postmodernism & contemp art

postmodernism art

• postmodern & modern art are different

  1. postmodernism — reaction against modernism

     • wide range of art made in the 1970s & beyond

     • brought about by the disillusionment & brutality of the holocaust

  2. modernism — gave way to new aesthetics that rejected the ideas & philosophy of its predecessors

• postmodernist artists — believed that art is for everybody

  → art should be inclusive

  → art is secondary to the concept behind the art

  → can be made of anything

  • television, computers, & the internet

  • various disciplines, variety of forms & styles

contemporary art

• contemporary art — art of the present

  → started in the 1960s

  • refers to artworks made within the past 50 years

  → art moved away from aesthetics & ideology of the modern period

• examples of art forms used

  1. performance art

  2. installation art

  3. photo realism

  4. video art

  5. pop art

pop art

• pop art — art movement that uses images from popular culture & products

  1. mid-1950s in the uk

  2. 1950s in the us

  → expressed by daring/simple/everyday images from contemporary culture

  • came from magazines, advertisements, packaging, comic strips, movie stars, celebrities, etc

  • exciting/lively block colors that made the art trendy

  → one of the 1st postmodernist movements

  • embodies the principles of the movement that developed during the 1970s

  → blurred the distinction between high/low culture by using ordinary consumer products as subjects for their art

• lawrence alloway — british curator that coined the term "pop art”

• pop art artworks

  1. campbell soup cans — andy warhol, 1928-1987

  2. roy lichtenstein’s comic strip blowups

  3. claes oldenburg’s large-scale sculptures of familiar objects

graffiti

• graffiti art — aka street art, more controversial contemporary art forms

  → 1970s to present

  • existed even during prehistoric times

  • term usually refers to the trend that started in the late 1960s

  → considered vandalism & illegal in many countries

  • uses spray paints, markers, stencils, acrylics, etc

  • done on the sides of buildings, billboards, walls, & public transport

  → emerged as urban protests became prevalent

  1. europe — began with the student protests in paris/berlin

  2. america — associated with hip-hop culture of philadelphia

     • spread to new york & other urban cities

  → was used to express & vent frustrations

• banksy — most famous graffiti artist whose real identity is still unknown

  → works seen in london, uk, la, usa, & melbourne, australia

  → known for using stenciled images to show his humor, vivid imagery, & political beliefs

• graffiti artworks

  1. hitchhiking to anywhere — banksy

     • stencil of charles manson in a prison suit

happenings

• happening — avant-garde art form, events where artists came together & presented spontaneous performances

  → 1960s to present

  • earliest shape developed from the dada movement in the early 20th century

  • decreased in the 1970s with the emergence of performance art

  → combined the elements of drama & visual arts

  • encourages response from viewers

• allan kaprow — 1st use of the term “happening” in 1959

• marta minujin — argentine artist that wrapped herself in newspapers

  → in rio de la plata, the border between argentina & uruguay

• happenings

  1. admission piece: 18 happenings in 6 paris — allan kaprow

     • 1st happening held in an art gallery

     • immersed the audience by letting them learn more about objects in the exhibition hall

     • remove the difference between life & art

performance art

• performance art — artist uses themself & their actions to express their art

  → early 1960s to present

  → overly theoretical

  • intense acting/movement can take a form that is not ordinarily accepted in the theater

  • incorporates other media, like dance/music/body contortion/costume

  → presented in any venue, as long as it is in front of a live audience

  • either spontaneous or rehearsed

  • in front of an intimate group or large public event

• performance art performances

  1. shoot — chris burden, 1971

     • burden stands in front of a wall, shot w/ 22 long rifles in the arm

     • considered as burden’s most controversial/violet art performance

     • commentary about gun control & vietnam war

installation art

• installation art — art form that involves the arrangement of objects in a space

  → 1960 to present

  → allows viewers to be in the artwork

  • can move around & interact w/ different components

  • some are not just visual & involve touch, sound, smell, & taste

• installation artworks

  → embankment — rachel whiteread, 2005