CONTEMPORARY ART

Sometimes people find today's art baffling. For example, is a display of animal parts truly art? Yet artists continue to work, to find new modes of expression, and to apply old forms in new and original ways, continually reinventing "art" and creating new meanings for the word.

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss how art has evolved in the twenty-first century.

• Describe the work of several contemporary artists.

• Identify materials used by contemporary artists.

• Explain how multiculturalism broadens our approach to art.

VOCABULARY

WELCOME TO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

The world today is in flux. Populations are expanding, and people are migrating from one area of the world to another — sometimes voluntarily, sometimes driven by political and economic forces beyond their control. With multinational corporations, economic alliances, and global technologies creating new connections, the world seems smaller than it once was.

Globalization has transformed the way we live. Airline reservations in the United States might be made by a call center operator in India. Clothing made in China is worn by school children in France. Movies made in Hollywood can be enjoyed by viewers in Poland, and "Bollywood" movies made in India can be seen in Manhattan. People in Tokyo can eat at a Subway restaurant while people in Miami might dine at a sushi restaurant.

Dubai, U.A.E.

While wars and famines devastate some areas of the planet, others seem to be rocketing toward the future in an unprecedented wave of prosperity. The city of Dubai, for instance, the most populated city of the United Arab Emirates, is in the midst of a gigantic construction boom, creating elaborate island resorts, a manmade marina and some of the most amazing architecture on the planet.

All of these developments affect artists — and in turn, artists help us imagine the future.

CONTEMPORARY ART AND ARTISTS (1960-PRESENT)

Contemporary art continues the Postmodern themes of appropriation and parody we discussed in earlier lessons, encouraging artists to borrow ideas from high culture and popular culture, combining and reconfiguring forms in an effort to say something new.

There are many acclaimed contemporary artists working today. We'll look at three of those artists and then present some videos in which you can meet a few others.

Tony Berlant (born 1941)

Tony Berlant is a California artist known for his collages and assemblages. Berlant pieces together scraps of discarded metal to form a single image.

Art critic Mat Gleason writes, "There is no escaping the vital premise at the core of Berlant's signature style: to transform that which is cast off into such a high caliber act of quality that it transforms the viewer's consciousness." (“Tony Berlant,” ArtScene, 2001).

In his works, Berlant creates myriad shapes and images and uses brilliant colors that are reminiscent of Paul Gauguin and Henri Matisse. He juxtaposes images, texture, and reflected light, creating an art form that is difficult to categorize.

Activity

Take a time travel visit to his 2001 exhibition at the Peter Blake Gallery and record this image in your online art journal. Notice the use of color and the way exotic images enliven the pieces of assembled metal. 

Go to this website and click on the video of Tony Berlant. Listen to the audio. What does he have to say about his own reasons for being an artist? Who are his influences? 

Swoon

"I don't feel my pieces need to be kept in a vault as precious art." — Swoon (New York Times interview)

Swoon is the pseudonym (alias) of a New York street artist. Swoon creates large, intricate paper cutouts and hand-pulled block prints and puts them in places where the public can view them. Street artists were influenced by graffiti artists and artists such as Keith Haring, but today instead of spray cans, they use posters, stickers, stencils, and construction tools. Their work can be seen not just in New York but in large cities around the world.

Because street art is illegal in some places, Swoon carefully chooses the places she displays her work knowing it will not last forever: abandoned buildings, rundown warehouses, and broken walls. But her work has also begun to be recognized by museums and galleries.

Watch this video of Swoon presenting her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Richard Serra (born 1939)

Richard Serra is a minimalist sculptor and also a video artist. He creates large-scale works using sheet metal. In an interview with PBS, Serra explained that he worked for steel mills as a teenager to make money and later to pay his way through college. He said, "I think working in steel mills gave me a whole notion of how to use steel in a way that it hadn't been used before."

For example, his large sculpture Fulcrum, which is in London, is fifty-five feet high and constructed from five plates of rusted steel. The rust adds a patina to the surfaces. Each plate weighs several tons, but the sculpture is free-standing.

Now watch this video from MoMA about one of Richard Serra's giant installation creations.

A PLETHORA OF PRODUCTION

One of the hallmarks of contemporary art is a sense of inclusion. For so many centuries, western art was dominated by a very narrow group. The art production of other groups was excluded and ignored. Today that is changing.

Artists are doing so many different things in the field of art today.

For example, here is a picture of sculptor Debra Butterfield and her horse sculptures.

The following short videos are from the PBS series "Art of the Twenty-first Century." They'll give you an idea of the wide variety of art that is currently being produced in the United States.

Art 21 - Kara Walker

Art 21 - Mark Bradford

It's a Multicultural World, After All

Native-American culture has a long and rich tradition of artistic production. Native-American jewelry, bead work, and fabric art has been highly prized for generations, but now Native Americans are also being recognized for the diversity of their art forms.

Notes

Like other contemporary artists, Native Americans are appropriating forms of the past and updating them with an ironic twist while not romanticizing images of Natives. Look at the picture of Marcus Amerman's beadwork postcard. 

What Does the Future Hold?

We mentioned the city of Dubai at the beginning of this lesson.

LET'S REVIEW!

In this lesson you have learned the following:

• Contemporary art is exciting and dynamic. It is impossible to categorize it with a few simple characteristics.

• Some artists lean toward the traditional art forms while others take their work out into new arenas.

• Artists today come from a wide variety of cultures and traditions.

• Female artists are using art to challenge formerly male-dominated interpretations of reality.

• Native American artists are defying stereotypes through their art, art that reflects their lives.

Complete the quiz before moving on.