Art of the 1990s

What art was popular in the 1990s? Well Culture jamming was a well known movement of the 1990s as was graffiti art. Transgressive art, or art that used shocking images as social critique was also popular. The AIDS quilt is an example of activist art that was popular at the time.

Famous artist

sten Höller's "Double Slide" Image from wikimedia.org

Rirkrit Tiravanija

Drawing from his Thai heritage, Rirkrit Tiravanija showcased a piece at Venice's Aperto 93 that paid homage to Thailand's communal dining culture. Titled "Untitled 1993 (Cure)," the artwork featured the artist preparing traditional Thai soups within a tea tent. This creation aimed to challenge notions of art, sparking contemplation on the threshold of what truly constitutes "art," a significant discourse of the era.

Rirkrit Tiravanija, Untitled 1992 (Free). Image from kurimanzutto.com

Andreas Gursky

Andreas Gursky's expansive artworks serve as a reflection of the nineties, an era characterized by unprecedented consumerism just before America's post-millennial economic downturn. Through vibrant colors, meticulous repetition, and monumental scale, his pieces evoke a mesmerizing sensation. Particularly, his work "99 cent" stands as a poignant commentary on the dawn of globalization, encapsulating the zeitgeist of the time.

Andreas Gursky"99 Cent", 1999. Image from matheamillman.wordpress.com 

Daniel Joseph Martinez

Throughout the nineties, artists delved deeper into themes of personal identity within their creations. Daniel Joseph Martinez, a versatile American artist, utilized his art as a platform to interrogate concepts like democracy and societal influence. One of his notable works, "Museum Tags Second Movement Overture or Overture," centers on these themes. In this piece, Martinez transforms the Whitney Museum's admission tags into provocative statements, notably one that reads, "I can't imagine ever wanting to be white," sparking discourse and reflection on identity and privilege.

Daniel Joseph Martinez "Museum Tags Second Movement Overture or Overture" kadist.tumblr.com

Douglas Gordan

Douglas Gordon emerged as a leading figure within the Relational Aesthetics movement, captivating audiences with his multi-sensory installations that toyed with the boundaries between expectation and reality. French curator Nicolas Bourriaud characterized Gordon's and other artists' works within this movement as centered around "the entirety of human relations and their societal backdrop," prioritizing communal experiences over individualistic ones.

Douglas Gordon "Pretty Much Every Film and Video work from about 1992" Image from artfund.org

Mike Kelley

Infusing elements of punk rock and various pop culture references into his artwork, Mike Kelly spent the nineties blending the realms of high and low culture. Throughout this period, he engaged in collaborations with notable artists like Paul McCarthy and Tony Oursler, as well as the influential New York noise-rock band Sonic Youth.

Mike Kelley "Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites 1991-1999" Image from theredlist.com