Contemporary Art Analysis

Art galleries are essential to the art world, however, is not the only source for audiences to view art. To begin with, art and artwork is defined as the application of human skill, creativity and imagination. Taking this into consideration, individuals need to examine the nature and purpose of art galleries as a facility to collaborate, organize and display a collection of artworks. As art however, is any expression of human creativity, its presence is not bound to art galleries and is evidently present in the world around us be it in photographs, the internet or even in graffiti.

This paper is a formal analysis of the Marble grave stele with a family group relief sculpture. It is a pentelic marble style relief standing at 171.1cm tall carved by a master. It is from the Late Classical period of Greek, Attic which was completed around ca.360 B.C. . I chose to analyze this piece as apposed to the others because I’m mainly attracted to art and sculptures from the Greek era. The overall color used in this relief is ivory with a few cracks and pieces broken off. There is some discoloration which causes the color to come off as slightly light brown for most of the relief. The sculpture appears larger compared to the other sculptures in the art room. It represents a family which includes a man, his wife, and their

The figure 1.120 on page 123 of Gateways to Art depicts a 3 dimensional piece of art called Monogram. Inside the work includes mixed media with taxidermy goat, rubber tire, and a tennis ball. The work was done by Robert Rauschenberg from Sweden. There is strong emphasis on the goat, making it the focal point of the mass. The installation of the tire is wrapped around the goat’s torso, while the goat is mounted onto the center of the wood frame. The size of the work is monumental compared to other works of art. The subordination of the painted half of the work prevents the viewer from looking at the plain pieces of wood. The span of the mount stretches diagonally across the frame. The addition of red paint brings a sense of luminosity to the work. There are illuminated letters printed of the wood pieces that draws attention to the left half of the piece. The text says Rauschenberg created the work “as a symbol of himself as a rebel and outcast.” The goat relates to a religious perspective as goats used to be offered as a sacrifice by Christians to God. This work was so odd at the time because it was not a sculpture or painting, making it unique in its own way.

In the contemplation of art, or rather the conceptually intangible definition it currently possess, it is imperative to be mindful that “art” has been utilized as a promotional device, ceremonial item, aesthetically purposed article or perhaps none of these or all. It is because of this vague term that Carolyn Dean, in her text, “The Trouble with (The Term) Art”, makes a case for the consequences of applying the term “art” in societies that lacked such a notion which also accounts for the Western-centric lens the field intrinsically utilizes when viewing non-Western art. The claim is deftly supported by the utilization of expert accounts in the subject, alternative perspectives for what is considered the current norm, and self-examining questions,

Kehinde Wiley is a New York based artist whose paintings focus on the themes of empowering black men and combining classical and contemporary styles.

These artists present diverse pieces representing the many cultures in the Western United States through the ideas of labor, nostalgia, memory, visibility, and displacement. Frederick and Jan Mayer Director at the DAM, Christoph Heinrich stated, "We're proud to support innovative work by artists who bring their unique perspective on the American experience to examine the concept of place as a complex and ever-present

Form of "afterlife insurance" in order to trick the soul into staying alive in the event of the body's destruction

With the world gradually becoming more consumed by the ‘media-saturated contemporary culture’, American artist Blair Thurman explores the place art has in the modern world. Located on the second floor of the Oklahoma Museum of Art lies his 370 x 274 x 90 centimeter Honeybadgers installation created in 2009, a sculpture piece constructed with plywood, acrylic, glass, neon, and wire pieces. This exhibition occupies a small, but tall room that is approximately 400 square feet, and is on display until May 1st, 2016. Museums are traditionally the institutions that produces conversations for the audience to speak back to, and Thurman uses this discurvisity to communicate his works. His work appears to relay the idea of conceptual art in that concept

Luiseno Native artist James Luna’s performance of, The Artifact Piece (1987) confronts anthropological museums in their post-colonial precepts of the Indian “other”. In the performance of The Artifact Piece, Luna shares with the viewer that he himself is a living human artifact. Bringing into question why institutions as such continue to perpetuate and objectify Native Indigenous people as extinct artifacts, compared to dinosaur bones. His performance clearly created a crack into Eurocentric ideologies of early American Indians as separate and distant, to that of present day Native American Indians. In La Nostalgia: The Artifact, another performance by Luna. He explains “They have our stuff.” and “It’s all about the past, as if we don’t live in the present. Until they saw me…”.” In this performance he tells the viewer’s “Take a picture with a real Indian.” Sometimes Luna is in Native dress and sometimes he is in contemporary clothing. This then gives the audience a visual evidence that he is a living Indian of this space and time. As Jean Fisher put it in a 1992 Art Journal article, Luna’s work did not simply threaten to return a controlling gaze: rather, she wrote, the presence “of the undead Indian of colonialism . . . and the possibility that he may indeed be watching and listening disarms the voyeuristic gaze and

The two works of art that I have chosen to analyze are 1) Jordan Casteel. Miles and JoJo. 2014. Oil on canvas, 54” x 72” and 2) Aaron Fowler. He Was. 2015. Mixed media, 134” x 165” x 108”. The themes that these works of art represent in regards to the exhibit are love, family, and pain. However, they also fall into other thematic categories. The main theme that seems to apply to both “Miles and JoJo” and “He Was” is Human Experience. Additionally, these arts differ in some ways.

I went to Lincoln Land Community College’s gallery. The name of the show was “Sarah Smelser: Questions we ask each other.” Sarah Smelser was the only artist at Lincoln Land Community College’s gallery on March 16th. My initial reaction to the set of the show was that it is very simple and modern. Sarah’s work engaged me when I walked in the door, because I instantly wanted to see what kind of art was on the display walls. There was only art hanging on the walls; nothing was out on the floor for display. When I went there were only a few people there. I did not feel over-whelmed when I walked into the gallery room, because it was not cluttered.

I will be doing a creative project about political art with the intention of creating a portfolio which will capture the current state of American politics. I chose this topic because throughout the presidential election, I observed the way candidates and their supporters used visual images to to support their causes. When I participated in the Women’s March On Washington, I was blown away by the creative, funny, and powerful signs I saw. Throughout this year, I found that the one thing almost everyone in my life agrees on is that it was the we are living in an extremely polarized country and time. I want to take senior exploration as an opportunity to convey this intense political climate. I chose to use art, as opposed to writing or music, because I really enjoy it and do not think I will have the opportunity to do much art after high school.

The idea of this piece is to show the connection between mother and daughter being painted. It shows the time and the classic style of the

“Painting today is pure intuition and luck and taking advantage of what happens when you splash the stuff down. “- Francis Bacon. However when I learnt more about history of art and the way each movement and happenings in the world inspired artist to make new works, I was able to see much more than just a canvas with random paints and sketches. The interesting part about this concept is that each piece of art could be interpreted in many different ways. In contemporary art there isn’t right and wrong, each of us view and find different meanings and connections with artworks.

of art as a finished product, signed by the artist and authenticated by the art market,