On October 9, 1999 New York Time Magazine published an article about the importance of Matthew Barney, a performance artist. Barney came onto the scene in 1991 after making the cover of Artforum before his exhibition at Gladstone. His first solo show to be viewed at Gladstone was a videotape called "Blind Perineum." Barney instantly became successful and since then his work has only got better and stranger. His early works consisted of elaborate sexual and biological allusions and references to sports and fashion. His work was gender-bending and body-oriented; however it was also meant to be funny and silly. It was also meant to have its own strange glamour. He produces films and videos, most of which he performs in. Barney and his crew also make all the sculptures and objects for the films. The sculptures, photographs, books, and films are all expressions in different forms of the same ideas. Barney's works of art are a mix of autobiography, history, and private symbolism. He carries out death-defying acts and wears elaborate makeup. One of his most famous works was "Cremaster", a sequence of five films that took several years to complete. The films were wordless and shown on video monitors, along with his sculptures. They were slow-moving and weidly hypnotic taken place in desolate settings. The films became visually more deluxe as the series went on. Barney is now considered to be the most important American artist of his generation due to his big imagination.
Wednesday, March 2
The Installation art movement came into prominence in the 1970's. It describes an artistic genre of three dimensional works that are created to transform a viewers perception of space. It also changes the notion of what the artist does with the space. Space is utilized as energy and allows the viewer to look at many things instead of just one. Many installation art pieces have been created in museums and galleries as well as public places. These pieces incorporate many everyday and natural materials and are site specific (only designed for the space in which they were created in). An example of installation art is "Pharmacy" by Damien Hirst. "Pharmacy" is a room sized installation piece. It represents a real pharmacy setting with cabinets that contain bottles and prescription drugs. On the counter of the pharmacy there are four bottles that represent the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Damien Hirst's intent was for each of his works to have meaning and contemplation.
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