Lecture Notes: Contemporary Art and Postmodernism

Introduction

• Last slide presentation for the semester
• Unique direction from the book (Chapter 23)
• Focus on neo-Expressionism to contemporary artists
• Highlighting quirky and odd art styles

Postmodern Art

• Difference between Modern and Postmodern Art
  • Modern: Creating something new
  • Postmodern: Inspired by the past, appropriating ideas/styles
• Example: Alice Neel
  • Figurative art during abstract expressionism
• Art movements are not always linear
  • Artists may not fit into specific movements/regions

Bay Area Figurative Artists

• Nathan Oliveira
  • Bay Area Figurative artist, combining figurative art with abstract expressionism
• Richard Diebenkorn
  • Painting the figure with bold, abstract marks
• Francis Bacon
  • British figurative artist, often mistaken for a surrealist
  • His work reflects his personality through expressionist marks

Photo Realism and Representational Art

• Chuck Close
  • Transition from abstract to representational art
  • First photo-realist painting, gridding technique
• Lucian Freud
  • Nephew of Sigmund Freud
  • Pushing paint to create three-dimensional qualities on a flat canvas
• Jenny Saville
  • Contemporary British figurative artist
  • Focus on the fleshy quality of the human form, using bold colors

Hyper Realism

• Ron Mueck
  • Sculptures that reproduce life with latex, rubber, real hair

Contemporary Postmodern Art

• Difficult to define current art movements due to various critics and the internet
• Terms: Lowbrow Art, Pop Surrealism, Street Pop, Street Art
• Ron English
  • Appropriates comic books, toys in fine art
  • Tackles heavy subjects with a blend of pop imagery
• Takashi Murakami
  • Combines fine art with commercial art (e.g., Kanye West, Louis Vuitton)

Appropriation and Pop Surrealism

• Mark Ryden
  • Appropriates imagery from past artists, dreamlike style
• Kehinde Wiley
  • Paints African Americans in Victorian style, combining masculine with feminine elements
• Banksy and Shepard Fairey
  • Key figures in street art, using stencils, pop imagery for social commentary

Conceptual and Performance Art

• Marcel Duchamp
  • Redefined art with readymades and performance
• Yves Klein
  • Painted models creating art by dragging themselves on canvas
  • Patented Yves Klein Blue
• Piero Manzoni
  • Signed models, canned his own feces as art
• Vito Acconci and Chris Burden
  • Pioneers of performance art focused on endurance
• Tehching Hsieh
  • Year-long performances, e.g., punching time clock every hour

Contemporary Examples

• Harvey Abhiyan North
  • Dressed as part of abstract paintings, photographed himself
• Zhang Huan
  • Performance art focusing on societal and environmental impacts
  • Documented with beautiful photographs

Conclusion

• Encouragement to appreciate and support art and artists
• Importance of visiting art museums and cultural engagement

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Note: Always bring someone to an art museum to grow the art culture in America.