Post-Modern Art Presented by: Ashley Gregory Brittany Julious Graeme MacDougall William Stark

Origins of Postmodernism Postmodernism began to emerge around the 1920’s with the Dada movement. It was not until after the Second World War that postmodernism was really recognized. One of the reasons that postmodernism was thought of as a different movement from that of modernism was because of the different economic and technological changes that took place.

Origins of Postmodernism, cont. Another basic concept of postmodernism is that every form of rebellion has already been explored Because of this, postmodernist artists usually use ideas from many different periods and combine them to form one image

Authors and their ideas of postmodernism Arnold Toynbee Jean Baudrillard

Arnold Toynbee Is thought to be the first person to use the term postmodern Used this term in his A Study of History, and said that this idea of postmodern occurred from around He later changed his original thought and said that the modern came to and end during the First World War, and that postmodernism really began to form during the years between the first two world wars ( )

Jean Baudrillard Wrote that there are four processes of obtaining value: 1. There is a functional value of an object 2. There is an exchange value of an object 3. There is a symbolic value of an object 4. There is a sign value of an object

Deconstruction One of the key ideas of postmodernism is to conceive things as texts Derrida Argued that deconstruction shows that texts can have multiple meanings and these different meanings can be cleared up through close textual analysis One possible consequence of deconstruction is that texts may be defined too broadly

Technology and Art

Aspects of Photography Digital Photography Computers Mass Media and Communication What Technology Has Done

Photography From painting light to capturing light Art of the few George Eastman

George Eastman Kodak Mass Production Brings Camera’s into everyday use

Everyone’s a Photographer? Eastman brought photography into mainstream culture No longer an art for the few Popularization of photography as art New technologies create new demands

Digital Photography Snapshots of anything Editing Photos A new outlook on Photography Is what you see really what you see? Broadens the definition of ‘art’

Photoshop Sunset

Computers Digital Editing Digital Spaces Photoshop New outlet of imagination

Mass Media and Communication “Information and communication have therefore become terms of comparison with which to redefine and reinterpret the roles of all disciplines.” Radio Newspaper

Mass Media and Communication cont. Magazine Post-Cards (art as communication) Internet Commercialization of Art Loss of aura as art/anything as art No longer art for arts sake

What Technology Has Done “the institutions of the art world continued to believe in – indeed to expect – breakthroughs, and the galleries, the collectors, the art magazines, the museums and finally the corporations that had become the major patrons of the age were also awaiting prophets and revelations” - Arthur Danto Created a demand for ‘new’ art

Movements and Artists

Neo-Expressionism Emerged in late 1970s; prominent until mid 1980s Developed in Europe  reaction to conceptualism and minimalism Heavily promoted by the media and art galleries

Characteristics Recognizable objects Rough, violent or abstract interpretation Vivid colors Inspired by German expressionism Jedd Garet Curtain of Protection (1980)

Prominent Neo-Expressionist Artists George Baselitz Julian Schnabel Keith Haring Jean-Michel Basquiat Francesco Clemente

Julian Schnabel Imfluences include Antoni Gaudi, Cy Twombly Plate paintings Schnabel said he was, "aiming at an emotional state, a state that people can literally walk into and be engulfed." Other mediums

Graffiti Art Used to display artists tags, as well as social and political messages and sometimes advertising Spray paint, markers or other materials Application without authorization to public spaces Public art? Radical and political purposes High art

Graffiti Art

Jean-Michel Basquiat Graffiti background  SAMO tag “The Radiant Child” by Rene Ricard Andy Warhol Art periods death

Jean-Michel Basquiat Prayer (1984)

Keith Haring Grafitti/pop artist NYC subway chalk drawings “The Radiant Baby” Andy Warhol The Keith Haring Foundation

Francesco Clemente Combines both surrealism and expressionism Career in the 1970s Career in the 1980s Collaborations with Warhol and Basquiat

Post-Modern Conceptualism

Laurie Anderson “I Hate Television” A Public Service Announcement

Matthew Barney Drawing Restraint 9 (trailer) The film concerns the theme of self-imposed limitation and continues Matthew Barney's interest in religious rite, this time focusing on Shinto.

Matthew Barney

Common Criticisms

Questions Raised by Postmodernism What is art? What is the purpose of art? How has the purpose changed in the face of Postmodernism?

What is Art? How do we decide what is art? Philosophical in nature? Representation of reality? Consumer oriented? Aesthetically pleasing? What is the role of skill in art?

What makes art? What makes this art and not boxes? Arthur Danto, an art critic, said, “Art is dead. Art [has] raised…the philosophical question of art.” Andy Warhol Brillo Boxes, 1964

Barbra Kruger (Untitled) Robert Gober 1986 Playpen Is using someone else’s work art? Commodities as art?

Consumerism Art is now created to be sold Is this good or bad, or even true? Danto: The Market needed something to sell and artists needed to make a reputation

Rembrandt The Sacrifice of Abraham 1635 Oil on Canvas The Importance of Skill “Imagination without skill gives us contemporary art,” Tom Stoddard.

Lack of Skill? Roberto Matta Enerjeros Charcoal and pastel 1985

Subjectivity of Art Since Art is entirely subjective can it ever really be defined? What makes a piece “good art” opposed to “bad art” Is Rembrandt a better artist than Matta? Who is to say? Will we ever know what art is?