LESSON 9

CAUGHT IN BETWEEN : MODERN

AND CONTEMPORARY ART
 What is Modern Art?
• Period that began in the 1880’s and lasted until 1960’s.
• Focused on surrealism rather than depicted life as perceived by the church or
influential in society.
• Denotes the styles and philosophy of the art produced during that era.
• The devotion of artist to a strict narrative was often illustrated in their figurative
works.
• Artist were committed to developing a language of their own original but
representative.
• It tends to find the pure idea of art.
 What is Contemporary Art?
• Developed after the 1960’s and still emerging.
• “ present” “today” or “now”.
• Concerned about the purity in art.
• It was the idea that was more important than its visual articulation.
• It turns the traditional paintings and sculptures to more experimental
formats
 SEVERAL MOVEMENTS YHAT WERE CAUGHT IN
BETWEEN THE SUCCESSION OF MODERN
CONTEMPORARY ART.
1.) ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM (early 1940’s to mid- 1960’s)
 Basic tenets of abstraction and combined it with gestural techniques, mark making, and a
rugged spontaneity in its visual articulation.
 Started in New York, hence also called New York School.
 2 Major Styles emerged
ACTION PAINTING COLOR FIELDS
Showed physicality, direction and Emphasized the emotional power
most often the spontaneity of the of colors.
actions that made drips and strokes From vivid demarcations to more
possible toned- down transitions.
 SEVERAL MOVEMENTS YHAT WERE CAUGHT IN
BETWEEN THE SUCCESSION OF MODERN
CONTEMPORARY ART.
2.) OPTICAL ART (early 1960 onwards)
 relied on creating illusion using colors, patterns, and other perspective tricks.
Showed a ceratain kind of dynamism
 SEVERAL MOVEMENTS YHAT WERE CAUGHT IN
BETWEEN THE SUCCESSION OF MODERN
CONTEMPORARY ART.
3.) KINETIC ART ( 1950’s onward)
 harnessing the current and direction of wind
Predominantly sculptural, most were mobiles and even motor-drive
machines.
Example of how art and technology can be brought together
 SEVERAL MOVEMENTS YHAT WERE CAUGHT IN
BETWEEN THE SUCCESSION OF MODERN
CONTEMPORARY ART.
4.) GUTAI (1950’s to 1970s)
 means embodiment and concreteness
Goal was not only to explore the materiality of the implements used in the
performance but also to hold a deeper desire to make sense of the
relationship between the body, movements, and the spirit of their interaction
during the process of creation.
 SEVERAL MOVEMENTS YHAT WERE CAUGHT IN
BETWEEN THE SUCCESSION OF MODERN
CONTEMPORARY ART.
5.) MINIMALISM (early 1960s)
 seen as an extreme type of abstraction that favoured geometric shapes,
color fields, and use of materials that had an industrial the sparse.
Avoided overt symbolism and emotional content but instead called attention
to the materiality of the works.
 SEVERAL MOVEMENTS YHAT WERE CAUGHT IN
BETWEEN THE SUCCESSION OF MODERN
CONTEMPORARY ART.
6.) POP ART (1950s)
Drew inspiration, sources, and even material from commercial culture,
making it one of the most identifiable and relatable movement in art history.
They turned to commodities designed and made for masses.
 SEVERAL MOVEMENTS YHAT WERE CAUGHT IN
BETWEEN THE SUCCESSION OF MODERN
CONTEMPORARY ART.
7.) POSTMODERNISM (1970S)
 most pertinent movement that solidified the move to contemporary art
Included conceptual art, ne –expressionism , feminist art.
 OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART
MOVEMENTS
1. NEO-POP ART
• In the 1980’s Andy Warhol renewed an interest in pop art, but it’s different
from neo-pop art because of the first ideas of ‘Dada’ in which ready made
materials were used.
• Dada is a movement that was very much against values of the bourgeois the
colonial and even the National. It was both anarchic, the war ensued because
of the values, movements abhors or despises.
 OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART
MOVEMENTS
2. PHOTOREALISM
• Painstaking attention to detail is aimed, without asserting the artist personal
style.
• Drawings and paintings are so immaculate in their precision that starts to
look like it is photo without a direct reference to the artist who created it.
• Chuck Close and Gerhard Richter – photorealist artists
 OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART
MOVEMENTS
3. CONCEPTUALISM
• Informed and shaped by pop art
• Fought against the idea that art is ‘commodity’.
• Brought about by art institutions such as museums and galleries where works
are peddled and circulated.
• Jenny Holzer, Damien Hirst, Ai Wei Wei- conceptual artists
 OTHERCONTEMPORARY ART
MOVEMENTS
4. PERFORMANCE ART
• Related to conceptual art, and began in the 1960’s
• Most concerned about the heart of artwork rather than with entertaining the
audience
• May be planned /spontaneous or live/recorded, it is durational in nature and
considered as ephemeral works of art.
• Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono, and Joseph Beuys- rosters of well-known artists
 OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART
MOVEMENTS
5. INSTALLATION ART
• Is a kind of immersive works
• Large-scale ,installation art makes use of a host of objects, materials,
conditions, and even light and aural components.
• Considered site-specific and may be temporary or ephemeral in nature.
• Allan Kaprow, Yayoi Kusama, and Dale Chihuly.- installation artists
 OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART
MOVEMENTS
6. EARTH ART/LAND ART
• Considered as a kind or spin-off of installation
• It is kind of human intervention into a specific landscape or terrain
• It is different from environmental art in a sense that it does not focus on the subject
but rather on landscape manipulation and the materials used taken directly from the
ground or vegetation.
• Robert Smithson, Christo, Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy ,and Jeanne-Claude.
 OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART
MOVEMENTS
7. STREET ART
• It is by-product of the rise of graffiti in the 1980’s
• Artworks created are not traditional in format but are informed by the illustrative,
painterly and print techniques and even a variety of media.
• Most commonly found in the public sphere, various people who have access to
them have formed the impression and perception of the artworks themselves.
• This art is unsanctioned and do not enjoy the invigilated environments of museums
and galleries.