UNIVERSITY OF WEST ATTICA

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN DEPARTMENT

HISTORY OF ART IV

THEORETICAL RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC:

“Postmodern Art:

Movements, Artists, Artworks”

Alina Kashitsyna

2020
CONTENTS

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….5

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………….…..6

1. Performance Art and Happenings………………………………………………………….….7

1.1. Allan Kaprow ………………………………………………………………………….…….…8
1.2. Marina Abramovic …………………………………………………………………….……9
1.3. Zhang Huan ……………………………………………………………………………….….11
1.4. Yayoi Kusama ………………..………………………………………………………….…..13
2. Fluxus ………………………………………………………………………………………….………..…14
2.1. George Maciunas……………………………………………………………………….….14
2.2. Joseph Beuys …………………………………………………………………………….…..14
2.3. Yoko Ono ………………………………………………………………………………….……14
2.4. Nam June Paik ……………………………………………………………………….………15
3. Installation Art………………………………………………………………………………………….16
3.1. Marcel Duchamp …………………………………………………………………………..16
3.2. Jean Tinguely.………………………………………………………………………………..16
3.3. Ai WeiWei……………………………………………………………………………………...16
3.4. Olafur Eliasson ……………………………………………………………………….……..17
4. Arte Povera ……………………………………………………………………………………………..18
4.1. Jannis Kounellis ……………………………………………………………………………..18
4.2. Michelangelo Pistoletto………………………………………………………………...18
4.3. Alighiero Boetti……………………………………………………………………………...18
4.4. Mario Merz………………………………………………………………………………….…19
5. Land Art……………………………………………………………………………………………….…..20
5.1. Robert Smithson …………………………………………………………………………...20
5.2. Agnes Denes……………………………………………………………………………….….20
5.3. Christo (1935-2020) and Jean Claude…………………………………………….20
5.4. Andy Goldsworthy………………………………………………………………………....21
6. Photography ……………………………………………………………………………………….…..22
6.1. Helmut Newton ………………………………………………………………………….…22
6.2. Josef Koudelka ………………………………………………………………………………22
6.3. Helen Levitt …………………………………………………………………………………..23
6.4. Annie Leibovitz ……………………………………………………………………………..23
7. Photorealism …………………………………………………………………………………………..24
7.1. Chuck Close ………………………………………………………………………………….24
7.2. Richard Estes ………………………………………………………………………………..24
7.3. Audrey Flack …………………………………………………………………………………24
7.4. Ralph Goings ………………………………………………………………………………..24

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8. Video Art……………..………………………………………………………………………………….25
8.1. Andy Warhol …………………………………………………………………………25
8.2. Joan Jonas …………………………………………………………………………….25
8.3. Matthew Barney ……………………………………………………………………25
8.4. Jack Goldstein ……………………………………………………………………….26
9. Post-Minimalism …………………………………………………………………………………..27
9.1. Eva Hesse ……………………………………………………………………………..27
9.2. Richard Serra ………………………………………………………………………..27
9.3. Richard Long …………………………………………………………………………27
9.4. Sol LeWitt ……………………………………………………………………………..28
10. Feminist Art ……………………………………………………………………………………………29
10.1. Louise Bourgeois …………………………………………………………………..29
10.2. Judy Chicago …………………………………………………………………………29
10.3. Miriam Schapiro …………………………………………………………………...30
10.4. Barbara Kruger ……………………………………………………………………..30
11. Street and Art Graffity ……………………………………………………………………………31
11.1. Banksy ………………………………………………………………………………….31
11.2. Jean-Michel Basquiat ……………………………………………………………31
11.3. Keith Haring ………………………………………………………………………….32
11.4. Shepard Fairey ……………………………………………………………………..32
12. Neo-Expressionism …………………………………………………………………………………33
12.1. Georg Baselitz ……………………………………………………………………….33
12.2. Eric Fischl ……………………………………………………………………………..33
12.3. Anselm Kiefer ……………………………………………………………………….33
12.4. Francesco Clemente ……………………………………………………………..34
13. Young British Artists ……………………………………………………………………………….35
13.1. Damien Hirst …………………………………………………………………………35
13.2. Tracey Emin ………………………………………………………………………….35
13.3. Sarah Lucas …………………………………………………………………………..36
13.4. Rachel Whiteread …………………………………………………………………36
14. Neo-Pop Art …………………………………………………………………………………………..37
14.1. Jeff Koons …………………………………………………………………………….37
14.2. Martin Kippenberger ……………………………………………………………37
14.3. Takashi Murakami ………………………………………………………………..37
14.4. Yoshitomo Nara ……………………………………………………………………38
15. Body Art …………………………………………………………………………………………………39
15.1. Gina Pane …………………………………………………………………………….39
15.2. Carolee Schneemann …………………………………………………………..39
15.3. VALIE EXPORT ………………………………………………………………………40
15.4. Rebecca Horn ………………………………………………………………………40
16. Cynical Realism ……………………………………………………………………………………..41
16.1. Yue Minjun ………………………………………………………………………….41
16.2. Fang Lijun …………………………………………………………………………….41
16.3. Zhang Xiaogang ……………………………………………………………………41

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17. Digital Art ……………………………………………………………………………………………..42
17.1. Alberto Seveso ……………………………………………………………………42
17.2. Shilpa Gupta ……………………………………………………………………….42
17.3. Natasha Tsakos …………………………………………………………………..42
17.4. Erik Johansson …………………………………………………………………….43
18. Postmodernist Painting ………………………………………………………………………..44
18.1. Francis Bacon ………………………………………………………………………44
18.2. Lucian Freud ……………………………………………………………………….44
18.3. Jenny Saville ………………………………………………………………………..45
18.4. Jack Vettriano ……………………………………………………………………..45
19. Postmodern Sculpture ………………………………………………………………………….46
19.1. Salvador Dali ……………………………………………………………………….46
19.2. Donald Judd ………………………………………………………………………..46
19.3. Anish Kapoor ……………………………………………………………………….46
19.4. Arman …………………………………………………………………………………47

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………….48

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………………..49

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Abstract

The questions discussed within this paper concern Postmodern Art, its movements and
representative artists. The aim is to create a general picture of the post-war art scene
and to follow its development till today, highlighting the most important ideas of every
Postmodern Art movement and “signature” characteristics of the artists that are
representing the movements, with a brief overlook of the artworks. Parallel with the
art, postmodern philosophies, values, challenges and experiments are being discussed,
as well as certain social problems and historical events that took place and provoked
the appearing of some movements and works in particular.

Keywords: Postmodern Art, postmodern philosophy, art movements

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Introduction

“…is postmodernity the pastime of an old man who scrounges in the garbage-heap of finality looking for
leftovers, who brandishes unconsciousness, lapses, limits, confines, goulags, parataxis, non-senses, or
paradoxes, and who turns this into the glory of his novelty, into his promise of change?”

Philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard

In the middle of the 20th century, after the World War II, the centre of the art world has
moved from Europe to the USA, and young artists, not satisfied with traditional art,
started searching for new forms of expression, new ideologies that would reflect
current society with its traumas and values, new ways to break the old-fashioned
stereotypes, new approaches towards art and its relationship with a viewer. The
question of “high” and “low” art, the place of art and its accessibility, art as a protest
and a spectacle, art as an indicator of the society’s temperature and its symptoms – art
has changed the scale, and became as close to the viewers as never before. Very often
it was ahead of its time, and it was rejected due to its controversial character and
shocking effect. Nevertheless, the Postmodern Art has blurred plenty of borders,
erased lots of limitations, destroyed enough of stereotypes – in order to be able to
establish itself as a set of powerful movements and styles, shaping the definition of the
contemporary art.

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 1. Performance Art and Happenings (1960s)
Modern Performance Art owes its existence to the activities of avant-garde movements
such as Futurism (c.1909-14), Dada (1916-24), Surrealist Automatism (1924-40),
Nouveau Realisme (early 1960s), Fluxus (1960s), Neo-Dada (1960s), Body Art (from
1960) and Feminist Art (1970 onwards) (http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/, n.d.). This
movement is tightly connected with Happenings and Conceptual art. Flourished in
1960s it played an important role in avant-garde movement in the 20th century. As far
as performance art incorporate many disciplines, including dancing, music and theatre,
it could be said that the first examples of performance art appeared millenniums ago.
But in the context of Postmodernist Art, it obtained a different meaning and scale.

The main characteristic features of the Performance art could be described as

following:

- It supposes “live” performing or expressing of art by the artist in front of the

audience, usually without words, but focusing on the process: action or
stillness, noises or silence.
- Except of the fact that Performance art includes and merges many other forms
of art, it also borrows ideas from the fields that are not connected with art, for
example, rituals. Besides, it often involves the body of the artist, sometimes
erasing the border between Performance and Body Art.
- Performance Art is challenging and often provoking. It rejects the traditional
forms and means of visual arts, and is testing new ideas, making experiments,
often raising the conflict, political, gender and many other problems.
- Performance Art can involve the audience into the process; it doesn’t have a
scale, and is not attached to a certain place: it can be performed in the street,
in the museum or gallery, in the shop vitrine or anywhere else.
Happenings is a new art form that started in 1958 and ended in early 70s of the XX
century. The main component of “happenings” was the viewer that was actively
participating in the artwork. “Happenings” had a temporary character, and could never
be the same, as far as the artwork was defined by the audience participation. Together
with Performance art, it was the art movement that erased the boundaries between
the art and the viewer.

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 1.1. Allan Kaprow (1927-2006)
American performance artist and theoretician, who can be considered a “father” of
“happenings” and postmodernist Performance art. His main achievement is a change
of attitude towards the art object: it was no longer linked to its traditional forms, but
got a variety of other, more experiential forms: sound, action, scent, movement etc.

Kaprow's work was based on an "aesthetic of regular experience," a transient and

momentary experience felt by the viewer being as significant as a painting on canvas
(https://www.theartstory.org/, n.d.).

“18 Happening in 6 Parts” (1959)

One of the earliest and most important Happenings by Alan Kaprow, considered to be
a turning point for performance art.

Performed at the Reuben Gallery in New York, in this happening, the public was invited
to complete a number of tasks, using instructions outlined in a score. Kaprow used
music theory with new developments in electronic music, theatre and dance, and all
combined within a pioneering structure that demanded participatory involvement
(https://www.theartstory.org/, n.d.).

“Yard” (1961)

In this work of Kaprow the audience had to interact with a junkyard environment, and
that was looking like a game with the rules settled by Kaprow himself. In the “Yard”
Kaprow erases the borders between the viewer and the artwork, letting the viewer
become a part of the artwork.

“Push and Pull” (1963)

The work consists of two furnished rooms. Visitors are invited to “activate” the work by
rearranging the furniture and the objects, literally pushing and pulling them, and even
changing the rooms by repainting them (Wolfert, 2018).

“Push and Pull” can be characterised as dynamic and transformative. While usually the
artwork has a static nature, in “Push and Pull” the audience determines the process
and composition in the space.

“Grandma’s Boy” (1967)

The work consists of the wall construction made of different found objects in the
farmhouse, rented by Kaprow, photographs of the family members and a mirror in the
middle. The viewer unwittingly became a participator from the moment he/she caught
the pictures’ reflections in the mirror, and in such way completed the work.

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 1.2. Marina Abramovic (b. 1946)
Marina Abramovic, a Serbian-American artist, known for dramatic and often dangerous
performances. Cutting down the distance between the artist and the audience, and
avoiding traditional materials, she often uses ritual elements in her performances and
experiences the limits of human body and resistance to pain. By means of art, she also
explores the topic of relationship between man and woman, mind and body, life and
death, nature and culture and many other topics.

“Rhythm 5” (1974)

Performance in which Abramovic experiences the limits of her body, has also symbolic
and ritual meaning. In “Rhythm 5” she puts the wooden shavings in the shape of the
star, covers them with gasoline and puts on fire. The star shape is chosen not suddenly,
it represents the communism and has the occult meaning. After cutting her nails and
hair and throwing them on fire, she lies down in the middle of burning star. The
performance stops when the oxygen finishes and she loses her consciousness.

“Rhythm 0” (1974)

Performance in which Abramovic was the artist and the object, and the audience was
the performer. In “Rhythm 0” she experience the limits of her own physical and mental
pain, but mostly the limits of people’s violence. Within the performance that lasted for
6 hours, Abramovic allowed the audience to use any of 72 proposed objects towards
her, among which were gun, paint scissors, rose, feather and other things, while she
was staying silent and motionless. As the time was passing the actions of the public
became less innocent, more aggressive and cruel. Finally the audience was divided into
2 parts: those, who were extremely violent, and those who tried to protect Abramovic.
The performance finished after 6 hours because of the increased danger. According to
the words that she wrote in her book “Walk Through Walls: A Memoir”, this was the
most shocking and difficult performance for all her career till now (Abramovic, 2016).

“Rest Energy” (1980)

One of the shortest but most intense performances, based on close relationship and
performed with her life- and art-partner Ulay.

Abramović and Ulay faced each other, aiming an arrow on a tense bow, just inches from
her heart. They placed small microphones on their chests to make audible their
increasingly rapid heartbeats in response to the growing danger
(https://www.theartstory.org/, n.d.).

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“Balkan Baroque” (1997)

This work was an artistic respond to the events that took place in the former Yugoslavia.
Her own political beliefs and shame for the events that happened in her native country
Abramovic expressed through the work, where for six days, four hours a day, she was
sitting in a white dress on the top of a “mountain” from 1500 cow bones, surrounded
by projected picture of her family, trying to wash out from blood every single bone and
singing Balkan songs. The comparison between the inability to scrub away all the blood
and the inability to erase the shame of war is a concept she viewed as having universal
reach (https://www.theartstory.org/, n.d.).

This installation is deeply personal and at the same time national and world-scale.

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 1.3. Zhang Huan (b. 1975)
One of the youngest representatives of the Performance Art, but the pioneer of the
movement within China. His work is a combination of western techniques and eastern
traditions. In this ways he demonstrates that it’s not necessary to deny the cultural
background for creating a contemporary work.

Zhang Huan's work is at times confrontational, visceral and personally dangerous, and
it engages both implicitly and explicitly with problems of overpopulation, cultural
erasure, political repression, poverty, famine, and want. In his performance work Zhang
built on the Western Performance art tradition of task-based performance,
complicating simple tasks and activities through allusion and reference to Eastern
cultural traditions. (https://www.theartstory.org/, n.d.).

“Angel” (1993)

In this work Zhan broke a jar filled with red food coloring over the large white canvas
that was placed on the floor and covered with red “paint” his own body and parts of
the baby-dolls. The red colour was associated with blood and was vividly seen on the
white canvas and around the yard. After trying to reassemble the baby-dolls, he put
them as the trophies.

“Angel” performance had many political association. One of them is a “one-child” law
that was compulsory in China till 2016 and leaded to millions of abortions. Another
association was with communism and Young Pioneers, recognisable by their red ties.

“12 Square Meters” (1994)

For this performance Zhan Huan covered his naked body with fish oil and honey, and
entered a public toilet, where he was sitting for an hour. During this time the insects
completely covered his body and face, but Zhan stayed motionless and calm, it looked
like meditation. After an hour he went out and entered the pond till his body was fully
covered and washed out with water.

This performance occurred as a result of a traumatic memory from childhood which he

recreated intentionally in the performance. In this way he merged his personal
experience with the national and global problem of overpopulation.

“To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain” (1995)

Inspired by the Chinese saying: "Beyond the mountain, there are more mountains", the
performance took place on the top of one of the mountains next to Beijing. Zhan Huan
and 3 other artists took off the cloths and laid down over each other, in this way
creating a mountain peak, surrounded by other mountains.

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This performance is a pure interpretation of Chinese culture (a saying and a mountain
landscape) in western technique (naked bodies in public). One of the ideas reflected by
this performance is that man and nature can become one. Another idea is about the
humility and the natural state of things.

“My America” (1999)

This work reflects the crisis of Zhan Huan after moving to the USA – crisis as a person
who experiences the acclimatization physical and mental, and crisis as an artist that is
not sure about his place in art. In “My America” 56 naked volunteers where standing in
rows and throwing dried pieces of bread at him, while he was sitting, also naked, in the
centre.

This performance highlights the difficulty of assimilation, bulling and humiliation that a
foreigner for the East experiences on the West.

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 1.4. Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929)
A Japanese-American multidisciplinary artist Yayoi Kusama devoted a significant part of
her art career to performances and happening. According to her words, her art path is
representing her life and her mental disease in particular. She is using her hallucinations
and personal traumas throughout different disciplines: painting, sculpture,
photography, installation, performance, conceptual art etc. Thus, her art is healing and
provoking her at the same time, by making her face the fears and phobias she has from
childhood.

“Narcissus Garden” (1966)

“Narcissus Garden” was created and installed during the 33 rd Venice Biennale, without
getting a permission by the officials, but became an outstanding work that was many
time commissioned and reinstalled later. For this performance Kusama arranged 1500
silver balls near the Italian Pavilion, attracting people’s attention by the reflected
surface that reminded of the Greek myth about Narcissus and by her “foreignness” as
she was wearing a traditional Japanese kimono. The installation was protest against the
commercialisation of art on the one hand, and Kusama’s self-promotion, on another.

“Anatomic Explosion on Wall Street” (1968)

This was a 15 min-long performance of a protest-political character against of the war

with Vietnam. A number of naked performers were dancing to the rhythm of bongo
drums, while Kusama was covering their bodies with blue dots. The performance was
stopped by the police.

Social justice was often explored in Kusama’s artwork, and in this context the nudity
stand for peace and love.

“Obliteration Room” (2002)

In the following happening the major role is played by the audience. Invited to home-
like room with white interior that plays the role of canvas, people are given the round
stickers of different colours and sizes, prepared by Kusama, and left free to arrange
them as they want, attaching the stickers to any surface of the interior. As a result, the
room transforms into the explosion of colourful dots.

On the one hand, this work is an idealising version of childhood, as far as it allows
children to disobey to their parents and to act on their own, on the other, it has to do
with Kusama’s need and habit for repetitive actions, and hallucinations.

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 2. Fluxus (1959-1978)
An avant-garde movement, born in Western Europe, started in 1959 and finished in
1978 (https://www.theartstory.org/, n.d.).

Inspired by the performances of Dadaists and Futurists, Fluxus aimed to change not
only the world of art but the whole world as well. Through the statement that art is
unlimited and anyone can do it, the Fluxus artists tried to erase the border between art
and the viewer and to focus on the viewer, involving him into the process and bringing
out the art from the museums to the streets and to everyday lives.

2.1. George Maciunas (1931-1978)

Lithuanian-American curator, performance artist, graphic designer, musician and a
driving force behind the Fluxus movement, the author of the "The First Fluxus
Manifesto" in 1963.

Among other famous works were:”Flux Kits” (1964), “Piano Activities” performance
(1963), time-based and ideological “FluxHouse Co-Operative” (1967), “FluxWedding”
performance (1978).

2.2. Joseph Beuys (1921-1986)

German sculptor and performance artist mostly associated with Conceptual Art and
Fluxus movements (https://www.theartstory.org, n.d.).

He had a very diverse range of works, beginning with more traditional (painting,
sculpture to the process-concentrated and “time-based” action art, exploring the
topics of healing by art, as well as psychological, political and social subjects, using the
materials from everyday life.

The most known works are: “Fat Chair” installation (1964-1985), “How to Explain
Pictures to a Dead Hare” performance (1965), “The Pack” anti-war installation (1969), a
time-base process work “7000 Oaks: City Forestation Instead of City Administration”
(1982-1987).

2.3. Yoko Ono (b. 1933)

Japanese-American Conceptual and Performance artist and musician, "High Priestess
of the Happening" and a pioneer in performance art. She involved a lot the public into
the work completion, providing them with instructions, and rejected the idea of
material object, believing that art must belong to everyone. Among the topic she
explored in her work were themes of gender, cultural identity, race, materialism etc.

During her long career she has created a wide range of outstanding works: instructional
pieces “Painting to Hammer a Nail” (1961) and “Bag Piece” (1964), “Cut Piece”
performance (1964)

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 2.4. Nam June Paik (1938-2006)
Korean-American composer, performer, sculptor, video and digital artist, whose
various experiments with technology leaded him to the new media art. During his
career his mas longing to humanize technology, to bring technology into art and to
create a dialogue between a live person and a particular work.

The works: “Robot K-456” (1964), “TV Budda” (1974), “TV Bra for Living Sculpture”
(1975), “Family of Robot: Baby” (1986), “Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S.,
Alaska, Hawaii” demonstrating the idea of America without borders (1995) and
“Megatron/Matrix” with the idea of the world without borders (1995).

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 3. Installation Art (1970s)
The movement started in 1970s and describes creating artwork in three-dimensional
interior space. Installation has tight relationship with a space as far it is often site-
specific, and with a view, as it is involving him into the dialogue, raising his thoughts,
feelings and emotions.

3.1. Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)

French painter and sculptor, that refused to “belong” to a certain art movement, but
can be considered a “father” of Conceptual art. He leaded the art world far beyond its
limits, challenging the very term of “art” and introducing new genres, such as
Readymade and The Found Object.

Among the famous works by Marcel Duchamp are: “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her
Bachelors, Even, or The Large Glass” (1915-1923), scandal work “Fountain” (1917), “La
Boite-en-Valise (Box in a Suitcase)” which had 24 editions with 69 miniature
reproductions of Duchamp’s works (1935-1941, installation “Etant donnes” (1946-
1966) and “Priere de Toucher (Please Touch)” which highlighted Duchamp’s overlap
with Surrealists.

3.2. Jean Tinguely (1925-1991)

Swiss sculptor and painter that challenged the concept of a static experience of viewing
art. Firstly creating assemblages out of found objects, he came to putting his static
works into motion.

The works: “Metamechanical Sculpture with Tripod” (1954), kinetic artwork

“Metamatic, no. 17” created for Paris biennale (1959), “Homage to New York” (1960) -
one of the most know works, “Stravinsky Fountain” (1983), “Cascade” mixed media
sculpture (1991), “Le Cyclop” (1969-1994) that was a result of collaboration of about
10 outstanding artists.

3.3. Ai Weiwei (b. 1957)

Chinese conceptual artist, that by means of his artworks confesses and defends the
freedom of expression, creating risky works from the political and professional point of
view. Testing the limits of freedom, calling attention to the social issues, Ai Weiwei
builds the bridge between the visual and the social.

The works: “Ton of Tea” installation (2008), “Straight” denouncing installation (2008-
2012), politically sensitive “Sunflower Seeds” (2010) and “He Xei” (2011) installations.

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 3.4. Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967)
Danish-Icelandic sculptor, painter, photographer and designer that through his
artworks makes people think of the way they inhabit the world, and the role they play
in globalization and environmentalism.

Eliasson has become a progressive leader in the kind of creative thinking, transforming
the role of art beyond its simple aesthetic or experiential value and into a powerful tool
for battling complacency.

Among the works: “Ventilator” kinetic installation (1997), “Green River” short-term
landscape intervention (1998), “The weather Project” grand-scale installation (2003),
“New York City Waterfalls” grand-scale temporary installation (2008), “Ice Watch”
Installation in which he explores the relationship between human and nature (2014).

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 4. Arte Povera (1967-1972)
One of the most influential avant-garde movements that appeared in Italy, and literary
means “poor art”. The characteristic feature was a use of common materials, like paper,
rocks, earth etc. Arte Povera was resistant to modernity that according to the artists’
point of view, was erasing the identity, collective memory and tradition. Conceptually
Art Povera can be related to Fluxus art movement and to Assemblage art, with a
difference that Arte Povera artists were interested more in performances and
installations.

4.1. Jannis Kounellis (1936-2017)

A Greek-Italian contemporary artist, a key figure on Arte Povera movement. Many of
his installations were created in old industrial or historical places that had a deep
collective memory. Characteristic materials of his work are elemental materials, like
water, fire, earth, smoke, and “poor” materials, including coal, burlap, wood and other.

History, collective memory, and humanity, combined with his own personal touch and
experiences, are the elements that give his work its intense symbolic air and ecumenical
character (Markoglou, 2019).

Although most of his works are named as Untitled, some installations can be defined
according to the narrative name. Some of these works are: “Untitled (Coffee)” (1989-
1991), “Untitled (Hanging Knife)” (1991), “Untitled (Scissors)” (2004), “Coal Sculpture
with Wall of Coloured Glass” (1990–2005), “Untitled (Hair)” (2004)
(https://www.tate.org.uk, n.d.).

4.2. Michelangelo Pistoletto (b.1933)

Italian sculptor, painter, conceptual, and performance artist, that belongs to Arte
Povera and Conceptual Art movements. In his works he is crossing disciplinary lines,
mixing elements of music, theatre, and installation with other visual art elements.
Trying to dissolve the borders between art and life, he tries to bring art into life and life
into art. At the same time he involves the viewers into interaction not only with the
artwork, but with each other as well.

The works: “Tre ragazze alla balconata” reflective installation (1962-1964), “Quadro da
pranzo (Lunch painting)” (1965), “Venus of the Rags” large-scale and most famous
installation (1974), “Bed” (1976).

4.3. Alighiero Boetti (1940-1994)

Italian Conceptual artist and member of the Arte Povera movement. Famous for a
series of maps and graphical charts of the world that he made of different materials,
including wires and postal stamps. Except of that, he was experimenting a lot with a
material for his sculptural works, bringing together everyday materials like wood,

18
cardboard, and aluminium and installing them in a dense configuration (Alighiero
Boetti: Game Plan, n.d.).

Among the most famous works are: “Untitled (Invitation)” (1966-1967), “Lavoro postale
(permutazione)” (1972), “I sei sensi (The Six Senses)” (1974) – a series of monumental
ballpoint pen drawings, “Map of the World” large-scale embroidery (1989).

4.4. Mario Merz (1925-2003)

Italian artist mostly known for his igloo-installations (overall more than 30) and works
with the use of neon. The igloos were usually made form the “poor” materials, and
created the associations with shelter, warmth and food, returning back to the basic
living. The neon lights, which Merz was implementing in igloos and in other installations
made of simple everyday materials, on the one hand, didn’t correspond to Art Povera
principles because of technological nature, but on the other hand, they were a result
of Merz’s curiosity about energy transmission from the organic to the inorganic.

Among his famous works: “Che Fare” (1968-1973), “Giap's Igloo” installation (1968),
“Places with No Street” igloo installation (1987), “Coccodrillo con progressione di
fibonacci, no.1-55” (1990).

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 5. Land Art, or Earth Art (1960-s)
Art movement that appeared in America and was influenced mostly by Conceptual Art,
Minimalism and Arte Povera. Land Art uses the natural landscape to create site-specific
sculptures, structures and art forms, and local natural materials like water, soil, stones
and other. Land Art challenged the traditional definition of art, bringing it out of
museums and making it impossible to be bought or sold.

5.1. Robert Smithson (1938-1973)

American sculptor and writer that inspired the whole generation of young artists that
emerged in the 1960s. Having started as a sculptor, soon he expanded his works out of
the galleries into the landscape. He was interested in use of industrial materials and
relationship between the art object and the space around it, and he loved confusing
the viewer’s understanding of the artwork in different ways.

The works: “Asphalt Rundown” – his first land art work (1969), the famous “Spiral Jetty”
(1970), and “Amarillo Ramp” – in the construction of which he didn’t actually take part
because of tragic death (1973).

5.2. Agnes Denes (b. 1931)

Hungarian-American environmental artist and writer that was far ahead of her time
when she chose the land and nature to be a primary medium of her work in 1960s.
Agnes Denes prefer not to interfere into the natural landscape in the meaning of
disturbing, but improving the natural landscape. That’s why lots of her works have to
do with seeding and planting.

She also went beyond the traditional understanding of the nature-human relationship.
She believed that human interference must be transformed into progressive human
attention and forward-thinking interaction (Agnes Denes, n.d.).

The works: “Rice/Tree/Burial with Time Capsule” (1968), “Wheatfield - A Confrontation”

– the most iconic work (1982), “Tree Mountain - A Living Time Capsule” that stretches
far to the future (1991-1996), “The Crystal Fort/Glass Fortress” (2010-now).

5.3. Christo (1935-2020) and Jean Claude (1935-2009)

A couple of Bulgarian-American and French-American conceptual artists, sculptors and
photographers. While other land artists tried to blur the line between nature and art,
Christo and Jeanne-Claude developed and emphasized the contrast between man-
made creation and organic landscape characteristics. Creating monumentally-scaled
sculptures and installations, they made a viewer look and understand the location in
different way from aesthetic, energetic and contextual point of view.

The works: “Wall of Oil Barrels - Rideau de Fer (The Iron Curtain)” (1961-1962),
“Wrapped Coast” (1968-1969), “Valley Curtain” – 28 hours-long installation (1975),
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“The Umbrellas”, that was installed simultaneously in Tokyo and Los Angeles (1984-
1991), “The Gates” (1979-2005).

5.4. Andy Goldsworthy (b.1956)

British sculptor, photographer and land-art artist that made a nature his co-worker. In
his works he uses natural organic materials and forms which he rearranges in space,
concentrates on the process, ephemerality and temporality of art and life, saying that
nothing is eternal. His work is influenced by a Minimalistic Aesthetics, while his
approach is based on the life cycle. With time his works fade away and return back to
the nature, where they have come from.

The works: “Stones sinking in sand” (1976, Morecambe Bay, Lancashire), “Red Leaf
Patch” (1983, Cumbria), “Hole” (1984, Serpentine Gallery), “Icicle Star” (1987 Penpont,
Dumfriesshire), “Storm King Wall” (1997-1998), a very poetical work “Moonlit Path”
(2002), “Rain Shadow” (2010, Times Square).

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 6. Photography (1960s)
Postmodern Photography Art is very diverse. Some movements that started at the end
of 19th and in the beginning of 20th century continued developing in postmodernist
period. These are: Documentary Photography, Photojournalism Art, Fashion
Photography, Street Photography and Straight Photography.

Although most of artists-photographers were not limited by one or two movements

and styles, in this or that way they were associated with some particular ones.

Documentary Photography of postmodernist period was represented by such artists as:

Robert Frank (b.1924), Lee Friedlander (b.1934), Nan Goldin (b.1953), Sebastião
Salgado (b.1944).

In Photojournalism Art such there were working: Josef Koudelka (b.1938), Hector
Rondón Lovera (1933-1984), James Natchwey (b.1948).

Outstanding works in Fashion photography were made by Irving Penn (1917-2009),

Richard Avedon (1923-2004), Helmut Newton (1920-2004), Annie Leibovitz (b.1949).

In Street Photography there were working: Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), Joel

Meyerowitz (b.1938), Helen Levitt (1913-2009).

Artists, working in Straight Photography were: André Kertész (1894-1985), Robert

Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), Aaron Siskind (1903-1991).

6.1. Helmut Newton (1920-2004)

One of the greatest photographers of 20th century, and the one who changed fashion
photography. He brought his model out of the studios to the streets, made them more
provocative and free, explored their sexuality and liberation in his art.

Some of the outstanding works: “Fashion shoot for Australian Wool Board” (1959
Melbourne, Australia), “Elsa Peretti in Halston Bunny Costume” (1975, New York),
“David Lynch and Isabella Rossellini” (1988), “Margaret Thatcher” (1991), “X-Ray” (1991,
Van Cleef & Arpels, French Vogue).

6.2. Josef Koudelka (b.1938)

Czech-french photographer, working mostly in Documentary and Street Photography.
Koudelka is famous for his photo-books about gypsies in Europe and documentary
picture of the historical events in Czechoslovakia in 1968, where he explores departure,
conflict, drama, loss. Later he concentrates on panoramic format that allows him better
to catch the spatial connection between man and nature.

He uses photography to distill and visualize human values that have shaped our current
human condition.

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Among his famous works: “CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Slovakia. Zehra. 1967. Gypsies” (1967),
“Invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in front of the radio headquarters” (1968), “The Ore
Mountains, Czech Republic” (1993), “Gilo Settlement, Israel” (2008).

6.3. Helen Levitt (1913-2009)

American photographer and filmmaker, a pioneer of Street Photography, famous for
her spontaneous and powerful picture of working-class neighbourhoods of New York
City, capturing the life as she found it.

Most of Levitt's images and films depict people absorbed in their daily life, seemingly
unaware that their photo was being taken. This became an integral aspect to future
Street Photographers, who sought to capture un-posed and authentic moments from
real life (The Art Story/Helen Levitt, n.d.).

Among the works: “New York” (1959), “New York” (1971), “New York” (1980) and many
other.

6.4. Annie Leibovitz (b.1949)

American photographer, one of the most famous and demanded nowadays, known for
her portrait works and the ability to bridge commercial and fine art. Leibovitz is famous
for her ability to exaggerate, to capture the details and the moment itself, to critique
and celebrate the “object” of her work (which is usually a circle of celebrities).

The works: “Untitled (Guards rolling up carpet after Nixon)” (1974), “Mick Jagger,
Buffalo, NY” (1975), “Yoko Ono; John Lennon” (Rolling Stone cover, 1981), “Keith
Haring” (1987), “Demi Moore” (1990), “Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace”
(2007), “Untitled” (2017 Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue cover).

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 7. Photorealism (early 1960s)
A movement that started in the USA and wouldn’t be possible without a Photography
Art. Also known as Hyperrealism, or Superrealism, this art movement attracted a wide
audience. The works of photorealistic artists were based upon photographs, and not
on direct observation; technique played more important role then contest; and, finally,
process and planning of the artwork substituted improvisation and freedom of art.

7.1. Chuck Close (1940)

American painter and photographer, well-known for his portrait works. Shifting
between techniques and interests, like oil, acrylic painting, photography, mezzotint
printing and other media, allowed him to stay up-to-date, despite of the fact that
original photorealistic movement has been already left in the history.

Important works: “Big Nude” (1967), “Big Self-Portrait” (1967-1968), “Keith/Mezzotint”

(1972), “Fanny/Fingerpainting” (1985), “Andres” (2006).

7.2. Richard Estes (b.1932)

American painter, who was working in realistic and hyperrealistic styles. He always tried
to use multiple photo-pictures for his works, combining them in order to find the best
composition. A characteristic feature of his works were multiple focal points, that
provided his paintings with illusion of depth.

The works: “Bus with Reflection of the Flatiron Building” (1966-1967), “Murano Glass,
Venice” (1976), “Sunday Afternoon in the Park” (1989), “The Plaza” (1991), “Water Taxi,
Mount Desert” (1999), “Antarctica” (2007).

7.3. Audrey Flack (b.1930)

American painter and sculptor. Starting her career with large-scale abstraction
paintings she turned to series of self-portraits and moved to photorealism.

She also produced Vanitas works - traditionally still-life paintings featuring religious and
moral symbolism - through which she brought iconic photographic images from the
past into new relationships with everyday perishables and chattels (The Art Story/Flack
Audrey, n.d.).

The works: “Kennedy Motorcade” (1964), “Marilyn” (1977), “World War II” (1977-1978).

7.4. Ralph Goings (b.1928)

American painter, who was known for his photorealistic paintings of everyday life
scenes created in a poetic manner. He created his a niche for himself in photorealistic
art by exploring a working-class of America, their routine, habits, culture of life. He was
mostly using a single picture for his work.

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Important works: “American Salad” (1966), “McDonald's Pickup” (1970), “Two
Waitresses - Afternoon Break” (1986), “Shanna's Pickup” (1990), “Donut” (1995).

8. Video art (60s)

A movement and a genre in contemporary that flourished in 60s as single art, a part of
installation or a combination with other media (architecture, design, sculpture, digital
art later etc.). Challenging the norms of the traditional art, it opened a range of new
opportunities, allowing many new artists to enter the art world.

The pioneers of video art as a genre are usually considered to be the Korean musician,
performance artist and sculptor Nam June Paik (1932-2006), and Andy Warhol (1928-
87) the leader of the Pop-Art movement. (Art Encyclopedia/Video Art, n.d.).

8.1. Andy Warhol (1928-87)

Known as a successful graphic designer, commercial illustrator and a bright
representative of Pop-Art movement, he was also one of the first to produce a number
of video works. During his career he made more than 650 films on a wide range of
subjects. Characteristic feature of his films is repetition.

Among his works are: a multi-image silk-screen work “Twenty Merlines” 1962), “Sleep”
(1963), “Empire” (1964), “Chelsea girls” (1966) that consists of two films projected
simultaneously.

8.2. Joan Jonas (b.1936)

American performance artist, film maker, and installation artist that is difficult to be
defined within one or even few styles and media. In her works she opens her multi-
layered, imaginative, complex world, incorporating many disciplines simultaneously,
noise, dance, drawing, sound, even travelling. Her video works are often parts of her
performances. Through her art she explores her identity, the relationship between man
and animals, gender equality, culture rituals, social topic etc.

Important works: “Organic Honey's Video Telepathy” (1972) – her first video work and
one of many, where she investigates female identity, “My New Theatre 1: Tap Dancing”
(1997), projected at the “theatre box” - a long wooden rectangular structure, which
stands on two sets of wooden legs, “Reanimation” (2010) – a multi-layered complex
work, “Stream or River, Flight or Pattern” (2016-2017) – a work inspired by travelling.

8.3. Matthew Barney (b.1967)

American sculptor, photographer, film director, and performance artist, known for
large-scale film projects. His works blend Performance Art and Video Art and
contextually often concern the topic of physical movement, body and sexuality.

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Through his art, he has related this to his desire to obliterate the cultural tensions
between the male and female sexes. Though gender determination is a dominant
theme in contemporary art, Barney's work has allowed his viewer to search beyond the
fixed parameters of liberal politics and to allow for a mediation on the relationship
between sexual desire, self-discipline, and artistic productivity (The Art Story/Barney
Matthew, n.d.).

The works: “Drawing Restraint 2” (1988) – a mix of drawing, photography and video-
performance that Barney began yet studying in the university, “Drawing Restraint”
(1993) that concerns the topic of masculinity, desire and discipline, “The Cremaster
Cycle” (1994-2002) – a work that consists of non-chronological five films and explores
complex biological, artistic, geological, and geographical themes, “River of Fundament”
(2007-2014) – a six-hour film, which takes the form of a three-act opera and deals with
history, mythology, death and sexuality.

8.4. Jack Goldstein (1945-2003)

American filmmaker, performance artist, sound artist, and painter, whose experimental
and consequential work was fully recognized only few years before his death and
mainly after. His work, made on the crossroad of performance, film, painting, and
writing, was challenging and provocative, often criticizing the existing visual culture and
interaction with it.

The works: the ironic “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer” (1975), “Two Fencers” (1976), “The
Jump” (1978) – a 26-second short film showing the animated figure and many other.

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 9. Post-Minimalism (started in 1966)
Post-Minimalism serves to unite a wide range of artists, referring to such tendencies as
Conceptual Art, Body Art, Performance, Land Art, Process Art. But the ideas
incorporated into this movement were different, sometimes even opposite. Some
artists were interested in creating abstract impersonal objects but with a strong
material presence, while others wanted to make art more emotional, personal and
expressive. Some artists tried to take the art out of the galleries and to work in the new
environment, exploring a relationship between artwork and a site. This is actually how
land art got distinguished, bringing the artwork to the natural environment.

9.1. Eva Hesse (1936-1970)

German-American artist. Having started as abstract painter and commercial designer,

she continued with making experiment with materials, trying “found”, every day and
industrial materials, such as rope, fiberglass, string and other. By means of minimum
materials she managed to create a wide range of associations. Her works are poetic,
abstract and free of any social-political context.

Important works: a playful work “Ringaround Arosie” (1965), “Hang Up” (1966) that
symbolised Eva’s transition from 2D to 3D works, “Metronomic Irregularity II” (1966),
“Accession II” (1966-1967), “Repetition Nineteen III” (1968).

9.2. Richard Serra (b.1938)

American sculptor and video artist, whose work refers to Minimalism and Post-
Minimalism movements. Overlapping art genres, learning from contemporary
musicians, choreographers and video-maker, and getting inspired by “somatic”
themes, he creates the works that at the same time are painting, sculptures, pieces of
architecture, industrial pieces. Serra believes that art should participate in the life of
the society and not be closed within the museums. Thus, he creates site-specific large-
scale metal sculptures for municipal parks, plazas, and other city sites where the
artworks can interact with the viewers, entering their everyday routines.

The works: “Gutter Corner Splash: Late Shift” (1969-1995), “One Ton Prop” (House of
Cards) (1969), “Tilted Arc” (1981), “Snake” (1994-1997), “Torqued Ellipse” (1996).

9.3. Richard Long (b.1945)

This British sculptor and artist was equally involved into Land Art, Conceptual Art and
Post-Minimalism art movements. He got inspiration from his walks on nature,
comparing walking down the road with his human scale and senses. For his artworks,
whether they were site-specific or museum-based, Richard Long used elemental and
natural materials, such as stone, soil, stick etc, he refused to create long-lasting
artworks, challenging the definition of art as permanent. In this philosophy aspect he
was close with Andy Goldsworthy.
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The works: “Line Made by Walking” (1967) – where he transformed the landscape into
canvas, “River Avon Mud Circle” (1982) which expresses the balance of order and
disorder simultaneously, “Red Slate Circle” (1988) made of the red rocks on the gallery
floor, “Waterfall Line” (2000), “Waterlines” (2003).

9.4. Sol LeWitt (1927-2007)

American conceptual artist and painter, who believed that the idea can already be the
art without a compulsory involvement of the artist into the implementation, but
delegating it to others, meaning the artwork doesn’t have to be material in order to be
considered art. LeWitt was one of the leading figures in Conceptual art, but also
overlapping it with some other movements, like Post-Minimalism. He was interested in
intellectual, pragmatic art. He didn’t move to industrial materials like minimalists, he
was working with traditional canvas, wood, paint etc. Instead, he concentrated on the
concept.

The works: “Wall Structure Blue” painting (1962), “Standing Open Structure Black”
(1964) – work that became the elemental component for his other works, “Serial
Project #1 (ABCD)” (1960), “Wall Drawing #16” (1969), “Buried Cube Containing an
Object of Importance but Little Value” (1968) – a conceptual piece, this work was
produced shortly following the publication of LeWitt's 1968 manifesto describing the
new Conceptual art movement.

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 10. Feminist Art (1970s)
Movement that focused on rewriting the art history and re-establishing the world of
art concerning such aspects as gender equality, woman rights, minority rights etc.
Feminist artists aim was to transform the stereotypes, creating art spaces and
possibilities that did not exist before for women, in other words, promoting the visibility
of female artists in within the art market.

Feminist artists often chose alternative materials, or those that were less popular
among the male artists, such as textile, performance or video, aiming in this way to
expand a range of possibilities for female artists.

10.1. Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010)

French-American sculptor that work on the crossroads of such movements as Feminist
Art, Surrealism, Installation, Assemblage, Body Art. Among the topics she was exploring
in her art were unconscious sexual desire and the body. She was often using the myths,
archetypes, symbolism and fairy tales as a metaphorical language in her works, through
which she was overcoming also her personal psychological traumas from childhood.
Louise Bourgeois used to work in a wide range of media and techniques, mixing their
“gender” belonging and experimenting with associations.

Among the famous works are: “The Blind Leading the Blind (1947-1949)” – one of the
early works, “Femme Volage (Fickle Woman)” (1951) – a part of Bourgeois's
“Personnages” series, made between 1945 and 1955, that includes approximately 80
standing sculptures touching on the autobiographical themes that occupied Bourgeois
throughout her career (The Art Story/Bourgeois Louise/Artworks, n.d.); “Forêt (Night
Garden)” (1953) – a work from the same series, “The Destruction of the Father”
installation (1973), “Maman” (1999) – a spider-sculpture that was an ode to her
mother, “Spiral Woman” (2003).

10.2. Judy Chicago (b.1939)

American painter, sculptor, and installation artist, a pioneer of Feminist Art that called
attention to the underestimated women artists’ place in the art world. She focused on
the female subject and contextually and in media. This, Chicago was working mainly
with craft-based forms of art: needle work, ceramic decoration, glass work etc. Besides
with her colleagues-artists she cofounded several women-artists training programs
that, except of broadening women’ visibility in contemporary art, were focused on
raising their identity, experience, practice and consciousness.

The works: “Domes” (1968) – one of the early works where Chicago's signature stylistic
motif first appeared (the triangle), “Through the Flower” (1973) that later served the
cover for her autobiography and the name for a feminist organisation she founded in
1978, “The Dinner Party” (1979) – one of the most famous works, a monumental

29
installation symbolizing forgotten female achievements, “Hatching the Universal Egg”
(1984) – representing a womanhood, “Driving the World to Destruction” (1985),
“Imbalance of Power” (1991) – a work comes from “The Holocaust Project: From
Darkness to Light” (1985–93).

10.3. Miriam Schapiro (1923-2015)

American painter, sculptor, printmaker and feminist activist that was famous for
incorporating underrated “low” arts, such as embroidery, sewing and other, into her
“femmages” and assemblages. She returned back decorative and traditionally feminine
elements of abstract art-making as a contrast to male-dominated movements and
tendencies, fighting against the artistic snobbery and placing the arts that were
considered to be just a “woman work” alongside the contemporary fine art.

The works: “Beast Land and Plenty” (1957) – a large-scale painting in Abstract-
Expressionism style, “Big Ox No. 2” painting (1968) that was made on the base of
computer-generated images, “Dollhouse” (1972) a part of the collaborative art
installation “Womanhouse” made with Judy Chicago and 21 students of the Feminist
Art Program, “Anatomy of a Kimono” (1976) – a monumental installation of ten panels,
a large-scale collage of various “feminine” media, “Mother Russia” (1994) – a work that
championed female artists from Russia and reminded of the artistic roots of Miriam
Schapiro herself.

10.4. Barbara Kruger (b.1945)

American designer, graphic artist, and photographer. Associated with postmodern
Feminist art as well as Conceptual art, Kruger directly communicates with a viewer
through her art. A sharp and unexpected synthesis of image and text on political, social,
gender, cultural and other topics, catches viewer’s attention and involves into the
dialogue. The best known for her silkscreen prints where she placed a direct and
concise caption across the surface of a found photograph, she was also working with
site-specific installations, video and sound art. A separate but not less important niche
occupied by Kruger - is magazine design. Her signature is red, black, and white palette.

Important works: “Untitled (You invest in the divinity of the masterpiece)” (1982),
“Untitled (Your body is a battleground)” (1989) – a feminism work of a large social and
cultural response, “Installation view of self-titled solo exhibition at Mary Boone Gallery,
NYC” (1991) - her first site-specific installation, intended to activate the viewer’s
emotions, “Picture This” (1994-1997) - site-specific landscape installation, “Power
Pleasure Desire Disgust” (1997) multimedia installation.

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 11. Street Art and Graffiti (1967)
Art movement that bloomed in the USA in 1970s as an opposition to the system of laws,
property, ownership etc. Street artists believed that art shouldn’t be hidden in the
private collections and museums, it should be democratic and accessible for all people,
regardless of age, gender, race, economic status). To be sure that the art will be seen,
artists used a “public canvas”: buildings, bridges, sidewalks, walls and other surfaces of
public places. Techniques being used are: spray painting, stencils, wheat paste posters,
and stickers.

The main feature of street art is ephemerality. Because of being not legal, it’s always in
a risk to be removed. Besides, no one can buy and own. But it is an independent art
that gives an absolute freedom for the artists to express their opinion on all the possible
topics, from environmental to political issues.

11.1. Banksy (1973-1974)

British graffiti artist, political activist, and film director, one of the world’s most
recognised artists, who creates powerful street art with resonant social, political, and
humanist messages, and stays anonymous.

Banksy’s style is universally familiar, founded on a signature stencil aesthetic that has
elevated him from mere man with a spray can to a highly creative artist in his own right.
He is responsible for catapulting Street Art into the mainstream as a viable form of art
(The Art Story/Banksy, n.d.).

Some of the works: “Kissing Coppers” spray painting (2004), “Rage, the Flower Thrower”
stencil and spray painting made in Jerusalem (2005), “Napalm Girl” (2004-2005) – a
powerful work, for which Banksy has taken a pre-existing image of a girl Kim Phuc
fleeing from a napalm attack on her village in Vietnam in 1972 (photographer Nick Ut),
“Unwelcome Intervention” placed on the Israeli-Palestinian West Bank barrier wall
(2005), “Mona Lisa Bazooka” (2007-2008) spray paint made in London, “Hammer Boy”
(2013) – a London-located piece, in which Banksy uses the environment as a part of the
artwork.

11.2. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)

American street artist, one of the celebrated painters of the Neo-Expressionism art
movement. His work was a mix of different styles and techniques, reflecting his African-
Latin origin through a visual vocabulary of signs, symbols, and figures.

His artworks are full of contrasts, exploring the difference between rich and poor, black
and white, inside and outside experience. After moving from the street to the gallery
his art developed rapidly in scale, scope, and ambition (The Art Story/Basquiat Jean
Michel, n.d.).

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The works: “SAMO Graffiti” black spray graffiti (1980), “Untitled (Skull)” (1981) that
became a world-weary icon of the displaced Puerto-Rican and Haitian immigrant
Basquiat seemed to think himself, “Flexible” (1982) that features two of Basquiat's most
famous motifs: the griot and the venerable crown, “Arm and Hammer II” (1985) -
collaborative work with Andy Warhol, “Ten Punching Bags (Last Supper)” (1986-1987) –
another collaboration work with Andy Warhol, “Riding with Death” (1988) – on of the
final paintings, full of symbolism.

11.3. Keith Haring (1958-1990)

American graffiti artist, sculptor, and muralist, who managed to bring “low” art, pop art
and non-art elements into “high” art spaces of museums and galleries (The Art
Story/Haring Keith, n.d.).

He “borrowed” the bright vibrant colours and cartoony elements from self-taught
street artists, and created artworks on different social topics. His characteristic features
– clean lines and simplicity made his works stand out of more expressionistic
approaches of his contemporaries.

The works: “Untitled” (1982) – a work with a heart-love motif that became his
signature, “Free South Africa” (1985), “Untitled” (1985) – a papier mache elephant
sculpture painted with acrylics, “Crack is Wack” (1986) public monochrome mural,
“Rebel with Many Causes” (1989) - an example of Haring's recurring theme of “hear no
evil, see no evil, speak no evil”, “Tuttomondo” (1989) – a mural in Pisa.

11.4. Shepard Fairey (b.1970)

American street artist, graphic designer, illustrator and activist, whoso work is
dedicated mostly to political and environmental topics. His style could be defined as a
mix of Constructivism with its geometric lines and shapes, and Pop Art. By his works he
intends to stimulate viewer’s curiosity, make people think of environment and other
important issues, make them interpret his work according to their experience and
knowledge.

The works: “Andre The Giant has a Posse” (1989) – the work that was created “as a
joke”, “Obey Giant” (1998), “Hope” (2008) – a work with presidential candidate Barack
Obama's face rendered in the colours of America flag, “Make Art Not War” (2014) -
large mural combines a number of Fairey's iconic designs, “Earth Crisis” (2015) –
installation created at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

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 12. Neo-Expressionism (1970s – 1990s)
Art moment that was a post-modern “revival” of classic Expressionism, started by
German artist Georg Baselitz in 1970, and developed by many other artists around the
world, especially in the USA. It was a return to the emotional and sensual painting, with
expressive brushwork and intense colours, usually large scale and with emphatic
texture, created on a variety of topics: cultural, mythological, historical, erotic etc.

12.1. Georg Baselitz (b. 1938)

German painter, printmaker, and sculptor that revived German Expressionism after the
World War II and gave an example for other artists who worked the similar style.
Baselitz returned the figure in the centre of the painting, as well as some romantic
spirit. In his work he also tried to revive a German national identity, trying to reconnect
with a style and tradition denounced by the Nazis.

The works: “Die grobe Nacht im Eimer (Big Night down the Drain)” (1963) – the painting
is quite controversial and shocking, but Baselitz believed that ugliness is necessary for
the fight with violence of the 20th century, “Rebel” (1965) – one of his early portraits,
“Der Wald auf dem Kopf (The Wood On Its Head)“ (1969) – the first of his pictures where
he invert the subject upside down, “Adieu” (1982), “Dresdner Frauen-Karla” (1990) -
one of a series of eleven monumental sculptural busts of women which commemorate
the destruction of Dresden at the end of World War II.

12.2. Eric Fischl (b.1945)

American painter and sculptor, a representative of Neo-Expressionism movements,
whose artistic rule was the phrase "never let the unspeakable also be the unshowable".
Many of his works have an element of disaster or taboo. The viewer feels at least
uncomfortable, frustrated. Through his works Eric Fischl overcomes his own internal
conflicts, childhood traumas, thus, bringing personal things on public level, on the one
hand, and letting the viewer to find his place in the world he paints, on the other.

The works: “Bayonne” (1985) – a painting in which Fischl gives control to the viewer,
making him responsible for deciding the roles and relationship of the subjects,
“Sleepwalker” (1979) – a painting were a sexually-tinged banality is blended with
common human foibles, “Bad Boy” (1981) – a painting that makes more questions and
suggestions than gives the answers, “A Visit to / A Visit From / The Island” (1983) in
which Fischl highlights the irony of island resorts, “The Clemente Family” (2005) – a
painting in which he invites the viewer to see the subjects by the photographer eyes.

12.3. Anselm Kiefer (b.1945)

German painter, sculptor, photographer, and installation artist, well known for the
historical works, in particular on the topic of the World War II and Holocaust. He uses
many symbolic elements in his work that are meant to evoke the viewer’s emotions.
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Parallel with history, his second major theme is myths. Probably because of his deep
interest on history and mythology, a very often element in his works is a book, that
represents knowledge and civilization.

Some of the works: “Occupations” (1969) - a series of photographic self-portraits on

the topic of Nazi Germany, “Deutschlands Geisteshelden (German Spiritual Heroes)”
(1973) – a painting made for Venice Biennale, “Varus” (1976) – a painting with a forest
subject that was an often theme in his paintings, reflecting his statement "our stories
begin in the forest", “Athanor” (1983-1984) – a painting in which Kiefer brings together
the themes of alchemy and the Holocaust, “The High Priestess/Zweistromland (Land of
Two Rivers)” (1985-1989) – a multilayered symbolic installation, “Shevirat Ha-Kelim or
Breaking of the Vessels” (1990) – one more installation with a book subject, “Bohemia
Lies by the Sea” (1996) – a large-scale painting with a rich symbolic meaning.

12.4. Francesco Clemente (b.1952)

Italian painter and mixed-media artist that by means of Neo-Expressionist technique
explores an image of modern people with their psychological problems, life priorities,
spirit values. In his works he blended his interests in music, literature and
cinematography with philosophical ideas, symbols, myths and rituals from other
cultures. Clemente explores the identity, but not national, as Kiefer, for example, but
personal, individual identity, challenging the viewer’s understanding of “ego” and
“self”.

The works: “Map of What is Effortless” (1978) - an early watercolour piece that reflects
the influence of conceptual art on Clemente’s work, “Water and Wine” (1981) that is
created under the Surrealistic and Indian culture influences, “Alba” (1997) – a portrait
of his wife made in a kind of “floating” style, “Scissors and Butterflies” (1999) – a
painting with a main focus on a conflict of metamorphoses: between man and animal,
feminine and masculine, violent and sexual.

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 13. Young British Artists (late 1980s)
A group of artists that appeared in GB in the late 1980s and is known for participation
in two shocking exhibitions: Freeze (1988) and Sensation (1997). Many of YBA artists
are the graduates of Fine Arts department at Goldsmiths College, which has abandoned
the traditional artistic training in favor of mixed studios. This is probably the reason of
such a freedom and shocking artistic approach of YBA. The break the distinctions
between “high” and “low” art through the rejection of fine art materials, and going
beyond the limits that are considered to be appropriate.

13.1. Damien Hirst (b.1965)

British sculptor and painter who grabbed the attention of public and critics by
controversial style of his artwork. Using death as the subject of his works, he highlights
it with the most “screaming” way, using bloody bodies, dead animals and creating visual
spectacles. Hirst’s works are satirical, conflicting, provoking, they are what they are, but
they don’t leave the viewer indifferent for sure.

Some of the works: “With Dead Head” (1991), where Hirst makes a picture with a
severed head in a morgue, “In and Out of Love (White Paintings and Live Butterflies)”
(1991) – a work with pupas of butterflies, “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the
Mind of Someone Living” (1991) - installation with a tiger shark preserved in
formaldehyde, “Abalone Acetone Powder” (1991) from the series of “Pharmaceutical
Paintings”, “Pharmacy” installation (1992) that relates to his “Pharmaceutical Paintings”
as well, “Mother and Child (Divided)” (1993) – a glass sculpture that consisted of 4 parts
– each was a bisected half of a cow and a calf, “For the Love of God” (2007) – a sculpture
of 18th century human skull made of platinum and diamonds.

13.2. Tracey Emin (b.1963)

British sculptor, photographer, painter, and conceptual artist, known for her deeply
personal works in which she expresses her own experience related to the topics of
gender, rape, alcoholism, humiliation and other. Her main medium – is her body which
she uses in performances and self-portraits. She rejected and broke the stereotype of
a typical English woman, making art that is not “convenient” but honest.

The works: “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-95” (1995) – installation about
general human intimacy, “Why I Never Became a Dancer” (1995) – a video work based
on the story from her biography with a topic of double people’s standards, “My Bed”
(1999) – installation that relates to the topic of Emin’s depression, “To Meet My Past”
(2002) – one more installation with a bed, but of a different character and style, using
embroidery and applique techniques, “You Forgot to Kiss my Soul” (2007) - installation
with neon lights made in “handwriting style” and therefore giving an impression of
something personal.

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 13.3. Sarah Lucas (b.1962)
British sculptor, photographer, installation and performance artist, one of the
contributors to YBA movement. In her works she uses the objects of everyday use –
household items, furniture, food. Focused on the gender topic and sexuality, she
usually makes her sculptures “headless”, with a gender being defined by their genitals
(except of her self-portraits). Her works are sarcastic and often absurd, but with a sense
of humour and rich associations.

The works: “Eating a Banana” (1990) – an androgynous looking self-portrait with an

accent on masculinity and sexual context, “Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab” (1992) - a
metaphorical sculpture symbolizing a nude woman, “Au Naturel” (1994) – an
associative sculpture with a mattress and items on it, representing the genitals, “Bunny
Gets Snookered” (1997) – a work form a series of “Bunny sculptures” placed on and
around a full size snooker table, “Nud 2” sculpture (2009), originally made of a pair of
old tights and twisted in a limb, “Maradona” (2015) – one of the sculpture presented
at Venice Biennale within “I Scream Daddio” exhibition

13.4. Rachel Whiteread (b.1963)

British sculptor, the first woman to win the Turner Prize. She was the first artist ever to
make the air that surrounds the sculpture the subject of her work. In her works Rachel
Whiteread was exploring the theme of loss and memory, presence and absence,
challenging the tradition understanding of sculpture.

The works: “Closet” (1988) – the inside part of the wardrobe cast in plaster and covered
with black felt, “Untitled (Torso)” (1991) – a small-scale casted work that refers to a
body, “Ghost” (1990) – one of her significant works, a casting of a part of the domestic
interior in Minimalistic style, “Untitled (House)” (1993) – the grandest and the most
ambitious project in which Whiteread created a concrete cast of the three-storey house
interior, “Holocaust Memorial” (1995-2000) – a public sculpture, memorial to the
victims of the holocaust that is made as an inside-out library.

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 14. Neo-Pop Art (late 1980s)
A movement that appeared in America at the end of 1980s, was initiated by Jeff Koons
and supported by other artists. Neo-Pop Art ideas challenged the term of art, taking
inspiration from everyday objects like toys, cartoon characters, party decorations. Neo-
Pop artists explore the relationship between the material object and the consumer, in
a personal and global scales.

14.1. Jeff Koons (b.1955)

American painter, illustrator, sculptor, most of all famous for a series of oversized
Balloon Dog sculptures. Made of polished mirror material, the sculptures aim to attract
the viewer and make him a part of the artwork through reflection. On the one hand,
these sculptures evoke childhood memories and are “positive” as the artist himself
describes them, on the other hand, they symbolise some sexuality, luxury and beauty.

The works: “New Hoover Convertibles” (1984) – one of his early works where he
examines everyday objects (in this case a vacuum cleaner), “Hennessy, The Civilized
Way To Lay Down the Law” (1986) - a work from “Luxury and Degradation” series in
which Jeff Koons explores the topic of success with its perspectives and dangers,
“Balloon Flower (Red)” (1995-1999) – one of his first “balloon” works, “Play-Doh” (1994-
2014) – one of the most complex sculptures in Koons' “Celebration series” that has a
nostalgic effect on a certain generation of viewers, “Seated Ballerina” (2017) based on
a small porcelain figurine by the Ukrainian artist, Oksana Zhnikrup, reflecting the topic
of industrial production.

14.2. Martin Kippenberger (1953-1997)

German painter, sculptor, photographer, installation artist that worked across many
mediums and according to his words “didn’t have a style”, but his works recall the spirit
of early Dadaism and playful Pop Art that was became known as Neo-Pop Art. In his
artworks he often used found objects and believed that art shouldn’t be separated from
everyday life.

The works: “Capri by Night” (1982) – installation which is an example of Kippenberger’s

obsession to transform ordinary everyday things into art, “Zuerst die Füße (Feet First)”
(1990) – a coloured sculpture of a toy crucified on the cross, “Broken Kilometer” (1990),
“Heavy Burschi” (1991), “The Happy End of Franz Kafka's Amerika” (1994) – a complex
large-scale installation.

14.3. Takashi Murakami (b.1962)

Japanese painter, sculptor, installation artist, curator, art critic, and cultural
entrepreneur. Famous for his bright-coloured and cheerful works in Japanese Neo-Pop
style, Takashi Murakami is compared to Andy Warhol in his art & business approach. In
his factories he’s making and duplicating art that costs thousands of dollars next to the
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works that cost just a few, thus, erasing the line between “high” and “low” art, as well
as the illusion of supremacy and advantage in the art world. His artworks are
thematically based on his early involvement into Japanese subculture of otaku that was
fond of anime, manga and the concept of kawaii (all things "cute").

The works: “Hiropon” (1997) - sculpture of a sexualised anime-inspired female figure,

“Super Nova” (1999) – a painting made in a Superflat style (without perspective points),
“Wink” (2001) – giant bubble sculptures created for Grand Central Station in New York
City, “Eye Love SUPERFLAT” (2006) – a work made in Superflat style for Luis Vuitton
brand, “The 500 Arhats” (2012) – a large-scale painting with the Chinese “guardians”,
inspired by Japanese legend about 500 Buddhist monks.

14.4. Yoshitomo Nara (b.1959)

Japanese painter, sculptor, and illustrator working across such movements as:
Superflat, Neo-Pop Art, Ukiyo-e Japanese Woodblock Prints, Japonism. In his works he
uses cartoon-like images to express complex childhood emotions, conflicts and fears
through one personage. His works are often associated with anime and manga, but he
explores a much wider philosophy than that. Except of Superflat art Yoshitomo Nara is
working in Installation Art and Sculpture.

The works: “The Girl with the Knife in Her Hand” (1991) – a flat, two-dimensional
painting depicting child with wide-opened eyes and rosy cheeks that have become his
signature, “Untitled (Nobody's Fool)” (1998), “Knife Behind Back” (2000) – a painting
that set the record for the most expensive work ever sold at auction in Japan, “A to Z
Memorial Dog” (2006) – a giant sculpture that has become the iconic one, “Fire”
painting (2009) – a flat painting of a girl, with an accent on her state of mind.

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 15. Body Art (1961-1980)
Art movement in which the main medium was a physical body. Tightly connected to
Performance Art and Conceptual Art, Body Art empowered the artists to use their
bodies as canvas or living sculptures, in order to create more personal and intimate
connection between the artist and the viewer, and new form of art experience. It has
changed the norms and the terms of nudity, and was inter-influenced with Feminist
Art.

Body Art had a range of forms: Tattoo Art, Face Painting, Living Statues, Nail Art, Human
Nude-scape Photography, Body Painting, Performance-Related Body Art. Body Art was
exploring a variety of themes, beginning with political and environmental problems and
social issues, and finishing with personal experiences and traumas of the artists.
Actually it was the most “screaming” and expressive art language of the time.

15.1. Gina Pane (1939-1990)

French performance and land artist working across such movements as: Body Art,
Performance Art, Earth Art and Feminist Art. She was using her own body to express
the concerns towards gender topic, sexuality, pain, feminism, politics, environment etc.
As was inspired a lot by different rituals and self-sacrificing practices.

Gina Pane contributed a lot to Art Corporel – a French movement where the artists
were using their physical body and blood as a medium. She was making performances
that evoked the viewer emotionally. Some of the performances were staged and
photographed privately, and then were shown to the viewer – it was becoming a
popular practice among artists.

The works: “Situation idéale: Terre-Artiste-Ciel” (1969) – a work focused on interaction

with environment, “Escalade non-anesthésiée” (1971) – staged in studio performance,
that was documented and shown on public later, the work had a political character,
“The Conditioning” (1973) – performance with candles, where she was examining the
limits of her pain, “Psyche” (1974) – a work in which Gina Pane during about half an
hour made different manipulations with her skin, “Azione Sentimentale” (1974) – a
complex symbolic and ritual work performed in front of women only.

15.2. Carolee Schneemann (1939-1919)

American performance artist and video artist who used her body to examine the role
of female sexuality in all possible aspects and themes, from political to aesthetic ones.
Working mostly in performance art, among other media she used photography, film,
installation and painting. Actually she was calling herself a painter, saying that whatever
she does is “extending visual principles off the canvas”.

The works: “Eye Body” (1963) – a series of 36 photographs of Carolee made in the
environment she create herself, with broken mirrors, different materials she was
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wrapping her body into, and so on, “Meat Joy” (1964) – a ritualistic performance with
a nude men and women entertaining with substances like raw chicken, sausage, scraps
of paper and other, “Up to and Including Her Limits” (1973-1976) – a performance
inspired by Pollock's painting technique.

15.3. VALIE EXPORT (b.1940)

Austrian photographer, filmmaker, and performance artist working across such

movements as: Feminist Art, Body Art, Video Art, Viennese Actionism. Her works were
examining female body in relation to politics, gender problem and female acceptance
and treatment in the male world. Being one of the first feminist artists, she was
challenging the viewers with sexualized and provoking actions. Thinking of her body as
of artistic material she was experimenting with it, allowing the viewers to touch it and
to make manipulations.

The works: “Tapp und Tastkino (Tap and Touch Cinema)” (1968) – performance in which
she was wearing a box and allowed to the strangers to touch her breasts through the
openings in the box, “Aktionhose: Genitalpanik (Action Pants: Genital Panic)” (1969) – a
work, reflecting female aggression and rejection of the passive role of a sexualized
woman, “Cycle of Civilization. The Mythology of the Civilizing Processes” (1972) – a
poster with a part of the artist’s body with a tattoo of a garter belt part, a kind of
permanent costume, symbolizing sex and sensuality, “Encirclement from the series
Körperkonfigurationen (Body Configurations)” (1976) – a photograph of the urban
landscape in which she traces the lines of her body with the landscape lines,
emphasizing the geometry of the city by means of her body.

15.4. Rebecca Horn (b.1944)

German sculptor, filmmaker and performance artist, working in such styles and
movements as: Feminist Art, Body Art, Performance Art, Video Art, Installation Art.
Having problems with health and being bed ridden, she started making soft sculptures
form the accessible materials she could work with during her recovering. Basically this
experience had a long impact on her artistic career, making her works melancholic,
insightful and poetic. Reflecting her complex emotions, psychological and physical
traumas, her works reveal a dialogue between mind and body, searching for balance
between heaviness and lightness, fantasy and depression. Her works often go beyond
the personal topic and concern the political ones, dealing with war, cruelty, injustice.

The works: “Einhorn (Unicorn)” (1970-2) – a white sculpture worn by the performer,
reminding a mythical creature and extending the body, “The Gigolo (Der Eintänzer)”
(1978) – an abstract, surreal and fantastic-narrative film work that features one of
Horn's important sculptures, “The Feathered Prison Fan”, “Exercise 8: Cutting One's Hair
with Two Scissors at Once” (1974-75) – a series of performances in which Rebecca
looking straight at camera is cutting her hair, with a focus on the scissor’s sound.

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 16. Cynical Realism (1990s)
Art movement that appeared in China, in Beijing. As far as the only officially approved
form of figure painting was Socialist Realism, Cynical Realism was a kind of its parody.
The very term of “Cynical Realism” was firstly used by influential critic and curator Li
Xianting who was the main link in chain between Western and Chinese art markets. The
main theme of the movement was a critical look at the Chinese society and satirical
interpretation of the political events in China with a highlight at the absurd of the
existing regime and population control.

16.1. Yue Minjun (b.1962)

Known for his self-portraits in different environments, positions, and with the same
closed eyes and “maniacal” automatic smile on every painting. This signature smile is
masking the emotions and creates an absurd visibility of happiness, symbolizing a
hysterical-laughing response to something awful, not normal, threatening.

Among his huge number of works are: "Gweong-Gweong" (1993) – his most expansive
painting, “Contemporary Terracotta Warriors” sculptures (2005), “Isolated Island”
painting (2010), “A-Maze-ing Laughter” sculptures (2009), “Some Day” painting (2017)
and many others.

16.2. Fang Lijun (b.1963)

The most known for a series of painting with “bold-headed” personages, on the one
hand, symbolising de-personalisation and loss of personal identity of Chinese young
generation, on the other hand, the way to “survive”, hiding the emotions and being “as
expected”. At the same time his works explore the unsureness and unsafety of being
themselves and expressing own views and thoughts.

Among the works: "Series 2 No. 4" (1992) – the most expensive one till now, “Flower”
(2005), “Swimming Series” (2006), “30th Mary” (2006).

16.3. Zhang Xiaogang (b.1958)

A contemporary Chinese painter known for a series of stylized monochromatic works
of Chinese people, mostly families, in a manner reminding family portraits of 1950s.
Getting inspired by Surrealism and Symbolism, in particular by Picasso and Dali, Zhang
Xiaogang brings symbolic and surrealistic elements into his works. His most famous
series is "Bloodline" paintings, inspired by the pictures of his mother in youth. Visually
calm, the portraits hide all the turbulence of the emotions inside, while a small family
consisting of few people refers to a “big Chinese family” where the one who
corresponds to the system survives. This topic unites all the artists of Cynical Realism.

Among the works: “Birth of Republic” (1992), “Bloodline – Big Family” (1995), “Two
Sisters” (2003), “Writing” (2005) and many other.

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 17. Digital Art (21st century)
Art movement (although not recognised officially yet) that uses digital technology in
the process of creating of the artwork or its presentation. Digital Art has built a strong
relationship between artists and engineers as well as between art and technology. It
affected the art’s world by almost unlimited expand of artists tools, that empowered
them to draw with light, sound, movement etc. Because of rapidly developing
technology digital art has already been divided into few categories: Computer Graphics,
Digital Installation Art, Generative Art, and Computer Illustration.

17.1. Alberto Seveso (unknown d.b.)

Italian digital artist and photographer, a pioneer of the “dispersion” technique, a
deconstructed rendering technique where he takes pictures of faces and bodies and
blends them with vector patterns. He loves to recreate emotions, sensibility,
expressions of people’s faces and bodies. Except for his portraits, Alberto Seveso is
famous for a series of underwater ink photographs, achieved by mixing ink with metallic
powders which are then suspended in different fluids and photographed at high-speed.

Among his famous collections: “A Due Colori, Medicina Rossa”, “Dark Matters”, “Heavy
Metals”, “The Temper Trap”, “Bubbles Experience” and many other.

17.2. Shilpa Gupta (b.1976)

A New Media Indian artist, acknowledged worldwide. Her mediums range from
manipulated found objects to video, interactive computer-based installation and
performance. She is interested in the perception of information, its visibility/invisibility
and the way it is transmitted into everyday life.

Works: “I Live Under Your Sky Too” (2004) - Animated light installation, “Untitled” (2004-
2005) - Interactive video projection, “Shadow 1” (2006) - interactive video projection
incorporating the viewers simulated shadow, “100 Hand drawn Maps of My Country”
(2007) - Video Projection, “Speaking Wall” (2010) – installation based on the use of
motion sensor.

17.3. Natasha Tsakos (unknown d.b.)

A multidisciplinary Swiss artist that explores the symbiosis of technology and live
performance. Best known for her "technoformances", which combine virtual
technology, electronic music, and movement studies. She is also interacted with 3d
Animation, Mapping Projection, Sensor-less motion capture technology and other
innovative tendencies and directions.

Among her works: “UP WAKE” multimedia project where she interacted with live 3D
animation (2010), “Xbox' Kinect project” (2010), “Climax” multimedia project (2012),
“Miami Light Project” (2012).

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 17.4. Erik Johansson (b.1985)
Swedish photographer and digital artist creating surrealistic photo works in which he
blends the reality with fantasy. He combines images in a realistic way, focused on a
story and a concept of every single work, and reaching the needed effect in
postproduction process.

Among his well-known works: “Go Your Own Road” (2008), “Endless Stories” (2014) -
an image created for The Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, “Impact” (2016), “Full
Moon Service” (2017), “You First” (2020).

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 18. Postmodernist Painting
Being called “The Age of Authenticity”, characterized by a revival of authentic style and
concept in art, Postmodernism has changed the way of thinking, the very attitude to
life, uniting in a history a range of different, even the opposite in some aspects
movements. Postmodernist painting is presented almost in every Postmodernism
movement, as far as most of the artists were working across styles and media.
Nevertheless there are painters that produced mainly painting, and didn’t clearly
belong to any of the above-mentioned movements. They had a very recognizable style
and contributed a lot to the Postmodernist Painting as a separate movement.

18.1. Francis Bacon (1909-1992)

Irish-British painter who depicted in his works the traumatized by the World War II
humanity. His powerful works were inspired mainly by Surrealism, Old Masters,
Photography and Cinematography. Being a master of figure painting he created the
works that evoked turbulent emotions in the viewer, caused by the feeling of humanity
self-destruction and despair.

The works: “Crucifixion” (1933) – a work inspired by Rembrandt’s “Slaughtered Ox”

(1638) and Picasso’s style, “Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion” (1944)
– a work showing the importance of biomorphic Surrealism in Bacon’s early style,
“Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X” (1953) – inspired by the painting
“Pope Innocent X” by Diego Velazquez (1650), “Portrait of George Dyer Crouching”
(1966).

18.2. Lucian Freud (1922-2011)

British painter known for his figure art where he explores human anatomy and
psychology (like his grandfather Sigmund Freud). His painting style remained constant
during his career, and his works are autobiographical, as he was painting mainly his
closest surrounding and himself. He was inspired by expressionists as Egon Schiele and
Edvard Munch, while in details of the interior he referred to Vincent van Gogh.

The works: “Girl with a White Dog” (1950-51) – an early-period work made from his first
wife, “Hotel Bedroom” (1954) – a contrast painting presented at Biennale, depicting
himself and a woman, “Red Haired Man on a Chair” (1962) – a painting depicting a man
in unusual pose (unusual poses have become the characteristic feature of Freud’s
mature paintings), “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” (Portrait of Sue Tilley) (1995) –
probably the most recognisable and characteristic painting, “HM Queen Elizabeth II”
(2000-2001) – one of the many famous people portraits he made during his career, and
one of his smallest paintings.

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 18.3. Jenny Saville (b.1970)
British painter known for reinventing figure painting and breaking a stereotype about
“dressed male artist” and “nude female model”, often being herself a model and an
artist simultaneously. She was inspired by Old Masters and “borrowed” specific
elements form their works, in order to rethink and reshow them through a female artist
interpretation. Thus, she borrowed and studied the posed of Madonna and Child by
Leonardo da Vinci, colour palette of Rubens and so on. Working on large-scale paintings
Jenny Saville explored the topic of female body, maternity, plastic surgery, dieting and
taboos referred to the following topics. Besides, she has changed a painting approach:
if before female nudes were drawn small and framed, in her paintings nudes are
“escaping” form the plane.

The works: “Branded” (1992) – a painting, for which Saville said: "I'm not painting
disgusting, big women. I'm painting women who've been made to think they're big and
disgusting", “Plan” (1993) – a self-portrait, “Passage” (2004-2005) – a provocative
painting of nude transgender woman, “Mothers” (2011) – a work that has changed
Saville’s approach in painting, a self-portrait with many layers drawn and erased
creating the feeling of movement, “Mirror” – a monumental drawing in charcoal,
“Olympia” (2013-2014) – a work about memory and experiencing the culture in
fragments.

18.4. Jack Vettriano (b.1951)

A self-taught Scottish painter, who works in narrative realism, creating the nostalgic
and atmospheric works of couples and erotically dressed women in beautiful interiors
of hotels, restaurants, dancing halls, or at the seaside. He made a long way till his works
were recognised by the critiques, firstly being recognised by general public. Except of
being the most expensive and commercially successful Scottish artist, reproductions of
Jack Vettriano’s works overcome even the works of Van Gogh and Monet.

The works: “A Kind of Loving” (1992), “A Very Dangerous Beach” (1992), “The Singing
Butler” (2004) – the most expensive painting by a Scottish painter sold on the auction,
“The Trap” (1994), “The Billy Boys” (1998) and many other.

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 19. Postmodern Sculpture
The same as Postmodern Painting, Postmodern Sculpture was represented by a wide
range of talented multidisciplinary artists who were working cross different
postmodern movements and media. Thus, some of these artists have been already
mentioned. But there are many other outstanding artists who were working with
sculpture, shaping a Postmodern Sculpture as a separate movement.

19.1. Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

Spanish painter, sculptor, filmmaker, printmaker, and performance artist, probably the
most famous Surrealist artist. He was obsessed with organic shapes, death, time,
eroticism, rendering his dreams and hallucinations into the artworks. His works are full
of symbols and mysterious elements, while Dali himself was following his self-created
systems, words and religions.

Sculpture takes a separate place in his work. Actually it transforms his ideas from 2d to
3d, continuing his philosophy.

Some of his famous sculptures are: “Vision of the Angel”, “Profile of Time”, “Space
Venus”, “Snail and the Angel”, “Alice in the Wonderland”, “Adam and Eva”. All these
works were conceived in 1977 and for the first time casted in 1984.

19.2. Donald Judd (1928-1994)

American art critic and sculptor who rejected traditional painting and sculpture and
came out with a accepting the sculpture as an object in the environment. Thus, he was
working across Minimalism Art and Land Art, making minimalistic sculptures of
geometric or modular forms from industrial materials and aiming to emphasize the
simplicity and physical nature of the pieces.

The works (as far as most of his works are named are untitled, a narrative brief
description has to be used): “Untitled” (1968) - a freestanding, aluminium rectangle
coloured with brown enamel, “Untitled” (1972) – a box-like installation with the
exterior made of reflective-surfaced cooper and the interior with contrasting red
enamel, “Untitled” (1973) – a piece that consists of 6 identical rectangular shapes made
of polished and highly reflective brass metal and plexiglass, “Untitled” (1984) – a series
of 15 concrete works with a size 2.5x2.5x2.5 m installed in the landscape of Texas and
other.

19.3. Anish Kapoor (b.1954)

British-Indian sculptor, painter, and installation artist. On the one hand, his approach
to the Sculpture Art is conceptual and minimalistic. On the other hand, instead of
emotionless “cold” spirit, his works are poetic and metaphorical. He explores the

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relationship between the sculpture, the space and the viewer, integrating all of them
between each other.

The works: “1000 Names” (1979-80) – a work, inspired by India, consist of ink
geometrical shapes, that from above look like a painting, reminding the works of
Malevich or Klee, “Void Field” (1989) – a work, in which he combines English stone with
Indian ink, symbolizing the merging of his roots with his actual home, “When I am
Pregnant” (1992) – a sculpture that is one with the wall and reveals itself only in profile,
with a deep meaning and very high aesthetics, “Sky Mirror” (2012) – a public 20-feet
sculpture made of polished steel reflecting the sky and the surrounding, a sort of
conceptual landscape painting, “Cloud Gate” (2012) – called a “bean sculpture”, placed
in Millennium Park in Chicago.

19.4. Arman (1928-2005)

French-American artist, most of all associated with Nouveau Réalisme, but working also
across other movements, like Assemblage, Readymade and The Found Object. In his
works he explores such themes as consumption, mass production, waste and
destruction, challenging the very term of sculpture, the way of its creation and the
materials being used.

The works: “Little Hands” (1960) – a work that is a part of “Accumulations series” in
which Arman gathers the identical objects and shows them together in the vitrine,
“Long Term Parking” (1982) – the culmination of “Accumulation series”, a 50-feet
installation consisting of 60 cars encased in over 40,000 pounds of concrete, “O'Clock”
(1998) – a work, reflecting Arman’s interest in the topic of time and memory.

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Conclusion

Postmodernism Art turned out to be a ”cleaning” and “honest” movement, revealing

what was hidden and covered under the layers of tradition and stereotypes. Full of
contrasts and revolutionary spirit it provoked, exposed, and denounced the political
systems and society. Some movements were extremely powerful but short-termed,
others were more long-lasting and created a constant effect, and some on a full speed
entered the 21st century. What is happening on the art scene today? It may seem that
time and art are running a sprint. And it’s only up to the viewer, which side to take.

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