Chapter 31 Contemporary Art Worldwide The End of the Century: A Messy Ride The final 30 years of the 20th century saw artistic expression taking ever more diverse forms. • difficult to identify movements clearly, as artists feel free to move from one form of expression to another. • sometimes difficult to identify the art per se, as post- modernism sometimes meant that the artistic creation ppyrocess led to art that existed only for a brief moment in time… Kruger’s work often combines text and image in an ironic fashion. •Many artists who have embraced the postmodern •They were interested in investigggating the dynamics of power and privilege •They focused on issues of gender and sexuality in the contemporary world. Untitled (We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard) •Kruger’s works frequently involve criticism of the habits imposed on women by society, and of the negative impact of men running the world… her work evolved from being specifically feminist to being critical of society’s norms in all areas •Artist began as a graphic designer for Mademoiselle magazine •Words placed in large photos as de ign e lements, an d to hig hlig ht a message •Artistic message often relies on irony BARBARA KRUGER, Your gaze hits the side of my face Social Art: Race, Ethnicity, and National Iden ti ty Faith Ringgold, Who’s Afraid Melvin Edwards, Tambo, 1993 of Aunt Jemima? 1983 •It is a quilt, a medium that is associated with women •Welded sculpture of chains, spikes, knife •Tribute to her mother but also blades, and other found objects that allude addresses African American culture to the lynching of African Americans and and the struggles of women to the continuing struggle for civil rights and overcome oppression an end to racism. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 - 1987) •Basquiat was from a Haitian-Puerto Rican - American background, and began his artistic Horn Players, efforts early as a graffiti 1983 artist, although he quickly shifted over to canvas •Tribute to two African American musicians •Bold colors, fractured figures, and graffiti to capture the dynamic rhythms of jazz and the excitement of New York. Untitled, 1985 Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled (Skull), 1981 • gestural painting on canvas • most often depicting skeletal figures and mask- like faces that expressed his obsession with mortality • imagery derived from his street existence, such as automobiles, buildings, police, children's sidewalk, games and graffiti. In 1983, Basquiat befriended Andy Warhol and the two made a number of collaborative works. Often, they discussed and disputed about African- American art and literature. They also painted together, influencing each others' work. David Hammons, Public Political Art Enemy, Installation, 1991 Willie Bester, Homage to Steve Biko, 1992, Mixed Media This is a multimedia installation with Theodore Roosevelt flanked by African American and Native Americans as servants, to reveal the racism embedded in America’s cultural heritage This is a tribute to a leader ofthf the Blac kLibk Libera tion KtfKrzysztof WdikWodiczko, The Movement, which protest homeless Projection, 1986 apartheid in South Africa A projected image of homeless people and their plastic bags filled with their few possessions. Kehinde Wiley, , Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps. “Painting is about the world that we live in. Black men live in the world. My choice is to include them. This is my way of saying yes to us.” – KhidKehinde Wiley Historically, portraiture not only creates a likeness but communicates ideas status, wealth, and power. Substitutes anonymous Black man in contemppyorary David, clothing; illuminated with Napoleon baroque or rococo decorative Crossing patterns – Modernist Saint-Bernard reminder that this is a painting. Confronts and critiques historical traditions that do not acknowledge Black cultural experience. Redefines & affirms Black identity, questions history of Western painting JEAN-AUGUSTE- DOMINIQUE INGRES, Napoleon on His Imperial Throne, 1806. In 2005, VH1 commissioned Wiley to paint portraits of the honorees for that year’ s Hip Hop Honors program. The artists chose poses—taken from Wiley’s personal art book collection—that best suited the personal aspects of their character. Value, in all its meanings, has always played a role in culture. Unlike its precursors— classical, jazz, rock—which have since been canonized and given an art-historical time frame and construct, hip hop continues to be seen merely as entertainment. This series of Wiley’s portraits speaks specifically to that Kehinde Wiley, Ice T, 2005, juxtaposition and the retooling of importance. Oil on Canvas, 8’ x 6’ Mark Tansy, A Short History of Modernist Painting •Born in San Jose and lives in New York City •Both ppyyarents were art historians so he had an early introduction to art history and had a profound effect on his painting style •He provides viewers with a summary of the various approaches to painting artists have embraced over the years. •Illustrates the ambiguities and paradoxes of Postmodernists' Pictorialism in that it demonstrates the artist’s consciousness of his place in the continuum of art history and also functions as a critique on fundamental art historical premises by creating metaphors of how painting has been addressed during different eras. Mark Tansy Purity Test 1982 The Innocent Eye Test 1981 "In Tansey's painted metaphor for the perception of art, we are the cow, ..Indians on houseback gaze down...at and the scientists want to know how Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, 1970. and what we see --- hardly the Smithson had sought to create a pure stuff of Frank Stella's famous dictum image. The Indians, unware of the "What you see is what you see.“ spiral's function as a work of art, attempppt to decipher it as a sy mbol...“ From Judi Freeman Mark Tansey From Judi Freeman Mark Tansey Postmodernism in Painting, Sculpture, and New Media • Postmodern artists challenged the Modernist emphasis on originality and creativity • They addressed issues of the copy or reproduction and the appropria tion of images or ideas from others • Mass culture is a defining feature of Postmodernism in rejecting the notion that each art work contains a fixed meaning • Postmodern artists are influenced by the ideas of Deconstructivist theorists. (sought to break apart the concept of classical order and space, essentially opposed the ordere d rationa lity of Mo dern ism ) Anselm Kiefer, Nigredo, 1984; Oil, acrylic, emulsion, shellac, and straw, on photograph, mounted on canvas, with woodcut, 10’ 8” x 18’ 2”. German artist used perspective to pull the viewer into an incinerated landscape alluding to the Holocaust. Jeff Koons, Pink Panther, 1988 The ppporcelain sculpture has an acute understanding of the dynamics of consumer culture. He combines a magazine centerfold with a well-known cartoon character. Jeff Koons at Versailles in 2008 Jeff Koons exhibition, Balloon Dog from the Celebration Series, 1994 - Versailles in 2008 exhibition, 2000 (10’ orange Balloon Dog Balloon Flower from the sold for $58.4 million in 2013 at Celebration Series, 1995 - 1999, Christies Auction) 9’ 6”. Jeff Koons In the early 1980’s – like Warhol and Duchamp, he exhibited common objects and made no attempt to manipulate the objects – represented commodity as the basis for society at large Koons was actually a commodities broker (Wall Street) before turning to art. He believes postmodern culture is linked to consumerism - Called Neo- Pop or Post Pop Takashi Murakami, Ova l Buddh a Go ld (2007-2010), at the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris of the palace and gardens 2010, Versailles. Self-portrait – facial hair in a goatee. References to enlightenment and knowledge – lotus flower, spiral on the frog’s pot- belly equated with the Buddhist path to reincarnation and karmic rebirth, frog figurine is often left on Japanese graves as a totem of rebirth or the spirit’s return. Two-faced nature of the figure – reference to the Roman god Janus, whose 2 faces looked into past and future –god of transitions and beginnings. Elephant on base indicates endurance; importance of the gold/platinum leaf finish, marking a turning point; a rebirth or declaration that Mrakami’s work is entering an age of enlightenment. Marisol Escobar, Self-Portrait Looking at the Last Supper, 1982-1984 This is a tribute to the Renaissance master. It is a sculptural replica of Leonard’s Last Supper, transforming the fresco into an object. The artist is seated as a viewer. Postmodernism and Art Institutions • Postmodern artists have consciously reappraised the processes of art historical validation, reassessed art institutions (museums and galleries), addressed the role of these institutions in validating art, and scrutinized the discriminatory policies and politics of these institutions. Satirical ceramic sculpture Robert Arneson, California Artist, 1982, • Arneson was born in Benicia and graduated from Benicia High School. He spent much of his early life as a cartoonist for a local paper. Arneson studied at California College of Arts and was a professor at UC Davis. • Robert Arneson was reacting to a negative review by a critic that Californian art was provincial in his self-portrait known as California Artist. • He revealed his comprehension of the mechanism (art criticism) people use currently to evaluate and validate art. Architecture and Site-Specific Art • One would be hard-pressed to find a modern building with pediments, Doric columns, or flying buttresses; what exists is a display of technology • Most advance change is computers – no longer are blueprints drawn by hand – programs like AutoCAD and MicroStation assist in drawing plans and automatically check for architectural errors • New age technology has produced an array of ppgg,p,roducts that make buildings lighter, cheaper, and more energy efficient. Deconstructivist Architecture •Architects attempt to disorient the observer by disrupting the conventional categories of architecture. The haphazard presentation of volumes, masses, planes, lighting, etc challenges the viewer’s assumptions about form as it relates to function.