Postmodernism is a contemporary art movement associated with post-industrial societies that questions traditional boundaries and concepts of art and creativity. It draws from multiple art traditions and references contemporary culture through methods like irony, parody, appropriation, and quotation. Postmodern art is grounded in theories like Marxism, feminism, and psychoanalysis.

1. POST MODERNITY A contemporary art movement associated with post-industrial societies. It usually breaks the boundaries of art and questions the concept of creativity and the original. It often draws from several art traditions, yet refers to contemporary culture. Postmodernism uses methods of irony and parody of quotation and appropriation. It is grounded in French cultural theories, as well as Marxism, feminism & psychoanalysis.” p. 92 Senior ArtWise definitions a widely used term for progressive art of the 1980’s and 1990’s which involves the challenging of traditions, such as categories of media and the concept of originally. Postmodern artists often utilise art from a previous time to imply new meanings and to question past values. p. 92 Senior ArtWise Anne Zahalka “The Cleaner” 1987 Jan Vermeer “Artist’s Studio” Yasumasu Morimura “Vermeer Study 2004

2. Lee Bull Tracey Moffatt Gordon Bennett Rosalie Gascoigne Bill Henson Yasumasa Morimura Rosemary Laing Post Modernity Cindy Sherman AESF MP & MP Rosado

3. One of Postmodernism’s key elements is the relationship between various levels of seeing, looking and appreciation. This element is explored with past trends & art history in mind, and in the belief that in the rush to create something new many important and valuable pointers to human experience and thinking have been lost After Modernity MP & MP Rosado

4. context Post Modernity ? similacrum text archaeology parody humour isms feminism post colonialism technology

5. isms Postmodernism is closely allied with several contemporary academic disciplines, most notably those connected with sociology. Many of its assumptions are integral to feminist and post-colonial theory . Some identify the burgeoning anti-establishment movements of the 1960s as the earliest trend out of cultural modernity toward postmodernism…….. it is fair to assume that postmodernism represents an accumulated disillusionment with the promises of the Enlightenment project and its progress of science, so central to modern thinking The movement has had diverse political ramifications: its anti-ideological insights appear conducive to, and strongly associated with, the feminist movement , racial equality movements, gay rights movements , most forms of late 20th century anarchism , even the peace movement and various hybrids of these in the current anti-globalization movement . Unsurprisingly, none of these institutions entirely embraces all aspects of the postmodern movement, but reflect or, in true postmodern style, borrow from some of its core ideas. “ I was socialised into an essentially Anglo-Saxon Eurocentric society where attitudes to indigenous people still seemed entrenched at a Social-Darwinist level…….predominantly derogatory opinions about indigenous people are exchanged with unquestioning ease and assurance” Art Now –p.42 - 4Victoria Lynn, Strangers in Paradise,AGNSW, Sydney,1992,p.22 GORDON BENNETT – Self portrait 1990 feminism Cindy Sherman’s photographs from the 1980’s assume a feminine perspective in their attention to issues such as sex stereotyping and attempt to make us consider the manner in which women are portrayed in the media P17 Art Now

6. context Meaning is determined by many factors the most significant of these being context Meaning is not intrinsic to the work as where it exists and how it is mentally apprehended by the viewer constitutes the interpretation which is given. Through the technologies of reproduction an image may change context in an infinite variety of forms.

7. context The real object still exists, but even it is subject to contextural changes physical object textural object represented object

8. simulacrum The image replaces that which it purportedly represents. There is no original. There is no original sign, symbol or object of which there are so many copies – there is only a first

9. archaeology To dig through the history of an artwork, finding fragments which contribute towards its present context, meaning etc.

10. text Since, in postmodern thought, the "text" is a series of "markings" whose meaning is imputed by the reader, and not by the author, this play is the means by which the reader constructs or interprets the text, and the means by which the author gains a presence in the reader's mind. Play then involves invoking words in a manner which undermines their authority, by mocking their assumptions or style, or by layers of misdirection as to the intention of the author . ‘ text’ is everything which is and surrounds the work, it includes; The art object The artist The culture The origins of the artwork – it’s style Appropriation of the image Things that have been written about the work The debate that surrounds it if it is controversial All these things add to the textural meaning of the artwork through its textural context. A LITERARY ANALOGY The boldness of the print,the borders of the page, the quality of the paper, footnotes, are all instances of “apparently peripheral fragments” which contribute towards textural meaning. (Eagleton, 1989)

11. Artists viewpoints & influences changed low verses high art Challenging authority Mass media Parallel fields – art & advertising Blurring of boundaries Culture of the immediate – on demand cynicism individuality

12. Parallel fields: art & advertising Kruger's work addresses the cultural representations of power, identity and sexuality, and challenges the spectacles of stereotypes and cliches. Since 1980, her work with pictures and words has developed into a highly recognizable, consistent visual language. In her iconic photo/text montages, the artist juxtaposes striking images with equally striking phrases like "Your body is a battleground," "We have received orders not to move," and "I shop therefore I am." (left: Unitiled (Not ugly enough) , 1997, photographic silkscreen on vinyl, 109 x 109 inches, Collection of Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Barbara Kruger

13. blurring of boundaries Sophie Calle Laing’s work is all about dramatisation, using people, props and stunts to create mini performances in which the landscape symbolises something other than the ‘usual’. From these elements Laing crafts beautiful, hyper real images that seem impossible. But there is no digital manipulation here. Her approach is unique in its use of real-time events, tailor made installations and performers. She works in collaboration with the community of each area as well as professionals from a range of disciplines, from film stunt producers to carpet manufacturers, to create works of cinematic scale that combine panoramic vistas with the unexpected. Rosemarie Laing Tracey Moffatt Arguably Australia’s most successful contemporary artist, Tracey Moffatt can best be described as a director of photo narratives, expertly incorporating photography and filmmaking into her work. In her photographs and films, highly choreographed sound, lighting, colour and composition form the structure of a complex and multi-layered narrative.

14. Low verses high art Re-evaluation of things that in the past we have taken for granted Postmadern artists work in unconventional materials – cow dung – Chris Ofili “The Little Madonna” question set values? Use unconventional subject matter – blur the boundaries between popular culture & high art – (Pop Art – cartoons) Fiona Hall “Medicine Bundles for the non-born child” 1993 Who set the rules in the first place?.. Question not judge. Parody, humour and cynicism

15. cynicism As social commentators the performance duo “Gilbert & George” deal with provocative and yet crucial life matters, such as aids, racism, homosexuality, fascism, urban decay, religion, hopelessness, addictions, anger & sex. Drunk with God 1983 Many artists deploy cynicism eg. post colonial artist Gordon Bennett Bennet’s interest in Amarican affairs and how this effects Australia began in the late 1990s with his Notes to Basquiat series which culminated in an exhibition relating to the September 11 terrorist attack on New York. Yet, the terror of colonialism and the trauma of being Australian that had previously preoccupied Bennett have not been forgotten. Rather, they have been displaced onto contemporary global events, as if Bennett is developing an art of reportage. “ Camauflage

16. Mass media Mass media impacted on artist’s practice. . The mass media, and other forms of mass cultural production, generate constant reappropriation and recontextualisation of familiar cultural symbols and images, fundamentally shifting our experience away from 'reality', to ' hyperreality '. … ..Other thinkers assert that post-modernity is the natural reaction to mass broadcasting and a society conditioned to mass production and mass political decision making. The ability of knowledge to be endlessly copied defeats attempts to constrain interpretation, or to set "originality" by simple means such as the production of a work.

17. Challenging of authority

18. globalisation

19. Culture of the immediate - now

20. technology

21. individuality ……………… .that knowledge was inherently linked to time, place, social position and other factors from which an individual constructs their view of knowledge. To escape from constructed knowledge, it then becomes necessary to critique it, and thus deconstruct the asserted knowledge.

22. Patricia Piccinini INDIVIDUALITY Patricia's works can contain computer animation huge sculptures, photography and video — all in the one installation. She insists that she has no hand in their construction. She is the one who comes up with the idea, sketches it, then, with the help of her designer husband Peter, enlists others to bring the idea to fruition. "I made a quite difficult decision," she says. "I needed to give away painting because I thought it had too much sort of cultural baggage. I couldn't find a way to depict these new ideas in oil and so it meant I had no skills. And then I thought if I can't do anything, I can do everything if I work with other people, and that's when I started collaborating ."

23. Jeff Koons JEFF KOONS (B.1955) 17" X 17" X 11" Porcelain vase, executed in 1998 in an edition of 3000. In the original box, as issued new. ABOUT THE ARTIST Jeff Koons ( b York, PA, 21 Jan 1955). American artist. He trained at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore (BA 1976), and worked as a Wall Street commodities broker before embarking upon his career as an artist. In the 1980s he won international recognition as a radical exponent of Neo-Geo, an American movement concerned with appropriation and parody.

24. Gordon Bennett Racial prejudices Gordon suffered early in his life served as a base for a series of work that he produced. Using derogatory terms of language he Encountered such as “ Boong”,“Coon” and “Darkie”. He created a powerful work which explored the ethnocentric boundaries implicit in language .

25. One case study could be the contemporary Japanese artist

26. Yasumasa Morimura

27. History series

28. Archibald Prize 2005 Rodney Pople pays homage to Goya’s portrayal of the Duchess of Alba (1797) by recasting the duchess as the contemporary artist Kerrie Lester. He has appropriated this image from art history for fun and to show the historically fluid quality of meaning –particularly the cryptic element of ‘writing in the sand’ to show Lesters’ involvement with the Archibald Prize. GOYA “Duchess of Alba” POPLE “Kerrie Lester” appropriation

29. Self portrait (Rembrandt & Saskia) 1994

30. Self portrait & Saskia 1636 by.....Rembrandt appropriation

31. Self portrait (Vermeer) 1994

32. Vermeer Jan Vermeer

33. Velasquez “ Maids of Honour”

34. daughters of history series

63. Me descending the stairs for Gerhard Richter, 1998, video projection

64. “ Richter, Gerhard Ema (Nude on a Staircase) 1966 Oil on canvas 6' 6 3/4" x 51 3/16" (200 x 130 cm) Museum Ludwig, Cologne

65. “ Rosetti six brides” 1981 Colour photograph on canvas 1408120 cm Richard Taladge Collection, NY.

66. Pre Raphaelite Rossetti

67. “ Ingres portrait (La Source 1. 11. 111.)”, 1986-1989

68. The Source Auguste Ingres 1856 Oil on canvas, 163 x 80 cm (5' 4 1/4" x 2' 7 1/2"); Musee d'Orsay,Paris

69. Self portrait (Rembrandt & Saskia) 1994