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Art Gaf: The most important (Figurative) artists of the 21 Century

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Flek

Banned
So yeha, i have to write and talk about one artist/painter (i have to chose) of the 21 Century who had at least 1 big influential art piece in the last 10 years. It isn´t a must but would be good if he had done Figurative Art.

As i said i can freely chose one, but unfortunately iam totally lacking the knowledge of 21 century art so please art gaf recommend me some good artists :)
 
If we're merely talking on levels of influence, I don't think there's an acceptable answer outside of Shepard Fairey or Banksy. Then again, I'm not really an expert.
 
Maurizio Cattelan - Him (2001):

Cattelan_Maurizio-Him.jpg


Damien Hirst - For The Love of God (2007):

220px-Hirst-Love-Of-God.jpg
 

Salazar

Member
I would say Jeffrey Smart, but his work in the last ten years is eclipsed by his stuff in the 80s and early 90s.
 

amar212

Member
You should choose Bosnian/Croatian master Mersad Berber.

He's absolutely a 20th century master, but since he's still working, exhibiting and getting Grand Prix awards worldwide, he should fit into your search.

He is a unique but humble genius and his multi-technique work is really something worth exploring.

203.jpg

berber1.jpg

Mersad-Berber-2.jpg

licno.jpg
 

Flek

Banned
awesome ideas so far (besides the comic book guy) i know for example that others want to talk about Gerhard richter
 

Popstar

Member
Takashi Murakami has been a fairly influential artist. Especially through his his whole "superflat" concept which was from the year 2000 or so. He's also had a more traditional art education and career than someone like Shepard Fairey if that matters.

James Jean seems to be the current artist of worship for every concept artist in the entertainment industry. But I have no idea if he's even been heard of in the more insular 'high art' world.
 
It was pretty wild seeing Banksy stuff before he was "Banksy the famous artist guy." It was just so weird and funny to see it popping up with no explanation.
 

exhume

Member
Camille Rose Garcia, Mark Ryden, Ron English, kozyndan and Dominic McGill would be my picks.

Also everyone in your class will probably do Banksy.
 

noah111

Still Alive
It was pretty wild seeing Banksy stuff before he was "Banksy the famous artist guy." It was just so weird and funny to see it popping up with no explanation.
Yeah, most definitely. I remember a few of those days, it had a lot more impact that way imo..
 
Yeah, most definitely. I remember a few of those days, it had a lot more impact that way imo..



part of the problem is that Banksy is emulated so much for commercial purposes. I'm very sick of seeing "contrast two things" everywhere, especially on "designer" t-shirts. It's like, come up with two things that contrast to make some statement + vector art (or some other popular style) and bam! money. It's just unfortunate for Banksy that coming up with two meaningfully contrasting things is so easy. And I'm not lodging a "my kid could do that" criticism because he came up with it first. It's more like the guy who came up with the first napkin was brilliant, but it's not exactly difficult to reproduce the concept.

of course, the imitators can't/don't do the awesome public placement of work like Banksy.
 

zoukka

Member
All known masters are commercialized at some point and imitations rise instantly. It doesn't make the origian works less meaningful.
 
part of the problem is that Banksy is emulated so much for commercial purposes. I'm very sick of seeing "contrast two things" everywhere, especially on "designer" t-shirts. It's like, come up with two things that contrast to make some statement + vector art (or some other popular style) and bam! money. It's just unfortunate for Banksy that coming up with two meaningfully contrasting things is so easy. And I'm not lodging a "my kid could do that" criticism because he came up with it first. It's more like the guy who came up with the first napkin was brilliant, but it's not exactly difficult to reproduce the concept.

of course, the imitators can't/don't do the awesome public placement of work like Banksy.

I understand your complaint completely, particularly the bolded.
 
All known masters are commercialized at some point and imitations rise instantly. It doesn't make the origian works less meaningful.



of course, and just in case you think I'm saying his work is less meaningful, I'm definitely not. I've kind of grown to hate stuff like almost every artist on threadless and the other ways in which his style is used. His work still impresses me and his ability to stay anonymous is pretty awesome too.

The interesting part about banksy's commercialization is that I feel like it's everywhere and dispersed in higher concentrations compared to other commercialized artists. It's so easy to make cool t-shirts, hoodies, and advertisements with Banksy-type work. I feel like it's always in my face, but I also live in a trendy part of town.
 

Fritz

Member
I understand your complaint completely, particularly the bolded.

True story:

Years ago my flatmate took a traffic sign banksy stenciled one of the early rats on here in Berlin. Through some loophole he got the city to transfer the property rights to him, then sold it for an incredible sum. I would have to pull the exact number out of my ass so I just leave it as is but it was enough to open his own high-end art gallery.

One of the few cases where money actually lay on the streets and he picked it up. So jealous.
 

Fritz

Member
This isn't going to be one of those threads where we will never learn what the OP chose eventually, is it Flek?
 

Flek

Banned
probably won´t be such a thread fritz

ban sky would be a good choice but i have to talk to the prof if thats ok or not.

Otherwise iam still looking at the recommended artists. Takashi Murakami looks like a fun choice too.

Maybe someone know a graphic designer gone artist (or vise versa) that i could use !? Would be more in my focus of interests

Important: A fellower informed me that it has to be a PAINTER so guys like Ai Weiwei are out :(
 

Ashes

Banned
So yeha, i have to write and talk about one artist/painter (i have to chose) of the 21 Century who had at least 1 big influential art piece in the last 10 years. It isn´t a must but would be good if he had done Figurative Art.

As i said i can freely chose one, but unfortunately iam totally lacking the knowledge of 21 century art so please art gaf recommend me some good artists :)

Are you asking us to do part of your homework for you?
 

Ashes

Banned
no unless you want to write about this (not yet chosen) artists and do a presentation for me.

So not even part of it... now you're chancing on full on help?

ah what do I care... :p

This is a bit more efficient than a search engine I suppose. Good luck with the whole thing.
 

Fritz

Member
Painters only would certainly point to Murakami. He does sculptures and videos but he is predominantly a painter imo.
 

Popstar

Member
This thread has gotten me curious.

Has Hirst ever really done much painting? His dot paintings where mostly done by other people on his direction. Are there any Hirst portraits or whatever from early in his career out there?
 

SolKane

Member
Kind of hard to estimate influence over a period of but 11 years, but I'd say Doris Salcedo is worth mentioning.
 
12 years in only is too early.

But from the 20th century, even if not the most important, I'd say Francis Bacon. He was something else AND great.
 

SUPREME1

Banned
Banksy belongs in a cage with all other destroyers of private property.


Fuck him and his awesome politically charged graffiti.
 

thomaser

Member
My favourite is Pushwagner. A very, very eccentric Norwegian artist who is well-educated, but who became so damaged by alcohol and drugs that he spent many years living on the street in Oslo. Suddenly, around 10 years ago, he was "discovered", and now, at over 70, he's rich and famous. And still extremely weird.

I wish I had larger images of these first two pictures. They have an insane amount of detail. Lots of images here.

"Jobkill":
jobkill.jpg


Self portrait:
selvportrett.jpg


"Honk City":
346787-3.jpg


Edit: Wait, you said 21st century. Most of his works were made in the 1970s-80s. Sorry. But he wasn't famous or even known before 2000 or so. And he's still working at a great tempo.
 

Popstar

Member
Some of his paintings were revealed a few years ago. They were laughably amateurish and almost universally ridiculed.
Have a breeze. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8306638.stm

Damien Hirst needs to get himself a deviantart page.

Though don't know to what extent they have influential pieces of art, I'd add to my suggestion Julie Mehretu, and Karel Appel.

I think I maybe like Julie Mehretu. But I always find it hard to judge that sort of art from photos. That sort of thing always looks so different in person.

(your username makes me want to mention Toshi Iwai even though he isn't the type of artist the OP is looking for, so I just did)
 
Damien Hirst needs to get himself a deviantart page.



I think I maybe like Julie Mehretu. But I always find it to judge that sort of art from photos. That sort of thing always looks so different in person.

(your username makes me want to mention Toshi Iwai even though he isn't the type of artist the OP is looking for, so I just did)

Mehretu's works are usually pretty big IIRC so their impact is surely different in person.
Btw, Iwai is a great artist, though more focused on sound and technology.
 

Timbuktu

Member
I just went to a few shows and wondered why no one mentioned Richter or Hockney? They are often described as the most important living painters of Germany and UK respectively. The same was said of Liu xiodong when I saw his stuff in Taiwan.
 

Popstar

Member
I just went to a few shows and wondered why no one mentioned Richter or Hockney? They are often described as the most important living painters of Germany and UK respectively. The same was said of Liu xiodong when I saw his stuff in Taiwan.
Richter was mentioned near the beginning of the thread. But I'd say neither Richter or Hockney are really thought of as 21st century artists. Their fame came decades ago. Liu Xiodong seems like a good choice though.

Hey OP!, who did you end up choosing?
 
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