Chapter 29: Contemporary Art

Action painting

an abstract painting in which the artist drips or splatters paint onto a surface like a canvas in order to create his or her work

Assemblage

a three-dimensional work made of various materials such as wood, cloth, paper, and miscellaneous objects

Earthwork

a large outdoor work in which the earth itself is the medium

Installation

a temporary work of art made up of assemblages created for a particular space, like an art gallery or a museum

Kitsch

something of low quality that appeals to popular taste

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

* By Frank Gehry (1997)
* building has swirling forms and shapes that contrast with the industrial landscape of Bilbao.
* modern art museum featuring contemporary art in a contemporary architectural setting.

Bilbao effect

The revitalization of the port area of Bilbao is called the “_________,” a reference to the impact a museum can have on a local economy.

MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts

* By Zaha Hadid (2009)
* Internal spaces are covered by a glass roof
* Walls flow and melt into one another
* Two museums, a library, an auditorium, and a cafeteria.
* The complex specializes in art of the twenty-first century.

The Gates

* By Christo and Jeanne-Claude (1979–2005)
* 7,503 installations - of free-hanging saffron-colored fabric panels.
* mounted in the winter so the colors would have maximum impact
* 16-foot-tall

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

* By Maya Lin (1982)
* dedicated to the deceased and missing-in-action soldiers of the Vietnam War.
* Black granite, a highly reflective surface

Horn Players

* By Jean-Michel Basquiat (1983)
* The painting glorifies African-American musicians
* Words such as “soap” critique racism.
* used meaningless words “DOH SHOO DE OBEE” in improvisational

Jean-Michel Basquiat

* an artist born in Brooklyn, New York, of Puerto Rican and Haitian parents.
* rebelled against his middle-class upbringing.
* influenced by graffiti art and street poetry

Summer Trees

* By Song Su-nam (1983)
* Large vertical lines of various thickness.
* Subtle tonal variations of ink wash.
* Inspired by Western abstraction.

Song Su-nam

* a Korean artist who used traditional ink on paper.
* one of the leaders of the Sumukhwa

Androgyne III

* By Magdalena Abakanowicz (1985)
* The hardened fiber has the appearance of crinkled human skin set in earth tones.
* sits on a low stretcher of wooden legs
* pose suggests meditation and/or perseverance.

Magdalena Abankanowicz

* was a Polish artist who endured World War II, the Nazi occupation of Poland, and Stalinist rule.
* had been making similar figures, often without heads or arms, in large groups or singly.

A Book from the Sky

* By Xu Bing (1987–1991)
* 400 handmade books are placed in rows on the ground.
* One walks beneath printed scrolls hanging from the ceiling.
* All of the Chinese characters are inventions of the artist and have no meaning.

Xu Bing

* a Chinese-born artist and U.S. resident.
* was trained in the propagandistic socialist realist style

Pink Panther

* By Jeff Koons (1988)
* Artificially idealized female form: overly yellow hair, bright red lips, large breasts, pronounced red fingernails; overtly fake look.
* The woman is Jayne Mansfield
* a cartoon character, generally seen as an animated figure.

Pink Panther

Pink Panther Front View

Untitled \#228

* By **Cindy Sherman** (1990)
* This image explores the theme of the Old Testament figure Judith decapitating Holofernes
* Richly decorative drapes hang behind the figure.
* Judith lacks any emotional attachment to the murder that has taken place.

Cindy Sherma

* appears as the photographer, subject, costumer, hairdresser, and makeup artist in each of her work.
* expresses the artifice of art by revealing the props used in the process.
* work comments on gender, identity, society, and class distinction.

Dancing at the Louvre

* By Faith Reinggold (1991)
* from the series The French Collection; Part I; #1
* The artist combines the traditional use of oil paint with the quilting technique.
* feminist and racial issues dominate the work.

Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People)

* By Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith (1992)
* This work is a combination of collage elements and abstract expressionist brushwork.
* The work was meant as the “Quincentenary Non-Celebration” of European occupation of North America

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

She is a member of the Salish and Kootenai American Indian tribes of the Flathead Nation.

Earth’s Creation

* By Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1994)
* The work references the color and lushness of the “green time” in Australia after it rains and the Outback flourishes.
* The artist employed the dump-dot technique

Emily Kame Kngwarrere

* an Australian aborigine artist.
* largely self-taught and began her career doing ceremonial painting.
* influenced by European abstraction of the mid-twentieth century.

Rebellious Silence

* By Shirin Neshat (1994)
* poem written on the face is in Farsi, the Persian language; the poem expresses piety.
* expresses the artist’s duality as both Iranian and American.

Chador

a type of outer garment, like a cloak, that allows only the face and hands of Iranian women to be seen.

En la Barberia no se Llora

* By Pepón Osorio (1994)
* This is a large installation recreating the center of Latino male culture: the barbershop.
* Originally a temporary work constructed in a neighborhood building

Pisupo Lua Afe

* By Michel Tuffery (1994)
* Life-size sculpture of a bull made from flattened cans of corned beef.
* The artist introduces a tone of irony in that the cow is made of hundreds of opened cans of cow meat.

Michel Tuffery

* was born in New Zealand of Samoan, Cook Islands, and Tahitian descent.
* interested in exploring aspects of his Polynesian heritage in a modern context.

Canned corned beef

* a favorite food in Polynesia; exported from New Zealand.
* has amajor contribution to people’s obesity in Polynesia

pisupo

a Samoan language variant of “pea soup,” the first canned food in the Pacific

Electronic Superhighway

* By Nam June Paik (1995)
* mixed-media installation (49-channel closed-circuit video installation, neon, steel, and electronic components)
* Neon outlines symbolize multicolored maps of each 50 states.

Nam June Paik

* a Korean-born artist who lived in New York City.
* was intrigued by maps and travel
* considered the **father of video art**.

The Crossing

* By Bill Viola (1996)
* Performer: Phil Esposito.
* Photo: Kira Perov.
* Two channels of color video project from opposite sides of large dark gallery onto two large, back-to-back screens suspended from the ceiling and secured on the floor.

Pure Land

* By Mariko Mori (1998)
* Animated figures of lighthearted aliens play musical instruments on cloudsl; A lotus blossom floats on water .
* Set in a landscape evoking the Dead Sea

Kichijōten

* Heian deity
* essence of beauty and the harbinger of prosperity and happiness.

Mariko Mori

* a Japanese artist.
* shows the merging of consumer entertainment fantasies with traditional Japanese imagery.
* uses a creative interpretation of traditional Japanese art forms.

Lying with the Wolf

* By Kiki Smith (2001)
* This is a large, wrinkled drawing pinned to a wall; reminiscent of a tablecloth or a bedsheet.
* Female strength is emphasized in the woman lying down with the wild beast.
* The wolf seems tamed by the woman’s embrace

Darkytown Rebellion

* By Kara Walker (2001)
* Overhead projectors throw colored light onto the walls, ceilings, and floor.
* explores how stereotypes and caricatures of African-Americans have been presented.

The Swing (after Fragonard)

* By Yinka Shonibare (2001)
* The artist was inspired by Fragonard’s work
* This work is a life-size headless mannequin.
* Flowering vines are cast to the floor.

Old Man’s Cloth

* By El Anatsui (2003)
* One thousand drink tops are joined by wire to form a cloth-like hanging.
* artist converts found materials into a new type of media that lies somewhere between painting and sculpture.
* combines aesthetic traditions of his home country of Ghana

Stadia II

* By Julie Mehretu (2004)
* Although the paintings are done with abstract elements, the titles allude to their meaning.
* Flags can represent, in a positive or negative way, national pride, patriotism, or ­nationalism.

Preying Mantra

* By Wangechi Mutu (2006)
* Collaged female figure composed of human and animal parts, objects, and machine parts.
* A green snake interlocks with her fingers; bird feathers appear on the back of her head.

Cyborg

a person whose function is aided by a mechanical device or whose powers are enhanced by computer implants.

Shibboleth

* By Doris Salcedo (2007–2008)
* This is an installation that features a large crack that begins as a hairline and then widens to two feet in depth.
* used to exclude people from joining a group.
* Bible source: Judges 12:6

Kui Hua Zi

* By Ai Weiwei (2010)
* Installation containing millions of individually handcrafted ceramic pieces resembling sunflower seeds.
* They symbolically represent an ocean of fathomless depth
* The work reflects the ideology of Chairman Mao: he was the sun; his followers were the seeds.

Sunflower

_____ seeds were eaten as a source of food during the famine era under Mao Tze-tung.