Lecture 11: Contemporary Art from Around the World

Contemporary Art: Global Perspectives

Introduction

• Contemporary art: Late 20th century to the 21st century.

• Global study across different cultures.

Key Points of Contemporary Art

• Return to Realism and Figuration: Contemporary art sees a return to representing recognizable subjects and figures.

• Questioning Representation: Artists use realism to question how the human body is represented.

• Addressing Controversial Topics: Exploring social and political issues through art.

• Art Historical Precedents: Contemporary artists explore and combine old and new, Western and non-Western themes.

• Hybridity: Intentionally mixing past movements with present topics.

Kehinde Wiley: Challenging the Absence of Blacks in Western Art

• Artist's Message: Wiley aims to beam out African American culture into the world.

• Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps:

  • An African Americanized version of Napoleon on horseback.

  • Contrast between vibrant colors and heroic narrative.

  • Dynamic composition with the horse as central focus.

Art Historical References and Hybridity

• Exploring the Past: Contemporary art explores art historical precedents to create plurality and hybridity.

• Visual Technology: Employing computer imaging, printing, and Photoshop.

• Wiley's Napoleon: A clear reference to Jacques Louis David's neoclassical painting.

  • Intentional reference to explore the past.

  • Goal: Embrace the past while presenting today's issues.

• Comparison of Wiley's and David's Paintings: Similarities in the horse, human figures, and body gestures.

• Replacing the Open Sky: Wiley uses wallpaper to remind viewers that it's not a window to the Alpine landscape.

• Focus on the African American Horseman: Highlighting the artist's concerns with the world around him.

Artist's Perspective: Kehinde Wiley on His Work

• Fascination with the Human Being: Intimate engagement with understanding individuals through portraits.

• Slowing Down to See Individuals: Wiley's approach to portraiture.

• Standing on the Shoulders of Previous Artists: Building on art historical foundations.

• A New Way of Seeing Black and Brown Bodies: Creating space for diverse representation.

• A New Republic Exhibition: A diverse collection of Wiley's work showcasing black American experiences and the global story of young people and their expressions.

• Trappings of Empire and Power: Considering how to represent grace, pride, and nobility in the 21st century.

• The Importance of Light: Exploring how light flows across the body.

• Obsession with Stained Glass: Creating empathy using religious and rapturous language.

• Black Women at the Core of Portraiture: Challenging traditional male dominance in portraits.

• Bound: A Sculptural Project:

  • Focusing on the presence of black women.

  • Exploring adornment as communication and armor.

  • Hair as a principal element, becoming decay and imagination.

• Brooklyn Museum's Importance: Celebrating black American culture and Wiley's personal connection to Brooklyn.

• Coming to Terms with Black American Culture: Beaming it out to the world as a new republic.

Barbara Kruger: Subverting Advertising Imagery

• Commercial Graphic Designer: Kruger uses layout techniques from magazine and billboard design.

• Subverting Advertising: Intentionally using the same visual format to challenge the typical use of advertising imagery, particularly images of women.

• Classical Sculpture: Combining a photograph of a classical sculpted head with text.

• Vertical Row of Words: Forcing viewers to gaze at the image, reading ''Your gaze hits the side of my face''.

• Reversing Power Dynamics: Challenging the male observer and observed woman relationship.

• Appropriating the Image: Embedding text to interrogate and question the image.

• Representing Feminists: Expressing personal identity and addressing gender issues and sexuality.

Shazia Sikander: Gender Issues from a Different Cultural Background

• Pakistani American Artist: Born in Lahore, Pakistan, now living in New York.

• Miniature Painting: Focuses on Indian and Persian painting styles.

• Contemporary Issues: Addresses contemporary issues and general concerns of her culture and time.

• Hypocrisy and Intolerance: Infusing paintings with contemporary messages.

• Perilous Order: Portrays a gay friend as an Indian emperor who enforces Islamic orthodoxy.

• Criticism on Hypocrisy: Composition criticizes the emperor's disastrous orders.

Meera Mukherjee: Defining Modern Asian Art

• Indian Artist: Defining modern Asian art, especially Southeast Asian art.

• Studied Art in Germany: Combines European techniques with traditional Indian techniques.

• Lost Wax Process:

  • Places long threads of beeswax over a core of clay.

  • Coats the wax and core with clay, then heats the mold to melt the wax.

  • Pours bronze inside to replace the wax.

• Combines Tradition with Abstraction: Combines traditional Indian techniques with abstract forms of 20th-century European sculptures.

• Representation of Emperor Ashoka:

  • Sculpture of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, who adopted Buddhism.

  • Intended to reject violence through Buddhism.

• Protest Against Political Violence: The artist's protest against political violence of the late 20th century in India.

• Reference to the Past: Refers to the remote history of her homeland to make a contemporary political statement.

• Combining Native History and Global Perspective: Uniting native land's history, past and present, with European forms.

Postcolonial India

• British Colonial Period: By end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I granted rule over some parts of India to the East Indian Company.

• Expanding Territories: Securing trade routes and privileges with Mughal emperors and expanding territories.

• English as Official Language: Declaring English as India's official language by 1835.

• Rebellions and Abolishment of East Indian Company: Rebellions in 1857 led to the abolishment of the company.

• Queen Victoria as Empress of India: Assuming the title empress of India by 1877.

• Victoria Terminus: A monument to colonial rule in India, designed by British architect Frederick Stevens.

  • European model, a European transplant to India.

  • Modeled after late medieval, specifically Venetian architecture with growing vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows.

• Architectural Symbol of Colonial Period: Symbolizes British rule colonial period of India and European style in India, kept by the Alacorical statue of progress.

• Independence from England: India and Pakistan achieved independence under Mahatma Gandhi after 1947.

• Post-War South Asian Art: Embraces both native and western styles reflected in Mukherjee's art.

Shirin Neshat: Feminist Ideas and Exile

• Iranian Woman Artist: Living in the US, influenced by feminist ideas and the condition of women in contemporary Islamic societies.

• Born in Iran: Born in a religious city called Azrin and raised in an educated family. Her father wanted his daughters and sons to be educated.

• Studied at UC Berkeley: Revolution created a divide between herself, her country, and her family whom she didn't see for 12 years.

• Obsession with Home: Question and answers, confrontation with obsession of home, the absence of home, and loss of home.

• Nomad Life: Lives in New York but travels to The Middle East, Morocco, Egypt, and Turkey.

• Dual Identity: A complete westerner and easterner and navigates emotionally, politically, and geographically.

• Allegiance and Wakefulness: From her series, Women of Allah.

• Repression of Women: Addresses the repression of women in post-revolutionary Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

• Shirin Neshat's Use of Words:

  • Different content than Kruger's, evokes commercial topography.

  • Handwritten verses remind of Persian poetry and calligraphy.

  • Verses are mostly Persian poetry or writings by women, women scholars, and women poets.

  • Honoring the bravery of martyrdom by a woman poet.

• Emblem of Militant Feminism: The rifle resonates with the Farsi poetry on the subject's body.

Global Voices: Political and Social Commentaries

• Fernando Botero: Colombian artist expressing outrage against war and the inhuman treatment of Iraqi prisoners.

  • Figures larger than life size with inflated bodies.

  • Wounds, blood, and blindfolded to show torture.

  • Expressive use of white, red, green colors that are symbolic.

• Congolese Painting: Shows Congolese citizens staring at 14 television screens that show sports, news, references to travel, and even the Eiffel Tower or Eiffel Tower.

  • Small white images on the back of their heads imply what they might be thinking.

  • A traditional Congo power figure associated with warfare and references his magical/supernatural powers from the sky.

  • Television screen showing another power figure to double the figure's power.

  • TVs showing scenes related to Western worldly goods.

• Western thoughts or commodities have deadened the minds of the Congolese people: Wires that connect the power figure to the TV screens imply that even this ancient symbol of native power has also been subjected to the greater power of modern advertisement and media.

• Artist expresses his social commentaries: That his citizens are being poisoned by the consumerism of the Western world through these new media and technologies.

Marisol: Hybrid Culture and Contemporary Society

• Assemblage of Figures: At the Toledo Museum of Art, the sculpture displays a sense of disconnection, loneliness, and being lost in a crowd.

• Formal Organization: Figures are blocks of wood with no interaction lacking connection.

• Grappling with Issues: Discusses issues of disconnection and loneliness.

• Marisol and Pop Art: Marisol's self portrait looking at the Last Supper at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

• The work reflects on the past and ties it to the issues of the contemporary world.

• Mirror to Society: Commenting on changes in society in the 1960s.

• Outsider Perspective: Rejecting wealth, her dissatisfaction with the requirements of her social position caused her to be an outsider.

• Face as Commentary: Wants to make commentary on what was happening in society with her own face which is used in many of her works.

• Anonymous Face: Distancing due to the multiplication of faces.

• Projecting Themselves: Costumes are the stars, figures showing off without being seen.

• Feminist Questions: Expressing conformity and raising questions that the feminist movement would grapple with.

• Reflecting on the Past: Linking to Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, giving it a three-dimensional look.

• Art History Continuum: Self-conscious continuation of art history.

Jeff Koons: Contemporary American Consumer Culture

• Pink Panther (1988):

  • Articulates the artist's objection of contemporary American consumer culture.

  • Porcelain sculpture depicting a Jane Mansfield character hugging Pink Panther.

Chinese Social Realism: Rent Collection Courtyard

• Installation: Represents a period in the contemporary history of China, focused on Social Realism.

• Background: The triumph of Marxism in 1949 resulted in changes in China.

• Communist Art: Breaking from the imperial past and serving the purpose of the people.

• Sculpture: 1965 tableau with 114 life-size figures depicting peasants bringing taxes to landlords.

• Propagandistic Tableau: Promoting Marxist ideals by focusing on political violence of Chinese citizens. Focus on how their culture is being beamed out for the rest of the world.

• Modern Chinese Art: The period between 1912 and 1980 that focused on history of violence against political figures.

Tara Donovan: Everyday Materials and Natural Forms

• Artist's Work: Uses everyday objects like pins, papers, and plastic cups in large-scale sculptures suggesting natural forms.

• Activation by Movement: Sculptures activated by the movement of the viewer.

• Low Profile Materials: Translucent or light reflective materials and the interaction between the material and the light activate the sculpture.

• Sculptural Process: Experiments with isolated materials, creating drawings with sculptures.

• Flexibility: Pieces can expand and compress given the architectural particulars of each location.

El Anatsui: Sculpture and Textile

• Innovative Art: Uses materials like wires, cans, and bottle caps to create dazzling, expressive works.

• Labor Intensive: Thousands of pieces pierced or stitched together by 25-30 assistants.

• Recycled Materials: Distinguishing his works from Tara Donovan's, focusing on motion

• Metal Hangings: Foldable artworks that bring together the history of Europe, Africa, and America.

• Explores Contemporary Issues: Addresses contemporary issues he is facing bringing history and culture as well.

Bill Viola: Video Projections and Sensory Experience

• New Technology: Incorporates new technology to create new media using video projects.

• The Crossing: Creates a setting for the viewer to feel immersed in a pure sensory experience.

• Contrasts: Works with contrasts in scale, in focus, water and fire, and slow motion to create a dramatic sensory experience.

• Tangible Reality: Creating art that is rooted in that tangible reality that the artist shares with the viewer.

• Dreaming and Dreaming: Experience that lead the artist to use water in his art.

• Self-Knowledge: Our ancestors reflected in the water to bring self-knowledge.

• Mind and Heart: Mind and heart communicate mediated by water that is 70% body.

Maya Lin: Environmental and Site-Specific Art

• Vietnamese Veterans Memorial (Washington, DC): Carves into space, engaging viewers in a psychological dialogue about war.

• Minimal Geometric Forms: Carves down deep into the constitution gardens.

• Inscribed Names on Black Granite: Thousands of fallen American soldiers with reflections on the polished surface.

• Memorial Description: Not an object inserted into the earth, but a work formed from cutting open the earth and polishing the earth's surface.

• Uniting the Past and Present: Points to both of those monuments.

• Black Granite: Reflective, opened side, and an interface between our world and the quieter, darker, more peaceful world beyond.

• Names: Abstraction means more to family and relatives. Recalls everything to someone they loved.

• Political Issue: Not wanting the memorial to be about the political side of the war and simply on the soldiers who died in the war.

• Monument: Is an interface between our world and the quieter, darker, more peaceful world beyond. I chose black granite in order to make the surface reflective and peaceful.

Deconstructive Architecture: Frank Gehry and Kenzo Tange

• Guggenheim Museum (Bibaud): Taking a building and dismantling it similar to a collage. Visible structure and materials to keep the building standing.

• Modern Technology: Needing computers to maintain the structure.

• Breaking Away: Dismantling a building and putting it back together in a new way, but then using contemporary modern technology in order to to keep the building together.

• Kenzo Tange: Creating dramatic shapes with the cable suspension system for concrete and steel buildings.

• Olympic Stadiums: Enabled him to shape his sculptural form in steel and concrete design.

• Influence of Western Styles: European techniques and designs are integrated.
  *Graceful and organic design and structure. That influenced the world of architect.

Oceanic Art: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

• South Pacific: Modern divisions of Pacific Islands that contains geographical, racial, and linguistic distinctions.

  • Melanesia (Black Islands) with New Guinea.

  • Micronesia (SMILE Islands).

  • Polynesia (Many Islands).

• Based on cultures, beliefs, rituals, and resources of their surrounding, their art is also very different.

Asmat People of Southwestern New Guinea: Warfare and Headhunting

• Living: Make these works of art. To them, there are objects of everyday life or their rituals.

• Warfare and headhunting was central to Asmat culture and art. Believe that the head of the enemy had to be taken to avenge a death and to increase the Victor's community's spirit power.
  *Used by Asmat as a pledge to avenge a relative’s death in a headhunting raid that contains carvings of symbolic animals. Called Wauwee Peach Master Carvers.

Bish Poles: Rituals and Symbolism

• Planted in the earth to bring spiritual essence to their culture. Spiritual relationship with nature.

• Used as enemies they enter the village by their women.
  *Trees themselves are treated as if they were fallen warriors.
  *The poles really have three zones. Canoe or structural form at the bottom, then there's the figures, and then there's this chairman.

• Energy and vitality of that community coming together, histories of the village and community that gather nearby villages and extended communities.

• dynamic means of allowing and enabling transition across boundaries and thresholds between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

Micronesian Seafaring Activities: the Bai

• Focus: Fishing, carving canoes, and long-distance travel in large vessels.

• Man houses and clubhouse that are all decorated on the gable with geometric patterns, abstract forms.

• Decorative patterns and narrative scenes of important historical events and myths related to that clan.

• Represented deity and frontal facets and bright colors and reliefs or fashioned images of spirits that protect sea travelers and fishers.
  *Female figure that is a symmetrical wood sculpture known as Dilucay. In the next slide, you can see an early twentieth-century model of Dilucay at the Metropolitan, and a link here in this slide, I mean. Symbolizes societies that are known to be highly stratified with power determined by heredity.

Polynesian Societies: Power and Prestige

• Shows power and prestige of people of high religious ranks.Deeply ingrained the cultures of the eastern islanders that often possess mana, or spiritual power.
  *Moai: Stone monuments that give a way of understanding the fragility of culture in the 21st Century that are on the shore facing inland, some facing out to sea.
  *See as a barrier. But to the locals and other islands this has a connection and important elements in reclaiming their culture and heritage.
  *standing, submerges, and construct, the ancestors give the opportunity to talk through ceremony.

Ancestral connection must seem especially precious because of all that the peoples of Rapa Nui have suffered over the years, not only the deforestation, colonialization, enslavement.

Bring objects or spirtitual items back from their source community.