The Development of Modern Art - Essay Example

The Development of Modern Art: A Study of Selected Contemporary Artists As technology advances in the present world, the feats in the development of the artistic world changes as well. Artists adapt to the styles and techniques that would suffice the demands and trends of a specific phase in time. These developments transform into what is known as Contemporary art. Contemporary artists cater to the provisions of the Modernist Movement and its inevitable evolution to the Post-Modernist context. With the topic at hand, this paper will discuss five of the best artists of the Contemporary period. Each of these artists will be analyzed in terms of their inspirations, styles, and techniques that they have applied to their works; works of which have contributed to the development of Contemporary art. The list of contemporary artists includes Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Andy Warhol, Jenny Holzer and Kara Walker. Upon the onset of the Modern Period, Jackson Pollock is one of those who had staged a significant feat in art development. Pollock, considered as one of the greatest contemporary painters in American art history, was part of a period where the Modernist Movement of 1920 was slowly transformed into the Post-Modernist Movement of Contemporary art history. In the New World, Pollock was known as an important member of a group of artists called the New York School. The New York School, more of a unified and collective artistic idea rather than a concrete institution, was popularly known as the Abstract Expressionists (Getlein 497). It was in this influence that Pollock acquired his unique style unto his works. His art established a new kind of visual that many had not seen before. In line with the Abstract Expressionists, the artist derived a direct influence from Surrealism. His technique showcased automatism and focused on the aesthetic powers of the unconscious. Being a painter of the mentioned genre, Pollock always exhibited large scale works in the literal sense. He used huge canvass sizes – this was to take his audience into the very essence of his paintings. The emphasis on huge painting canvasses is an essential part for Abstract Expressionists in order to highlight the effect of the entire piece (Getlein 497). The bizarre characteristics of the artist’s works bring out the very sense of post-modernism in his style. The perfection of his “drip technique” (Getlein 497) brings out the chaos ever present in his works. Yet, amidst this chaos, order and beauty emerges as the by-product of Pollock’s hard work. This trait of “order out of chaos” is the true and sole criterion of a good post-modern art work (Libby). From what Pollock’s works had shown, it can be said that the artist has a mind of his own. The mere appearance of his paintings on canvass narrates that he alone can do such abstract yet remarkably magnificent works. However, the public eye sees only little of what had formed Pollock’s original style. His works are a collaborative experiment between several of the greatest artists who ever lived. Pollock himself was an admirer and a maker of his own original mark on canvass. Indeed, the artist was a vehicle for a cultural synthesis (Hughes, “Art: An American Legend in Paris”). The uniqueness of his technique was molded into existence through a combination of “Indian sand painting to the theory of Jungian archetypes, from Zen calligraphy to El Greco, from American jazz and Western landscape to the doctrines of various occult religions” (Hughes, “Art: An American Legend in Paris”). Pollock’s fellow artist consider him a lesser Picasso, only that his style presents the audience with a dominant abstract of colors which creates the huge canvass into an enormous watercolor dyed with mat pigment. His philosophical approach towards the works that he had created made him an abstractionist obsessed with the notion of flatness. For example, “Lavender Mist”, one of his masterpieces in 1950, justified the atmospheric aura of his paintings. It was as if fog, vagueness and translucency captured the field of canvass (Hughes, “Art: An American Legend in Paris”). The mentioned masterpiece was a perfect example of a post-modern abstractionist painting that lives up to Pollock’s reputation. Another artist of Pollock’s caliber is Willem De Kooning. De Kooning is also a member of the Abstract Expressionist artists who is an adherent of the unique techniques and styles of post-modernism and non-representation. The artist was a Dutch-national from Rotterdam who came to America in 1926 at the time of the Great Depression. His stay in the New World allowed him to become part of the Federal Arts Project in 1935. This opportunity opened the doors for him to showcase his style in painting. The emphasis on color is greatly important to De Kooning as an artist. His earliest works, “Pink Angels” and “Woman”, were flush with bright colors of green and bright pink. His works tend to deal with the complexity of human emotions. The artist was an expert in the combination of the extremes: beauty and ugliness, abstraction and loveliness. Through the recognition of symbolism of human affairs, it can be said that his philosophy boldly defined and surpassed the borders of abstraction present in the expressionist art movement. “Woman”, for example, tackles the sexual insecurity in American culture (Zebrowski). To this note, it is clear being abstract is not enough for De Kooning. The artist takes his audience into a field of human emotion which adds-up to the complexity of his works. Also, that the core value of post-modernism is ever present within De Kooning’s paintings. The utter combination of the mentioned extremes creates a sense of confusion within the audience. However, this confusion is often appreciated and intertwined with the beauty and order of his style. Like Pollock, the idea of “order out of chaos” becomes a major theme in De Kooning’s works. The complexity of Pollock and De Kooning’s abstraction and expressionism were all shattered in Andy Warhol’s very simple and entertaining art style. Even the very essence of post-modernism can be questioned in the kind of art that Warhol has produced. The artist, born in Pittsburgh, was originally a commercial illustrator. With his talent in drawing and painting, Warhol’s advantage as an illustrator turned him into an artist responsible for a culture of mass production and reproduction of famous art pieces from renowned artists. This “repackaging” was fused with the images of popular culture that he had been trained to advertise (Hughes, “Art: The Best and Worst of Warhol”). With this, a new kind of artistic genre emerged in contemporary art – Pop art. Pop art or popular art is a kind of movement where one uses well-known materials in order to produce an inspired artistic piece. Andy Warhol’s style involved a mash-up of mass produced images and objects from the American popular culture. The final outcome of his style is a rich and entertaining collage of visual materials which is often referred to as mundane. Warhol’s works include images from famous comic books, advertising billboards, home appliances and photographic images from cinema, television, and newspapers. The intention of Warhol’s Pop art is to bring life closer to his audience (Getlein 503). Unlike the abstractionist and expressionist movements that require much interpretation, appreciation and understanding, Pop art emphasizes the media and the culture present within the everyday lives of the people thus, allowing full appreciation and entertainment for people from all walks of life. An exceptional example of Andy Warhol’s Pop art is his “Gold Marilyn Monroe”. The actress’ death in 1962 prompted the artist to create a series of devoted works for Monroe’s legacy. In the mentioned piece of art, Warhol used silkscreen printing in order to transpose a photographic black and white image of Marilyn Monroe unto a canvass painted in a pure shade of gold. The sole image of the actress at the center of the canvass glorifies the face of the person famous for her acting legacy. This glorification is Warhol’s primary objective. To add to this, the golden canvass makes Monroe a royalty in the sense that the shrewdness of commercial treatment that the actress received during her lifetime is suddenly erased by the magnificence of the canvass itself. She is suddenly glorified as a sacred Byzantine icon with the kind of reproduction the artist had created (Getlein 503). The “Gold Marilyn Monroe” is greatly appreciated by the audience for it showcases a famous icon of the 20th century. It also upholds the notion of minimalism in idea and simplicity of design making the entire piece modern in every sense (UNESCO 144). Warhol’s Pop art has its counterpart when it comes to contemporary influential art works. This new movement is called the Conceptual art. Started in the 1960s, Conceptual art in those times remained locked within words and simple images (Getlein 515). This art form evolved in the 1980s to become more aesthetic than the usual. Creativity and advertising value from Pop art were fused in order to create this a revitalized phase of Conceptual art. A good example for Conceptual art is Jenny Holzer. Holzer’s main philosophical approach when it came to art is that contemporary artists should eliminate the elitist nature within their craft in order to penetrate the general audience. She says, "…it's not art issues that are going to compel them [the audience] to stop on their way to lunch, it has to be life issues" (Hughes, “Art: A Sampler of Witless Truisms”). It is with such mentality that the artist follows the flow of her style. She sees the essence within words in order to move her audience into thinking. Holzer uses her skill in advertising to produce slogans that would cause the people to realize the point of her art. The artist’s use of words as a piece of work is a very post-modern approach to the art world’s development. Her technique in finding the essence of creativity and beauty within slogans and the way she affects people through her pieces breaks the chains of modernism where an artist has to be visual in order to produce art. An example of Holzer’s Conceptual art is her huge slogan, “Protect Me From What I Want” in front of the Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. This particular slogan is minimalistic in a way because she uses plain black text against a white background. Elegance in monochromatic color is applied to the technological use of LED or Light Emitting Diodes in order to emphasize the slogan during night time (Getlein 515). No images, just words – these are the primary factors which puts Holzer in line with the post-modern artists of the world. Another perfect example of a Conceptual artist is Kara Walker. Walker bravely incorporates into her works the concept of racism in the American society. Her pieces dwell on the historical events which highlighted the notion of racism upon the American soil – during the 19th century Civil War. The experience of slavery and the life in the plantations are some of the themes present within her works. Walker also focuses on the racial stereotypes that are ever present in the American society up until the 20th century. The purpose of her art pieces is to haunt the audience of these historical memories – one of the darkest moments in American history (Getlein 516). “Darkytown Rebellion”, one of Walker’s best known works, exemplifies the type of Conceptual art that she intends for her audience to see. The artist simply uses black paper against a white background. This art work showcases the social life of the African-Americans in a plantation setting. “Darkytown Rebellion” shows how these people defecate, copulate and conduct their everyday life under a master-slave context (Lacayo). Indeed, Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Andy Warhol, Jenny Holzer and Kara Walker are five of the best artists who represent the movements of modernity and post-modernism. Each is distinct in their varying ways. Their styles and techniques imply intricacy, simplicity and meaning not only for themselves but also for their audience. The innovations that these artists conduct add to the significant feats in the development of the contemporary artistic world. Works Cited Getlein, Mark. Living with Art. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print. Hughes, Robert. “Art: A Sampler of Witless Truisms.” Time 30 July 1990. Print. ____________. “Art: An American Legend in Paris.” Time 1 February 1982. Print. ____________. “Art: The Best and Worst of Warhol.” Time 13 February 1989. Print. Lacayo, Richard. “Kara Walker at the Whitney.” Time 9 October 2007. Print. Libby, Brian. “Beijing Bird's Nest – Architecture.” Architecture Week 20 August 2008. Print. UNESCO. “Barragan House and Studio.” UNESCO 23 January 2003. Print. Zebrowski, John. “Willem De Kooning, Dead at 92.” Time 19 March 1997. Print. Read More