Presentation 1
Presentation 1
Presentation 1
and
Deconstructivism
(1970–present)
A style of post-1960s art which rejected
the traditional values and politically
conservative assumptions of its
predecessors, in favour of a wider,
more entertaining concept of art, using
new artistic forms enriched by video
and computer-based technology.
The term "postmodernist art" refers to a
wide category of contemporary art created
from about 1970 onwards.
Deconstructivism is a development of postmodern
architecture that began in the late 1980s. Deconstructivism
is influenced by the theory of Deconstruction, which is
a form of semiotic analysis. It is characterized by ideas of
fragmentation, an interest in manipulating ideas of a
structure's surface or skin.
Art without a center and reworking and mixing past styles
"Postmodernism" is not a movement, it's a general attitude.
Postmodernism, like modernism, follows most of these same ideas, rejecting boundaries
between high and low forms of art, rejecting rigid genre distinctions, emphasizing pastiche, parody,
bricolage, irony, and playfulness.
One of the most defining characteristics of deconstructivism is that it challenges conventional
ideas about form and order, as if the designs tried to liberate architecture and art from
preconceived rules. The forms often disturb our thinking and evoke uncertainty and
unpredictability. Through the controlled chaos, they challenge our own preconceptions.
The designs consist of irregular complex geometries, and the objects are often formed by several
different fragments put together without any apparent order.
Gerhard Richter
Cindy Sherman
Anselm Kiefer
Frank Gehry
Zaha Hadid
GERHARD RICHTER
"CANDLE", 1982
Gerhard Richter, (born February 9, 1932,
You might recognise this work from the cover Dresden, Germany), German painter known for
of Sonic Youth’s album “Daydream Nation”. his diverse painting styles and subjects. His
For photorealist paintings like this one, Richter deliberate lack of commitment to a single
blurred his motives using brushes, squeegees stylistic direction has often been read as an
or his hands. In his notes, he wrote: “I blur attack on the implicit ideologies embedded in
things so that they do not look artistic or the specific histories of painting.
craftsmanlike but technological, smooth and
perfect. I blur things to make all the parts a
closer fit."
Untitled #209, "History Portrait" Series (1989)
Artwork description & Analysis: In this three-quarter length,
Italian Renaissance-style portrait, Sherman takes on the
CINDY SHERMAN
persona of the Mona Lisa. Donning a 15th-century Italianate
dress, Sherman allies herself with one of art history's most American photographer and film
famous, iconic paintings. No true replica, the photo is meant director, best known for her
conceptual portraits. Sherman
to call to mind the original, without literally copying it, the currently lives and works in New
mental distance between the real and the imitation just barely York City. Art about the role and
apparent, yet somehow haunting. One might say that representation of women in society,
the media and the nature of the
Sherman suggests that viewers rethink their familiarity with creation of art.
the original and question how its conventions of depiction
continue to condition the way that even we, hundreds of
years later, regard every representation of the "Female."
Varus (1976)
ANSELM KIEFER
Artwork description & Analysis: Kiefer has stated that "our
stories begin in the forest," so it is not surprising that is a German artist who has explored his
forests are a recurring subject matter in his work. The country’s postwar identity, history, and
theme is rich with meaning for the artist, particularly as a mythology throughout his career. A painter,
sculptor, and installation artist, materiality
representation of German national identity as far back as figures heavily into Kiefer’s practice. His
the Teutonic era. It is this period that Varus references: the large-scale paintings achieve their
battle in the Teutoburg Forest, where in the year 9 BCE characteristic texture through his liberal
Hermann (Arminius), a deserter from the Roman army, in application of pigments combined with found
alliance with his native Germanic peoples, wiped out the organic matter, metal, and lead, resulting in
Romans under the command of Varus, who fell on his
stark, haunting images with an imposing
physicality.
sword after watching his men be massacred.
FRANK GEHRY