Art History 121 Unit 10

Contemporary art

• Art produced today

• late 1960s til now

Insitutional Critique

• form of conceptual art

• late 1960s

• centred on critique of museums, galleries, private collections, and art institutions

Joseph Beuys

• society as an emergent artwork

• everyone is an artist

7000 Oaks Joseph Beuys

• social sculpture

• interdisciplinary and participitory

• he oversaw the planting of 7000 oak trees

• city forestation (germany)

Relational Aesthetics

• Art as an interaction of people

• not an actual object

• bring people together

Marins Abranovic “The Artist is Present” 1946

• she sat in a gallery and people stared at each other

Rikrit Travanija “Tomorrow is the Question” 1961

• inviting people to play

• only works if theres engagement

Socially Engaged Practice

any art form that involves peopla and communuties in debate, collaberation, and social interaction

• desire to better society (Activs=ism)

Artist Run Centers

• The Humilation if the Burecrat: artist run centres as museaums by artists

• artist driven institutions (people who feel like they dont fit in

• people created art scene where they were (late 60s, important to Canada)

General Idea

• 1971

• play on coperate culture during aids crisis

• ran a pagent

Cindy Sherman (1954)

• photographs herself in different personas

• dressup as an actress and took pictures of herself ona. mocie set (filmstills)

Barbara Kruger (1945)

• works with consumer culture

• purely text based art

• white on red (like the supreme logo)

John Berger

• to be naked is ti be ones self

• viewa art through a contemptaty marxisr view

• turned into a BBC program

Jean Michel Basquat

• 1982

• not purley asbtract → representational

Jean Michel Basquiat “Red Kings” 1981

• what hes known for

• one of the most collected contemporary artists

Keith Haring “A Pile of Crowns for Jean Michel Basquiat” 1988

• tribute

Keith Haring “Unfinished Painting” 1989

• after hes diagnosed with aids

• death sentence

• he left it blank on purpose

• he knew he was going to die so he left it

Ben Alysworth (1972)

• Jons friend

• JubeJube series (2026)

• street artist

Ai WeiWei (1957)

• most acclaimed and recognizeable

• China- imprisoned and exiles

• 2024- Did a socially engaged artwork about AI

Afrofuturism

• imaginative strategies of science fiction to envision alternate realities for africa

• Like Wakanda → imagining an africa that wasnt colonized

Wangechi Mutu “Forbidden Fruit Picker” 2015

• collage early work

Wangechi Mutu “You are my Sunshine”

• examines african american womens sexuality

Wafaa Bilal “Shoot an Iraqi Domestic Tension” 2008

• warfare, lived in a gallery for 30 days

• the internet controlled a paintball gun to shoot him

• teams of people worked to take control so he wasnt shot (element of hope)

Vera Molnar - early plotter drawing- 1968

• pioneer of computer art

• ”Interruptions”

Refik Anadol (turkish) 1985

• collections of images

• the whole collection of the gallery

• moves around

• he also works for the sphere

Faig Ahmed - Azerjibalijani

• influenced by digiral art →manipulated a glitch

• textile work

Michelle Jacques

• the Curator at Remai in Saskatoon

• won the governer general award

Catherine Blackburn “Caribou Dreaming” 2025

• Indigenous U of S 2007 Alumni

• won a u of s award ohpinamake

Taina Cruz “I saw the future and it smiled back” 2025

• most in demand artist as of March 2025

• Capture American, african and carribean life