Sotheby's Institute of Art Digital Commons @ SIA MA Theses Student Scholarship and Creative Work 2020 The Reemergence of Celebrity Imagery in Twenty-First Century Art Maria Olsson Skalin Sotheby's Institute of Art Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.sia.edu/stu_theses Part of the Contemporary Art Commons Recommended Citation Skalin, Maria Olsson, "The Reemergence of Celebrity Imagery in Twenty-First Century Art" (2020). MA Theses. 71. https://digitalcommons.sia.edu/stu_theses/71 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship and Creative Work at Digital Commons @ SIA. It has been accepted for inclusion in MA Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ SIA. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Reemergence of Celebrity Imagery in Twenty-First Century Art by Maria Olsson Skalin A thesis project submitted in conformity with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Contemporary Art Sotheby’s Institute of Art 2020 14,494 words Abstract The frequent reappearance of artistic celebrity imagery and portraits is something to which I have paid particular attention in the last five years of having studied art and art history, and from having worked intimately with contemporary works of art in the commercial art sector. The artist who I was particularly taken with who has for years been relying on found images of celebrities as source material for his art is Sam McKinniss, and my fascination with him is what led me to pursue this study. Observing the trajectory of McKinniss’ career, as well as having interest in depicting the images of celebrities in my own artistic endeavors brought me to the question of whether artworks featuring celebrities is something which has had a consistent timeline over the history of contemporary art, or whether such subject matter has had particular momentums.