Chapter 29: Contemporary Art

Action painting

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.