Aritha
Samad
April
18, 2017
F A B F I V E
A R T I S T S
Contemporary art refers to the art created within
our lifetimes by the hands of modern artists living in the twenty-first
century. Contemporary art rolls out a platform for artists to make personal comments
on the ever-changing society, their internal issues and external global concerns.
Artists such as Petra Cortright, Ana Mendieta, Barbara Kruger, Yoko Ono and
Yayoi Kusama all contributed to the collection of contemporary art available to
us today. Despite gender skepticism and societal setbacks, each artist managed
to successfully adapt their own style and gain massive popularity for their
pieces. Every woman mentioned flourished because of their impeccable delivery
of modern art by incorporating different distinctive materials, creative methods
and fresh concepts.
1 . P
E T R A C O R T R I G H T , 3
0
P O S T
- I N T E R N E T A R T
Petra Cortright, a 30-year-old Californian, is
known for springing into the art movement known as post-internet art. The term post-internet
art points to artists whom adapted strategies of modernism to deliver to a new
aesthetic era. Prior to the internet’s existence, it was incredibly tough to
share, alter and distribute artistic images in a fast fashion. Cortright’s
digital paintings allow her online audience to experience imagery “filled with
flowers and water lilies that are instinctively reminiscent of Monet” (Jansen 1).
In Cortright’s file deicideCHEMICAL_records.tbl, she brings
the outdoor landscapes into the online land. Admirably, Cortright did not allow the
male-dominated technological turf to stop her from joining the club. Instead,
she thanked the creation of Pinterest and YouTube which encouraged individualism
and brought opportunity despite gender.
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Petra Cortright, deicideCHEMICAL_records.tbl, 2015.
|
2 . A
N A M E N D I E T A , 3
6
E A R T
H -
B O D Y P E R F O R M A N C E S
Ana Mendieta, was a 36-year-old Cuban American,
known for exploring the art through what she called “earth-body” performances. The
expression “earth-body” refers to her impression left at various outdoor locations. Often, Mendieta
would introduce different materials produced by mother nature such as rocks,
twigs, flowers and blood to her photographs to outline cultural rituals and
feminist feelings into her scenes. Mendieta’s environmentally-friendly focus ultimately let her to
invoke the “magic, knowledge, and power primitive art…to express the immediacy
of life and the eternity of nature” (Artsy 1). In Mendieta’s photograph Untitled (Rape Scene), she documented her response to the bloody
and viral rape and murder of a nursing student Sara Anna Otten. Respectfully,
Mendieta did not let her exile from Cuba or tragic romance with husband and artist Carl
Andre negatively impact her. Instead, she turned her entrance to America as an
gateway to use the grounds to spread her unique artistic vision.
 |
Ana Mendieta, Untitled (Rape Scene), 1973.
|
3 . B
A R B A R A K R U G E R , 7
2
C A P T I O
N A R T
Barbara Kruger, a 72-year-old from Newark, is known
for placing slogans on black-and-white photographs she obtained from magazines
to construct directive caption art. The caption art grew from her prior work as
a graphic designer which eventually was shown aboveground on billboards and
underground in train stations. During the 1980s, Kruger took advantage of the
economic growth and learned to catered to consumerism with her bold fonts. Kruger’s
aesthetically pleasing style enabled her to influence logos of urban street
wear companies such as Supreme and OBEY. In Kruger’s print work I shop therefore I am, she used image
and text to directly communicate with the audience about their postmodern life.
Intelligently, Kruger also used printed art to address protests such as the March
for Women’s Lives and tagline nudity like in the cover W Magazine featuring Kim Kardashian.
.jpg) |
Barbara Kruger, I shop therefore I am, 1990.
|
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| Barbara Kruger, Kim Kardashian for W Magazine, 2010. |
4 . Y
O K O O N O , 8
4
P E R F O R
M A N C E A R T
Yoko Ono, an
84-year-old Japanese New Yorker, is known for her music, performance art,
filmmaking, feminism and her unforgettable marriage to John Lennon. The conceptual
and performance art stimulated from her interest in Buddhism and Dada
which then would form daring pieces. Ono crafted experiences and events which
were intended to shift our attention to ideas instead of looks. In Ono’s feminist performance Cut Piece, she sat silent and looked
fragile as she asked the audience to remove her clothes one by one with the
help of scissors. Captivatingly, Ono did not accept the idea that pieces had to
consist of material object or be presented on tangible canvases. Rather, she
presented herself as the work and offered tools and instructions to the crowd
to design masterpieces.
Yoko
Ono, Cut Piece, 1965.
5 . Y A
Y O I K U S A M A , 8
8
P O P A R T
Yayoi Kusama, a 88-year-old from Japan, is known to
be an instrumental figure amid the postwar noise with her themes featuring
psychedelic colors, repetition and pattern. The pop art consists of eye-popping
rooms full of light and mirrors to sweep her visitors off their feet. Kusama
often relies on the insertion of dazzling mirrored balls and pretty polka dots
in her exhibitions. In Kusama’s gallery room Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, she fused many mirrors and dozens of
LED lights to showcase a room full of infinities where one could escape to an
external environment. Magnificently, Kusama did not let her dark days and
unfortunate times overcome her. In its place, she overcame those moments with
the power of art and gained the support of others.
 |
| Yoyoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, 2013. |
Regardless of the time period, all five women
featured discovered what they wanted people to feel in terms of their creation
and the underlying message. At age 30, Petra Cortight established her calling
in digital expressiveness. While at age 88, Yayoi Kusama continues to deliver
powerful exhibitions to museums in our reach. Because each and every woman
recognized had taken their own approach towards art, the outcome is an art for
everyone. All in all, it is important that we take time from our busy lives to
enjoy and appreciate their pieces when we have the chance. Because their art is
all … it’s –
Works Cited
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