, became admits of musicians such as Johnny Cash, which Rolling Stones or the German songwriter Konstantin Wecker.

Film

Also in the film problems of the drugs and/or drug dependence were represented for the 50's as important topic, e.g. the 1955 in the USA under the direction drama turned of Otto Preminger: "The man with the golden arm", with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak about an heroin-addicted percussionist in Chicago, which was distinguished with the OSCAR, and also the 1971 under direction of William Friedkin likewise in the USA turned thriller: " French Connection " with Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Ray, in which a drug investigator is made heroin dependent by drug dealers, was likewise distinguished with 5 Oscars.

The director Ulrich Edel the biography of the young heroin-dependent Christiane F. from Berlin filmed 1981 in Germany with the actors Natja Brunckhorst, Thomas Haustein and David Bowie. See literature & drugs The German director Rainer Werner Faßbinder placed in his film: "The longing of Veronika Voss" of 1982 the descent of a UFA star by their morphine addiction. He died in June 1982 at overdose cocaine and sleeping pills. The meaning of the drug topic for the film becomes also clear thereby that the 2002 under direction of Steven Soderbergh in the USA turned drug thriller: "Traffic" about a drug investigator, who pursued Mexican drug dealers and does not notice that his own daughter is dependent, again with the OSCAR for the best direction was distinguished.

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Last modification (M-D-Y): 02/08/2019 - IMPRINT - FAQ