Contemporary practices and practitioners

Contemporary practices and practitioners

Contemporary Practices

  • Performance Art: Incorporates live presentations by artists. The body is often the medium of expression.
  • Digital Art: Explores the use of technology as an art medium. Examples include digital painting, video art, and virtual reality experiences.
  • Public Art: Created in public spaces and often sponsored by public commissions. Sculptures, murals, and installations are commonly seen.
  • Environmental Art: Artistic practice seeks interaction with nature and focuses on environmental issues. It can include land art, eco-art, and sustainable art.
  • Bio Art: Utilises scientific processes such as biotechnology and genetic engineering. Challenges the boundaries between art, science, and ethics.
  • Installation Art: Emphasises the viewer’s experience by creating immersive environments. Can leverage a variety of materials and technologies.

Key Practitioners

  • Banksy: Anonymous England-based street artist known for satire-rich graffiti and public stencils. Explores social and political themes.
  • Marina Abramović: Serbian performance artist known for her physically intense and emotionally charged pieces. Pioneer of performance as a visual art.
  • Yayoi Kusama: Japanese artist with works in painting, sculpture, installation, and performance. Known for her immersive infinity mirror rooms.
  • Ai Weiwei: Chinese contemporary artist and activist. Incorporates various media - sculpture, installation, architecture, and photography - to address societal and political issues.
  • Olafur Eliasson: Danish-Icelandic artist known for large-scale installation art. Utilises elemental materials to explore our relationship with nature and perception.
  • Damien Hirst: English artist and leading figure of the Young British Artists during the 1990s. Known for provocative works, including animals in formaldehyde and diamond-encrusted skulls.
  • Patricia Piccinini: Australian artist recognised for her sculptural works in silicone. Explores themes of bioethics, evolution, and our relationship to nature.
  • Jeff Koons: American artist known for large-scale sculptures that play with popular culture references. Works include Balloon Dog and oversized metallic tulips.