The Taschen Collection: Art of our time
By Marga Paz
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As shown by these exhibits, this cultural shift which enabled popular culture to enter the formerly exclusive realm of high art - the one enshrined by museums - has continued to prove subversive, and has even come to be viewed as an integral part of the creative process.
The appearance of the quotidian in the realm of art dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century, when avant-garde artists began to be attracted to the new vernacular emanating from the modern industrial city, conveyed in the form of posters, advertising, newspapers and so forth. Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso and Fernand Leger, to name but a few, all succumbed to this influence when creating new forms of expression.
Marcel Duchamp, with his Readymades, took a decisive step toward elevating prosaic objects to the level of art; most famously with his inclusion of the urinal signed under the pseudonym "R. Mutt" in the 1917 "Armory Show". However, it was not until the mid-1970s that Pop Art succeeded in blurring the lines between merchandise and works of art, thanks to artists like Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Their work was essential in surmounting the marked division between high and low art. Forming the origin of modernity, this process is reaching its climax.
Following in the wake of the recovery of a pop tradition adapted to their immediate requirements, many contemporary artists continued to search for subjects and inspiration in pop culture, using alternative routes of reproduction and simulation. Among them is Cindy Sherman, who deconstructed myths of femininity by using stereotypes from the media (especially the entertainment industry) in a group of 69 black and white photographs called Untitled Film Stills (1977-1980). In this early series of imaginary shadow pictures she evokes various female characters drawn from Hollywood's B-movies, 1950s and 1960s European cinema, advertisements and television series - in the dual role of photographer and model.
Since then, Sherman has been the subject and object of her images, through which she continues to probe the conventions of female representation in pop culture. In one of her most recent series, she turns the icons of "high culture" on their heads, going so far as to commit the irreverent act of appropriating canonized art for her own purposes. Her perverse re-interpretations of old paintings, starring none other than herself, sends a distinct message to the grand and untouchable tradition of the history of Western art.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
As shown by these exhibits, this cultural shift which enabled popular culture to enter the formerly exclusive realm of high art - the one enshrined by museums - has continued to prove subversive, and has even come to be viewed as an integral part of the creative process.
The appearance of the quotidian in the realm of art dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century, when avant-garde artists began to be attracted to the new vernacular emanating from the modern industrial city, conveyed in the form of posters, advertising, newspapers and so forth. Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso and Fernand Leger, to name but a few, all succumbed to this influence when creating new forms of expression.
Marcel Duchamp, with his Readymades, took a decisive step toward elevating prosaic objects to the level of art; most famously with his inclusion of the urinal signed under the pseudonym "R. Mutt" in the 1917 "Armory Show". However, it was not until the mid-1970s that Pop Art succeeded in blurring the lines between merchandise and works of art, thanks to artists like Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Their work was essential in surmounting the marked division between high and low art. Forming the origin of modernity, this process is reaching its climax.
Following in the wake of the recovery of a pop tradition adapted to their immediate requirements, many contemporary artists continued to search for subjects and inspiration in pop culture, using alternative routes of reproduction and simulation. Among them is Cindy Sherman, who deconstructed myths of femininity by using stereotypes from the media (especially the entertainment industry) in a group of 69 black and white photographs called Untitled Film Stills (1977-1980). In this early series of imaginary shadow pictures she evokes various female characters drawn from Hollywood's B-movies, 1950s and 1960s European cinema, advertisements and television series - in the dual role of photographer and model.
Since then, Sherman has been the subject and object of her images, through which she continues to probe the conventions of female representation in pop culture. In one of her most recent series, she turns the icons of "high culture" on their heads, going so far as to commit the irreverent act of appropriating canonized art for her own purposes. Her perverse re-interpretations of old paintings, starring none other than herself, sends a distinct message to the grand and untouchable tradition of the history of Western art.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Taschen Collection
Hardcover, 29.7 x 42 cm (11.7 x 16.5 in.), 254 pages
$ 70.00
$ 70.00
The Benedikt Taschen Collection on show at Reina Sofía
Benedikt Taschen's office in Cologne with Jeff Koon's Ilona with Ass Up, 1990. Foto: TASCHEN, Eric Laignel, 2001
TASCHEN publishing house, editorial department, with photos by Helmut Newton from SUMO. Foto: TASCHEN, Eric Laignel, 2001