Ironic dimensions of art

The concept of irony is used in rhetoric arts as a philosophical and literary category. The concept which is qualified as a kind of word game, is brought back to Ancient Greek with the direction of Socrates? irony descriptions. Irony in historical process, varies from irony perceptions in Socrates? dialogues. Although art is an autonomous structure, it is also an important part of the society. So it is directly related to the society, social movements and social change. This situation requires the artists to see these social, political and economical changes as the inner and true elements of art. Irony in life is changed to the artistic irony mastership by associating with intelligence. Content of the irony is formed mostly by way of paradox between what is said and meant or paradox between image and language and via showing the reality from another scene by ciriticizing. This thesis titled ?Ironic Dimensions of Art?, beyond the mentality that bases the system which refers the association of the formal elements of the work, turns the point of view to the artwork to ironic stages. With the postmodern process, the artist negates the existing state, shows the total opposite of the state. As well as this, it is seen in the examples that the ironic structure is coming to dead end because of dilemmas and dead-ends. As a result of resistance to the government mechanism, the existance of body in a political instrumentalism also found meaning in current art practice in an ironic language. Mostly, the concept of irony is analysed in literary and philosophical area and especially the analyse of reflections of irony on the art after avant-garde period forms the main structure of the thesis. In the first part of the thesis, especially the description of irony is made according to Sören Kierkegard?s ideas on irony, and similar terms of the concept and perception of the concept from historical perspective are analysed. In the second and third parts, ironic examples are searched in historical platform. And in fourth part, with avant-garde world, ironic expressions within dada movement are given, and works on modern art are analysed via ironic language, art movements and examples. Key Words Painting, Irony, Avant-garde, Postmodernism, Art, Artist.