I recently stumbled upon a bunch of artists through online research and via recommendation by other artists. Some of these names I had heard before, but didn’t realize they were contemporary – aka still alive!
Jeff Koons. He is known for working with popular culture subjects and his massive sculptures of everyday objects, most commonly balloon animals, in stainless steel that have mirror-finish surface. I didn’t realize how controversial he is in the art world; as a former Wall Street trader, Koons does not create the artworks himself but has a studio of assistant who works on them. He recently unveiled a sculpture commemorating the victims of the Paris terrorist attack. Read the NY Times article here.
Ai Weiwei. Perhaps one of my favorite artists for his political activism. He is a champion for human’s rights, and openly opposed to the Chinese government. I was actually blessed to go to his Hirshorn exhibit back in 2017 when I was living in Washington, D.C., which focused on portraits of famous political activists in exile and graphic patterns of surveillance.
David Hockney. He is an English painter, printmaker, and an important figure the pop art movement of the 1960s. Today he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. He is still alive at 82 years old and still working on art! I’m intrigued by this celestial garden and perspectives that invite the viewer into the painting.
Jenny Saville. She is known for her large-scale painted depictions of nude and voluptuous women. In 2018 she became the world’s most expensive woman artist after her painting Propped sold for $12.4 million at a Sotheby’s sale. When Propped was first shown in 1997 in Charles Saatchi’s infamous exhibition, Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Gallery at the Royal Academy of Art, it had a huge mirror hung opposite it so that the viewer could turn away from the picture, read the text in work , and implicate themselves in the artwork. The words are a french quote from acclaimed French feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray that explores the interactions of men and women. It translates to: “If we continue to speak in this sameness–speak as men have spoken for centuries, we will fail each other. Again, words will pass through our bodies, above our heads and make us disappear.” Read this interesting 2016 interview with the artist where she explains her art here.
MONICA HEISER 