Essays on Contemporary Art

The ways in which contemporary art addresses the identities of individuals within society and how contemporary art itself addresses these questions of identity is important in that it helps to communicate effectively the viewpoints of various aspects of life for many different individuals. This idea represents the intent of the artists to express a certain mood or feeling that they are presented with in their own lives. These expressive intentions can be seen as a fully developed narrative that is representative of a very particular instance of being that the artist wished to capture.
The idea of identity is Continue reading...

Value and judgment in contemporary art

The matters concerning value and judgment are among the recently intensified debates in criticism of art. The criticism of art suffered collective failures in nerve as the styles and names are booming and busting within the increasing rapidity. A discourse trafficking the value judgments is risking being co-opted into serving consumers. Conversely, it can even serve as outright as the consumer’s guide to the contemporary art market. In this market, critical discourse and commerce frequently seem to be comparative to each other. The value judgment and contemporary Art Criticism comprises the transcripts of the discussions, and the available Continue reading...

- Introduction
This study seeks to determine how site-specific installation of artworks promotes appreciation of contemporary art. The study will focus on the following artists and their artworks: Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor, and Rachel Whiteread.
- Outline

Thesis

Site-specific installation artworks by Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor, and Rachel Whiteread promote appreciation of contemporary art. This project seeks to showcase some of the artworks of these artists. The public shall then view them and give their feedback on the artworks displayed. Depending on how appealing a given artwork is, it is likely to influence how the consumers of contemporary art appreciate Continue reading...

Introduction

One of the outstanding collections of contemporary art is the Rubell Family Collection (RFC) which was founded in 1964 in New York City immediately after its founders Donald and Mera Rubell tied knot. Being one of the largest privately owned contemporary art collections, the RFC showcases its collections in a 45,000 square foot warehouse owned by former Drug Enforcement Agency. The museum of RFC comprises 27 galleries, a film and lecture theatre, a research library with more than 40,000 volumes, a media room, a gift shop, a book store and a sculpture garden. The collection which is Continue reading...

Introduction

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) located in Sydney, Australia. The museum is dedicated to the exhibition, collection and interpretation of contemporary art pieces from Australia and other continents. The museum was the brainchild of John Power, an Australian expatriate. John’s intention was to educate and inform the Australian public on contemporary visual forms of art (MCA 2013, 1).
The Museum of Contemporary Art was officially opened in November 1991 (MCA 2013, 1). The exhibitions are housed in the former Maritime Service Board building at Circular Quay at the periphery of the Sydney Harbor. The state government decided Continue reading...

Site-specific installation artworks can promote appreciation of contemporary art

This study seeks to determine how site-specific installation of artworks promotes appreciation of contemporary art. The study will focus on the following artists and their artwork: Richard Serra’s ‘Tilted Arc’, Anish Kapoor’s ‘Cloud Gate’, and Rachel Whiteread’s Judenplatz Vienna 'Holocaust Memorial’.
Site-specific installation artworks by Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor, and Rachel Whiteread promote appreciation of contemporary art. This project seeks to showcase some of the artworks of these artists. The artworks under study are the examples of public art. Thus, the public view them and give their feedback on the artworks displayed. Depending on how appealing Continue reading...

1.0 Oscar Wilde: Art and the Handicraftsman
This particular lecture focused on the relationship that brings together art and the craftsman. The presentation outlined that pulling one from the other affects both. If one is kept away from the other, negative effects of that action ruins the two. Art is all about expressing things in a personal view. Such expressions are based on diverse feelings of the handicraftsman. The resultant expressions of such works constitute the art. Attitude, motives and expectations are just but a few ways that determine the forthcoming artistic works. Art is all about getting Continue reading...

Yayoi Kusami Japanese artist is one of the most celebrated artist in Japan and worldwide. Her worlds were built on one ideology and that revolved around her such that has at most times or all times used art to convey a message. Much of Kusama’s work is attributed to her decision to leave her mother country Japan for New York since she considered that the political and social climate within Japan was limiting her ability to explore art and artwork. Over the years, she has been able to build a career and an identity with much of her Continue reading...

Introduction

The invention of the camera in the latter part of the 18th century became the pathway to create a new style of art called photography. Photography is the art of drawing using the light, a scientific process that relies in lenses to create a reflection of the images onto the paper. Since the invention of the camera, photography became even more popular because it is versatile and fast compared to painting. Photography became the avant-garde of the early twentieth century art not only in the United States but to the whole world as well. Photographers and artists often incorporate Continue reading...

The Bone Yard

Unlike the classic art, which was full of expressive and definite beauty and meaning, contemporary art is sometimes difficult for understanding. Artist’s idea might be hidden so deeply within avangardist images that it might be even impossible to follow painter’s idea. Julie Heffernan is definitely not such kind of artist. She is one of those very few painters who manage to unite the classic images of beauty with the symbolism of modernity. Julie Heffernan is famous for her series of paintings, in which refinement and idealism of baroque is combined with symbolism of contemporary reality. Another characteristic Continue reading...

How Does Early and Medieval Art and Architecture Influence Modern Culture?

Annotated Bibliography
Craig, M. (2011). Arcade: Moments not Monuments. Art and Architecture Journal , 89-92.

Present day buildings and architectural designs are usually fantastic, leaving one to ponder where such designs oriented from. In his article, Craig discusses some of the most famous monuments that are found in the globe and their underlying ideas and concept behind their designs. Craig states that such architectural designs have been embedded in the architectural designs of the present days. Landmarks such as the Pyramids of Egypt are termed so because the ideologies have stood the test of time, and this can be manifested Continue reading...

Ai Weiwei is one of the most influential Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Born in the year 1957 to an intellectual poet Ai Qing, Ai Weiwei spent his childhood in the hinterlands, firstly, in the bitterly cold lands of Heilongjiang, and then in the western Xinjiang province of China. In Weiwei’s childhood, living conditions were very harsh and education was non-existent. However, Weiwei grew up within the Cultural Revolution studying criticism and the political works of various famous personalities, such as Mao, Lenin, Karl Marx and many others . By the end of the Cultural Revolution, Weiwei’s Continue reading...

The title of the article is Visual art performance versus contemporary performance. The author of this article is Andy Horwitz. The article was published on November 2011in the periodical called CULTUREBOT. The article focuses on the differences between the two types of performances with the aspect of time-based art around the origins in dance and theater as the reference point. The author of this article is motivated by lack of knowledge of the visual art curators about the contemporary art performance when promoting it.
As a point of departure, the primary difference between visual arts and contemporary performance is Continue reading...

History and culture have always been going hand in hand creating rich material for the unique art. А three thousand year old Japanese history of development gave its birth to various types of arts, starting from ancient pottery, sculpture, painting and carving and ending with contemporary Japanese cartoons, anime and manga, which gained millions of admirers. But let’s start if not from the very beginning, but at least from the first distinctly outlined period in the history of Japanese art – the Muromachi period (1392-1573).
The beginning of the art era is marked by the Ashikaga family having occupied the Continue reading...

Bilbao is one of the most storied cities in Spain, dating back more than 700 years. Presently, it has about 500,000 people within its boundaries, but Greater Bilbao, an area over 400 square kilometers in area, has over 1 million people.1 Although it had long been a leading port, it also gained prominence in the shipbuilding, chemicals and steel industries; however, when those industries began to decline after the death of Franco in 1975, the city sank into a recession. One of the causes for this recession had been Franco’s insistence that these industries only serve Spanish Continue reading...

These paintings are being compared and analyzed together because they show the standard of what constitute art at that period. Unlike Gentileschi’s previous works, The Annunciation is free from heavy influence of Caravaggio’s style which employs theatrical and irregular composition. Oftentimes this composition is seen as dramatic and in monumental composition. However, at the time when Gentileschi is doing the said painting, he is beginning to develop his own style, away from Caravaggio’s approach. In this work, the painting still shows the lyrical gestures and the sense of involvement with the scene although the figures are Continue reading...

[Class Title]

The world is full of symbols and images that, in one way or another, impact our visual experience. However, most of these images and symbols are not original creation but rather a reflection of past cultures that have influenced contemporary art. The ancient Egyptians, for example, are well known for their pyramids. These pyramids primarily serve as a graveyard as well as a grave monument for pharaohs and their families. Ancient Egyptians believe that after death, their pharaohs would traverse the underworld. For the same reason, the pyramids were built because of the belief that the deceased Continue reading...

Voluptuous Mors

It is a matter of prominent curves running through a black veil that flows beneath them. A game between the lights and the angles. Seven models position themselves to form a skull as the artist stands on the side with an alarmed gaze. Salvador Dali, a Spanish painter, partners with photographer Philippe Halsman to create a surrealist human skull (1951). The image depicts Dali standing next to the models with an "enfreaked gaze” as Ann Millett would write. He is looking at the possible third spectator, implying that there is something in the image that should be looked at Continue reading...

Stephanie Dotson is currently based in California. She decided to settle in the area since her work, as a professor, requires her to be near the vicinity of Santa Barbara, California. The place is also home to several young artist, which derives their inspiration from the weather and landscape. Dotson earned her BFA degree in Kansas City Art Institute in 2000 while majoring in printmaking. She continued her studies and finished her Master’s degree in Fine Arts major in printmaking at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Aside from being an artist and printmaker, she earns a living Continue reading...

How Does Contemporary Art in Asia Relate to that in Oceania?

Introduction
Exhibitions of art pieces are mediums of communication through which artists explore different perspectives in the society for the enlightenment of people. This paper presents the review of a temporary exhibition that relates the traditional and contemporary art in the Philippines as envisioned in the work of Ronald Ventura, a Filipino. This artist is one of the most influential artists in Southeast Asia. His work is compared to that of fifty traditional works from different collections in Musée du quai Branly located in Paris. The exhibition not only relates arts from those two geographical blocs, but also Continue reading...

Compare and contrast paper of ‘Forest in the Night’ by John Feodorov, and ‘The Sky space’ by James Turrell

Artwork is an expression mode either employed in invoking or depicted certain messages, feelings or relations to contemporary living. In this regard, art is a common accessory to religion and adorns most religious places as a symbol of the faith the adherents follow. Its use was widespread in the past, taking from the high renaissance period for instance where art was used in Christian temples depict various aspects of the Christian faith such as the last supper. Some of these artworks are highly regarded in modern times with the last supper, by Leonardo da Vinci for instance being one Continue reading...

The artist

Christian Paul Kunsch was born in Hagen in the North German state of Westphalia. He is primarily a husband and father but is also a photographer and Taoist for good measure, also describing himself as ‘European’ on his website. His work which is chiefly in black and white is basically inspired by the work of Bernard Plossu, Francoise Nunez, Henri Cartier Bresson and Lucien Herve. However he claims other influences such as the music of Radiohead, Thom Yorke and Max Richter. Another source of inspiration is Wim Wenders, the film director whose movie, ‘Wings of Desire’ is an important Continue reading...

“Brazil: Crime and Poverty and How to solve it?” By Eduardo Scuratovski De Gasperi-dated November 26th 2013

This article unveils the social and economic aspect of Brazil. First, the author of the articles explains how the country was hit by the 2008 world’s economic depression. According to Gasperi, Brazil survived this economic crisis as the government and other stakeholders implemented effective strategies to end it. International bodies such as World Bank and IMF revealed that Brazil is the 7th largest and biggest economy in the world with a GDP of approximately $2.4 trillion. This unveils the fact that Brazil’s economy is improving as well as advancing at a remarkable pace. Despite the fact that Continue reading...

The tie between culture and art is profound and close as the two have a joint and beneficial relationship. Art can facilitate the exposure of culture through paintings, sculptures, drawings, and other masterpieces. For instance, contemporary art can serve as a channel of culture. In addition to that, culture is not a predetermined concept. It is evolving, continuous, and subject to change over time. Culture is influenced by an array of factors, and contemporary art is among them. Art is a dynamic, predominant element which can be considered “an aspect of culture” (Hatcher 1). There are several views that Continue reading...

Preamble

"I didn't want to make 'high' art, I had no interest in using paint, I wanted to find something that anyone could relate to without knowing about contemporary art. I wasn't thinking in terms of precious prints or archival quality; I didn't want the work to seem like a commodity." Cynthia Morris Sherman.
IntroductionCindy Sherman was born on January 19, 1954, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. She is an American photographer and film director, whom is best known for her conceptual portraits where she has taken the art to a completely new level. She moved to New York in Continue reading...

Miss J.X.

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My most recent education was at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, UK. I was able to study for a semester in both art and business from September through December 2012. During this period I was fortunate to have access to some private collections in London, many opportunities to visit galleries, and learn about the contemporary art history while developing an understanding of the features of fauvism, expressionism, and surrealism. My gallery visits afforded me the opportunity to begin to learn the relationship between the prices and value of pieces of art. I also Continue reading...

Introduction

Hip hop culture began in the early 1970s. This occurred when a Jamaican artist, Clive Campbell also known as DJ Kool Herc moved from Kingston to the West Bronx, New York. In West Bronx, Campbell tried to incorporate his Jamaican style of Djaying into the music systems of the Americans. His style involved reciting improvised rhymes over the dub versions of his reggae records. During his initial performances in the city, he tried to adapt his style over the chanting over the percussion sections in the pop songs during that time. With the help of other Clarke Kent and Continue reading...

Present day buildings and architectural designs are usually fantastic, leaving one to ponder where such designs oriented from. In his article, Craig discusses some of the most famous monuments that are found in the globe and their underlying ideas and concept behind their designs. Craig states that such architectural designs have been embedded in the architectural designs of the present days. Landmarks such as the Pyramids of Egypt are termed so because the ideologies have stood the test of time, and this can be manifested Continue reading...

Introduction

The history of art has been compared with that of literature. In comparable respects, both have continuity, change and no progressive improvement. Since they are both works of creativity, their histories are characterized by works that seem to go beyond circumstantial limitations with a timeless appeal. The history of art has evolved since the extant of humans. Today art involve so many disciplines in colleges and universities. (Kristine and Howard 1996 4, 41) Continue reading...