abstract expressionism

Porkins Policy Radio episode 70 Did the CIA Create Modern Art?

Today I discuss the history between the CIA and modern art, specifically focusing on the abstract expressionist movement. I discuss how the CIA used abstract expressionism as a propaganda tool against the Soviet Union. I begin at the end of WWII and explore how the CIA viewed painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and others as vehicles to promote liberty and free enterprise. I explain how the CIA began a concerted effort to promote and fund this movement to combat Soviet Realism and portray America as a bastion of freedom.