G-ARTS REVIEWER contemporary art had fewer

under its wing. Perhaps, this was

LESSON 9
also because it is still unfolding.

Reasons behind this cutoff:

Contemporary Art
1. The 1970s saw the emergence of
➢ Developed after the 1960s and "Postmodernism." The affix was a
still emerging. clue that whatever followed was
➢ It was the idea that was more segregated from its precursor.
important than its visual 2. The 1970s saw the decline of the
articulation. clearer identified artistic
➢ It turns the traditional paintings movements
and sculptures to more
Abstract Expressionism (early 1940s-
experimental formats.
mid 1960s)
➢ Contemporary art was heavily
driven by ideas and theories, and ➢ one of the early movements
the even the blurring of notions of which took the basic tenets of
what is and can be considered as abstraction and combined with it
"art," with the involvement of with gestural techniques, mark-
television, photography, cinema, marking, and a rugged
digital technology, performance, spontaneity in its visual
and even objects of the everyday. articulation.
➢ often affiliated with New York
Example of the Museums:
painters (hence being called the
• Institute of Contemporary Art in New York School)
London • Clayford Still
• New Museum of Contemporary • Jackson Pollock
Art in New York • Willem de Kooning
• Barnett Newman
Modern Art
• Mark Rothko
➢ Roughly between 1860s to late ➢ who were committed to creating
1970s. abstract works that had the ability
➢ Saw the digression of artist from to convey and elicit emotion,
the past conventions and especially those residing in the
traditions and toward freedom. subconscious. Two major styles
➢ Artist was committed to emerged:
developing a language of their 1. Action painting -
own original but representative. underscored the process of
➢ Compared to the dense creation in that it showed the
toxonomy of modern art, physicality, direction and most
 often, the spontaneity of the Kinetic Art (early 1950s onward)
actions that made the drips
➢ Harnessing the current and
and strokes possible.
direction of the wind, components
2. Color fields - emphasized the
of the artwork, which was
emotional power of colors.
predominantly sculptural, most
From the vivid demarcations
were mobiles and even motor-
to the more toned-down
driven machines, was an
transitions, these bands of
example of how art and
color were akin to the effect of
technology can be brought
landscapes
together.
Optical Art (early 1960s onward) • Theo Jansen – with his
massive sculptures or
➢ Much like what was discussed in
beasts, using plastic tubes
the lesson o n elements of art
and pvc, he has created
that dimension c a n be implied
several life forms that look
even on a two-dimensional
over the seaside.
surface or plane, op art relied on
creating a n illusion to inform the Gutai (early 1950s-1970s)
experience of the artwork using
➢ Which means embodiment of
color, pattern, and other
concreteness, it preceded the
perspective tricks that artists h a
later forms of performance and
d on their sleeves.
conceptual art.
➢ From making it seem like a
➢ Gutai straddled between multiple
section was protruding our or
platforms from performance,
receded in the background, to
theatrical events, installation, and
creating movement, works under
even painting. The founder of the
this movement showed a certain
Gutai Art Association or Gutai
kind of dynamism.
Group was Yoshihara Jirõ in
➢ Inspired several artists in different
1952. Other known gutal artists
countries to create their own
were:
iteration of op art:
• Tanaka Atsuko
• Hungarian artist Victor
• Saburō Murakami
Vasarely
• Kanayma Akira
• British artists Bridget Riley
and Peter Sedgley • Murakami Saburo
• American artist Richard • Shozo Simamoto
Anuszkiewics ➢ Entitled "Challenge to the Mud"
(1955), Kazuo Shiraga utilized his
• Israel artist Yaacov
body, writhing in a pile of mud.
Minimalism (early 1960s) Some of the artists that are most
identified with pop art:
➢ Another movement which
cropped up in New York and saw • Andy Warhol
artist testing the boundaries of • James Rosenquist
various media. It was seen as an • Claes Oldenburg
extreme type of abstraction that • Richard Hamilton
favored geometric shapes, color • Tom Wesselman
fields, and the use of objects and • Ed Ruscha
materials that had an "industrial" • Roy Lichtenstein
the sparse.
Postmodernism (1970)
Pop Art (1950s but found its footing
➢ it was grounded on the shifts in
footling in 1960s)
the belief systems that were in
➢ It drew inspiration, sources, and place in the 1960s. First used in
even materials from commercial 1970, the term was difficult to
culture, making it one of the most affix to any style or theory and
identifiable and relatable perhaps was the point.
movements in art history ➢ Postmodernism encroaches on
➢ The aim was to also elevate other smaller movements that
popular culture as something at included conceptual art, neo-
par with fine art. A defining expressionism, feminist art, and
feature was the discussions on the Young British Artists of the
the hierarchy (and divide 1990s, among others.
between) of "high culture" and ➢ Highlighted the importance of
"low culture"; "fine art" and "low individual experience and was
art." often steeped in complexity and
contradiction. As an upshot,
The following was an excerpt from a
formerly established rules.
letter written by Richard Hamilton, a pop
barriers, and distinctions were
artist, addressed to his friends Peter and
abolished.
Alison Smithson:
➢ The artist's creativity was in its
"Pop art is popular (designed for a mass most free with an "anything goes"
audience), transient (short- term disposition. Artworks fell within
solution), expendable (easily forgotten), the broad spectrum of the
low cost, mass produced, young (aimed humorous to controversial works
at youth), witty, sexy, gimmicky, that challenged not only taste but
glamorous, big business." (Hamilton, also former sensibilities and
1957 styles.
Contemporary Arts and Neo Pop Art Andrew Warhol Jr.; August 6, 1928 –
February 22, 1987
Contemporary Art
- American visual artist, film
➢ One of the main developments
director, and producer.
during this time was the turn from
- A leading figure in the visual
the traditional notions of what art
art movement known as pop
is, from paintings, sculptures to
art.
the more experimental formats.
- Works explore the relationship
These included films,
between artistic expression,
photography, video, performance,
advertising, and celebrity
installations, site-specific works
culture that flourished by the
and earth works. Even these
1960.
formats tended to overlap,
leading to interesting and Katharina Fritsch (born 14 February
dynamic, and otherwise “unheard 1956)
of” combinations of concepts,
- A German sculptor.
subjects, materials, techniques,
- Known for her sculptures and
and methods of creation,
installations that reinvigorate
experience and even analysis.
familiar objects with a jarring
➢ Compared to other periods, it can
and uncanny sensibility.
be argued that contemporary art
• Rattenkönig/Rat king,
is the most socially aware and
1993
involved form of art. The subject
• Hahn/Cock, 2010
matter of its works was one of the
most pressing, heated, and even Daniel Edwards (born 1965)
controversial issues of
- American contemporary artist.
contemporary society
- Pieces address celebrity and
Other Contemporary Art Movements popular culture.
• Monument to Pro Life
• Neo-Pop Art
- In the 1980s there was a • The Birth of Sean
renewed interest in Pop Art Preston
specifically, to Andy Warhols • The Death of Prince
worlds and his Harry
contemporaries. What made it
different from opo art was that
it appropriated some of the
first ideas of Dada on which
ready-made materials were
used for the artwor
Jeffrey Lynn Koons (born January 21, Photorealism
1955)
➢ A painstaking attention to detail is
- American artist. aimed, without asserting an
- Work dealing with popular artist’s personal style.
culture and his sculptures ➢ A photo without a direct reference
depicting everyday objects. to the artist who created it.
• Puppy
CHUCK CLOSE (July 5, 1940 –
Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – August 19, 2021)
February 16, 1990)
➢ Chuck Close was an American
- American artist. painter, visual artist, and
- Animated imagery has photographer who made
"become a widely recognized massive-scale photorealist and
visual language". abstract portraits of himself and
• Untitled (Family) others. Close also created photo
• The Political Line portraits using a very large format
camera. He adapted his painting
Kalev Mark Kostabi (born: November style and working methods in
27, 1960) 1988, after being paralyzed by an
- American artist and composer occlusion of the anterior spinal
- Known for his paintings of artery. He died on August 19,
faceless figures 2021.
• The Enemy Within - Artwork 1: Big Self Portrait
• Best Buddies - Date: 1967-1968
- Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Damien Steven Hirst (born: 7 June - Artwork 2: Self-Portrait
1965) (yellow raincoat)
- English artist - Date: 2013
- Entrepreneur - Medium: Jacquard Tapestry
- Art collector GERHARD RICHTER (February 9,
- Young British Artists (YBAs) 1932)
who dominated the art scene
in the UK during the 1990s ➢ Gerhard Richter is a German
• The Physical visual artist. Richter has
Impossibility of Death produced abstract as well as
in the Mind of photorealistic paintings and also
Someone Living photographs and glass pieces.
He is widely regarded as one of
the most important contemporary
➢ German artists and several
 ➢ of his works have set record • Jenny Holzer is an
prices at auction. American neo-
- Work: Candle, 1892 conceptual artist,
➢ For photorealist paintings like this based in Hoosick, New
one, Richter blurred his motives York. The main focus of
using brushes, squeegees or his her work is the delivery
hands. In his notes, he wrote: “I of words and ideas in
blur things so that they do not public spaces and
look artistic or crafts manlike but includes large-scale
technological, smooth and installations,
perfect. I blur things to make all advertising billboards,
the parts a closer fit." projections on buildings
and other structures,
Conceptualism
and illuminated
➢ “In conceptual art, the idea or electronic displays
concept is the most important
Works:
aspect of the work. When an
artist uses a conceptual form of - “Living Series: Some days…”
art, it means that all the planning - UNEX Sign #1
and decisions are made (Selection from the Survival
beforehand, and the execution is Series)
a perfunctory affair.” (LeWitt,
1967) ➢ Damien Hirst
➢ Other movements were informed • Born: June 7, 1965 –
and shaped by pop art, such as Bristol England
conceptualism. • Movement: Young British
➢ As opposed to celebrating Artist
commodities as references to real • Damien Steven Hirst, a
life, conceptualism fought against British assemblagist,
the idea that are art is a painter, and conceptual
commodity. artist whose deliberately
Majors Conceptual Artists: provocative art addresses
vanitas and beauty, death,
➢ Jenny Holzer and rebirth, and medicine,
• Born: July 29, 1950 – technology, and mortality.
Gallipolis, Ohio
Works:
• Movements and Styles:
Conceptual Art, - Tranquility
Installation Art, East
Village Art
 - The Physical Impossibility of spontaneous, done live or
Death in the Mind of Someone recorded. Considered as
Living ephemeral works of art works of
art and durational in nature
➢ Ai Wei Wei ➢ Performance is not about a
• Born: May 18, 1957 – medium or the format, it is how a
Beijing, China specific context is made in which
• Ai Weiwei is famous for through engagement or
conceptual artworks that interaction, questions, concern,
challenge authority and and conditions will be fleshed out.
explore the links between • Mona Hatoum Photographs:
the contemporary world Plastic Bag – Performance Art
and traditional Chinese - dance, music, opera, theatre
culture. His photographs, and musical theatre, magic,
sculptures, films, illusion, mime, spoken word,
performances, and puppetry, circus arts,
installations earned him ire professional wrestling and
from the Chines performance art.
government, which
Installation Art
imprisoned him for 81 days
in 2011 and razed his ➢ Allan Kaprow, Yayaoi Kusama,
studio in 2018. and Dale Chihuly – Well-known
installation artist.
Work: Sunflower Seeds, 2010
➢ An immersive work, where the
Medium: Porcelain environment or the space in
which the viewer steps into or
interacts with is transformed and
Performance Art alter.
➢ Large scale installation arts make
➢ Related to conceptual Art whose
use of a host of objects,
roster of well-known artist include
materials, conditions, and even
the like of Marina Abramovic,
light and aural components.
Yoko Ono, and Joseph Beuys.
➢ May also considered site-specific
1960 - Movement began and
or maybe temporary or
instead of being concerned with
ephemeral in nature.
entertaining its audience, the
• Five angels for the new
heart of the artwork is its idea of
millennium by Sothern
message.
California artist Bill Viola.
➢ The audience may even be an
- Very much computer
accomplice to the realization of
manipulated
the work. This can be planned,
 - Other examples: 3D objects, ➢ An alternative place to know
Life sized sculpture, oneself and to look at the depths
Holograms and meaning of what we are
doing in our daily lives (Narciso,
Earth Art
2016)
➢ Land art or earth art is art that is ➢ Has the origin from the Greek
made directly in the landscape, word poieo, meaning to be author
sculpting the land itself into or maker of something: or
earthworks or making structures poiesis, which means to bring
in the landscape using natural something into concealment or to
materials such as rocks or twigs. bring something that did not exist
It is formed as an art when the before into being.
natural environment or s specific
THE ROLE OF SOULMAKING IN ART
site is transformed by artists.
➢ Artists known for Earth Art are Soulmaking is an activity of:
Robert Smithson, Christo,
• Knowing oneself better
Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy,
• Understanding life’s depth and
and Jeanne-Claude.
essence
Street Art • Evaluating what oneself does
• Learning from everyday
➢ Street art is a form of artwork
experience
that is displayed in public on
surrounding buildings, on When the soul is enriched, our deepest
streets, trains and other creative impulses are energized set in
publicly viewed surfaces. Some motion.
of the examples of these include
Crafting Images
murals, stenciled images,
stickers, and installations or ➢ Representing personal
installative/ sculptural objects perspectives with visions of
usually out of common objects image.
and techniques. Known street
Crafting Stories
artists include Michel Basquiat,
Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey, ➢ The moment we write, engrave,
and Bansk and inscribe our own thoughts,
ideas, commentaries, criticism,
LESSON 10
and positive and negative
Soulmaking emotions, we are crafting stories.
Stories that can be presented in
➢ It’s a form of creating stories or
any from – image, words, objects,
transforming shorts moments into
and musical composition.
an image or symbols
Crafting Instruments Improvisation

➢ An instrument creates sound ➢ It can be defined as doing

which is said to be “a bridge to something without prior.
the unknown. preparation in originative way
➢ It has become an integral part of
Crafting Movements
the arts in the present context.
➢ Life is movement, full of different
Appropriation
rhythms, and full of flowing
images accompanied by ➢ It is the use pre-existing objects
narratives. or images with little or no
transformation applied.
Crafting Techniques
➢ Appropriation of art has been a
➢ Provides the artist’s reflection of common practice throughout
his life and experiences in any history.
piece of art.
LESSON 11
THE 5 PHASES OF SOULMAKING
Art in Asia
➢ Seeking (finding) - Point of self
➢ When ancient civilizations in Asia
recognition and knowing that
flourished, trade became a very
each of us is a seeker.
important activity.
➢ Setting - Communication with the
➢ China is one of the oldest
soul, with other human and
civilizations in Asia, has a rich
nonhuman beings (and this
history when it comes to culture
means the future of humans and
and the arts.
nonhumans) and with the world
➢ Japan was initially influenced by
➢ Surrendering - Takes us up and
China in terms of the arts.
throws us down; calls for the
➢ Later on, they opened
wounds we bear to be accepted;
themselves to Western world,
forces us to spend time living in
allowing for the fusion of East and
the darkness
West.
➢ Soulmaking - Where we start
➢ Both Chinese and Japanese
growing up with some wisdom
artworks are concrete
looking for the welfare of others
manifestations of their cultural
➢ Soaring - Conquering our world
identity as a people.
experiences of the material
➢ Philippine art was a product of
realities to travel which does not
several periods in history
happen if we only want to fly
spanning from the pre-colonial
period to the contemporary time
CHINESE ART – In the present context, ➢ Indian models inspired a lot of
China is at the forefront of economic Chinese artists for a few
development. Its booming economy has centuries.
led to its modernization. ➢ Chinese artist started making art
that highlighted their very own
➢ In addition, history shows that
culture.
China has been at the leading
➢ Paintings usually depicted
edge of development especially
magical places and realms that
in terms of cultural development.
were born out of sheer
➢ China in the past were able to
imagination while still infusing the
produce primitive artisan works.
Chinese characters that define
➢ Pieces show bronze vessels with
their culture.
intricate designs depicting a lot of
imagery dialing from the second MOST PAINTINGS - were done in
millennium BCE. monumental styles wherein rocks and
mountains served as a barrier.
THE CHINESE DURING THE ZHOU
DYNASTY ➢ Main subject of the work
➢ Rounded forms rise in a way that
➢ Was under a feudal kind of social
it flows from the background into
system.
the foreground.
➢ It was a parallel period with that
➢ Artist also used sharp
of Greece’s Golden Aga.
brushstrokes.
➢ During this period metal works
befitting the royal family were WESTERN LANDSCAPES - usually
produced in abundance. had a single vanishing point while
➢ Jade was also a popular choice CHINESE paintings had the opposite
of material for artworks. since most paintings aimed to give the
audience a multiple perspective on the
CONFUCIANISM - was dominant way of
subject.
life subscribed to by the general public.
PORCELAIN- is one of the most
➢ Confucius believed that in order
commonly used items to make
for society to work, one must
decorative ornaments.
learn how to sympathize to
others. ➢ This can be attributed to the
tradition of passing down the
THE CHINESE - also had interactions
artistry from one generation to the
with Western missionaries who came
next.
from India and brought some Indian
➢ The focal point in these vases
influences on China.
depicts a central theme, NATURE
➢ They believe that man is an
integral part of nature ensuring
 that there is a certain balance in HANIWA HOUSE
it.
➢ The haniwa are terracotta clay
➢ Their culture is emphasizing a
figures that were made for ritual
form of social life, giving
use and buried with the dead as
importance to communities and
funerary objects during the kofun
interactions among people
period of the history of Japan.
CHINESE ARTWORKS - include every Haniwa were created according
everyday activity, war and violence, to the wazumi technique, in which
death, and nature. mounds of coiled clay were built
up to shape the figure, layer by
➢ Chinese artworks are infused with
layer.
a lot of symbolism
Brief history of Japanese art
ART - becomes an avenue for the artist
to convey his reflection of the things he ➢ Historically, Japan has been
is aware of. subject to sudden invasions of
new ideas followed by long
➢ It is customary for the Ancient
periods of contact minimized with
Chinese people to show respect
the outside world. Over time the
for their ancestors and departed
Japanese have developed the
relatives.
ability to absorb, imitate and
➢ From a Western point of view,
finally assimilate those elements
this reverence of the Chinese can
of foreign culture that
be mistaken for
complemented their aesthetic
➢ as that worshipping gods.
preferences
➢ Most of the departed of the
ancient Chinese were placed in UKIYO-E
either gold or bronze vessels,
➢ Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese
depending on their social statue.
art which flourished from the 17th
JAPANESE ART through 19th centuries
➢ Its artist produced woodblock
➢ Japanese art covers a wide range
prints and paintings of such
of art styles and means of
subjects as female beauties
expression including ceramics,
kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers’
sculpture, painting and
scenes from history, folk tales
calligraphy on silk and paper the
travel scenes, landscapes flora
ukiyo-e paintings woodblock
and fauna and erotica.
prints origami and more manga
➢ It seeks to portray the regular life
along with a myriad of other types
of Japan’s common people.
of artworks.
➢ Subgenres blossomed beneath
ukiyo-e’s artistic umbrella to
 become known as its primary influenced many western artist
motifs. Imaginary of beautiful and movements such as
women, erotica, portraits of impressionism, art nouveau, and
subjects with big heads, bird and modernis
flower pictures, and renditions of
PHILIPPINE ART
iconic natural landscape such as
mount Fiji ➢ Throughout Philippine history,
➢ Also, ukiyo-e cultural traditions spanning from the precolonial
and belief help create the anime period to the contemporary art
character we see. scene.

Other facts about Japanese art (caslib Pottery - is said to be one of the earliest
et al., 2018) art forms used by the early Filipino
people.
➢ One of the first forms of
Japanese art that found its wat MANUNGGAL JAR found in Palawan
across the seas to Europe and
➢ Is largely made from clay and it
America. Its influence is known
measures 51.5 cm wide and 66.5
as japonism, which profoundly
cm high.
influenced many western artists
➢ This remarkable piece comes
and movements such as
from the head-hunting tribe:
impressionism, art nouveau, and
“IFUGAO” in the Cordillera
modernism.
mountains on the island of Luzon
➢ Shintoism, a native religion of
in the Philippines.
Japan which adheres to beliefs
➢ It serves as a burial jar, which
like being one with nature and
depicts two men rowing a boat.
embracing the idea pf polytheism,
did not use art to communicate its The weaving culture in the Philippines
belief. When Buddhism was dates back to the 13th century. The
integral to Japanese culture, art traditions make use of raw materials like
like sculptures of buddha was local cotton, abaca, fibres, and
created and structures such as pineapple.
Buddhist temples were erected
on key places. Thus, art became
an expression of worship among
the Japanese.
➢ Ukiyo-e one of the first forms of
Japanese art that found its way
across the seas to Europe and
America; its influence is known as
japonism, which is profoundly
T’BOLI Spoliarium

➢ was the kind of painting that lent

itself to the patriotic needs od
Filipinos and on which Rizal and
others projected a nationalistic
symbolism that helped rouse the
Filipinos to rise up against the
political oppression of their
Spanish colonizer

Wood carvings from PALAWAN.

➢ In Mindanao, the Tausog and

Maranao people are known for
their okir, which are design
applied to their woodcarvings.
➢ Sarimanok is a style design of a
mythical bird either, standing on a
fish or holding a piece of fish on
its beak.
➢ Sarimanok comes from the words
“sari” and “manok”
➢ Sari means cloth or garment,
which is generally of assorted
colors.
➢ Manok, which makes up part of
its name in the Philippines word
for chicken.

One of the most famous works that

expressed Filipino nationalism stood
against the colonizers would be “Juan
Luna’s Spoliarium.”