From Margins to Algorithms: Mediatization of Yogyakarta Visual Art on Instagram

Cutting Edge of the Contemporary: KNUST, Accra, and the Ghanaian Contemporary Art Movement

Human problems are faced faced by Indonesian contemporary visual artists. However, the most typical are the problems faced by contemporary women visual artists, including those faced by Balinese contemporary women visual artists. Other than social problems, their personal problems also arise as women visual artists amidst patriarchal cultural construction. Balinese contemporary women visual artists, like Indonesian contemporary visual artists, are facing social problems and their personal problems as women. But, Balinese contemporary women visual artists also face very strong patriarchal (purusa) cultural ideology. This study aimed at revealing and describing the form of the subject matter of woman’s body as an expression of opposition in the works of visual art of the Balinese contemporary women visual artists; revealing and describing ideologies that operate behind the sexual representation of the Balinese contemporary women visual artists and revealing and describing the contestation of meaning in the ideological sexual representation of Balinese contemporary women visual artists. This study using interpretive qualitative method produced, first, works of Balinese contemporary women artists which have traditional visual elements comprising contour, repetition, rythm, dialect.
 The works of Balinese contemporary women visual artists also have modern visual elements comprising spatial awareness,distortion, stylization, material character, unity, and personal identity. In addition, the works of Balinese contemporary women artists also have post-modern visual elements of trans-aesthetics, dialogism, and disorder. Secondly, the ideologies that operate behind the works of Balinese contemporary visual artists can be classified into three ideologies based on the forms and contents of the works of art. The ideologies are patriarchal ideology that is related to the theme of superiority,phallus symbol, and weak group; feminism ideology that is related to the theme of subordination, equality, and subjectivity construction, and aesthetical ideology concerning with style, which is related to the classification of styles based on time, place, form, technique, and subjject matter. Third, meanings which can be developed from Balinese contemporary women visual artists are the meaning of domestic body and the meaning of open body in the sexual representation of Balinese contemporary women artists. The meaning of domestic body is found in the works of Cok Mas Asiti, Ni Nyoman Sani, and Sutrisni. Sani while the meaning of open body in the works of IGK Murniasih and Nia Kurniati Andika.

African Modernism in America, 1947–1967

The National: New Australian Art

This study is aimed at describing three main matters, namely: 1) the representation forms of tradition and local culture dimensions in Yogyakarta contemporary fine arts work representations; 2) the way tradition and local culture dimensions in Yogyakarta contemporary fine art work represented; and 3) factors influencing the strength of tradition and local culture dimensions in the Yogyakarta contemporary fine art work representations as mentioned. This study is a qualitative one with the use of heurmeneutic approach as the main approach underlying the study. The main instrument is the researcher himself, accompanied by the use documentation procedure. The data are in the forms of painting work documentations taken from various exhibition catalogues. The data are analyzed by using the descriptive qualitative technique, containing four steps, namely: data reduction, display, data anlysis, and conclusion making. The results of the study can be described as the following. 1) There is one dominant matter related to the representations of Yogyakarta contemporary fine art representation of the 90s era, that is, the presentation of tradition and Javanese local culture; 2) the deconstructive approach is used to represent the dimensions of tradition and local culture in Yogyakarta contemporary fine arts of the 90s. This approach ends in the use of art representation forms that tend to be critical, metaphorical, and parodical; 3) Factors influencing the strength of these dimensions in Yogyakarta contemporary art representations of the 90s also appear in the 2000s era, that can be divided into two, namely: first, its contact with the international art discourse influences, and second, the Postmodernism paradigm supports that has been widely developing and becoming the current topic in the culture of Indonesian society. Keywords: dimension of tradition, contemporary art, Yogyakarta

Cultural representation in contemporary art is becoming increasingly important in a diverse and interconnected society. This research explores how artists represent and negotiate their cultural identity through works of art. By using a qualitative approach, including content analysis, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and literature study, this research reveals the strategies, challenges, and impacts of cultural representation practices in contemporary art. The findings show that artists use various strategies such as symbol appropriation, personal narratives, as well as cultural criticism and intervention in their works. However, issues such as authenticity, cultural appropriation, stereotypes, and commodification are often challenges faced. On the other hand, cultural representation in art has positive impacts, such as building cross-cultural dialogue, empowering marginalized voices, and enriching the artistic landscape as a whole. This research highlights the role of contemporary art as a vehicle for negotiating cultural identity, exploring diversity, and advancing understanding and appreciation of cultural differences in global society.

This thesis identifies a growing trend in the use of the shojo girl motif in contemporary Japanese art and positions it as an emerging new feminist expression inspired by locally determined gender-transgression. Japan’s current output of artists, exhibitions and art publications show that the Japanese girl—the shojo— is a ubiquitous presence. Shojo is an increasingly common point of figurative reference for contemporary Japanese artists, a complex cultural construct, and a wide-spread motif in present-day Japanese culture. The shojo is conveying a strong female youth culture that fosters anti-hegemonic gender subjectivities amid a context of social and moral panic. This thesis departs from Japanese feminine stereotypes to pay particular interest to an emerging wave of figurative contemporary art practices in which the figure of the shojo is utilised for a new generation of feminist critique. Aoshima Chiho, Kunikata Mahomi, Miyashita Maki, Takano Aya, Sawada Tomoko and Yanagi Miwa are contemporary artists whose works feature representations of Japanese girls to negate stereotypes and alternately foreground the female subjectivities found in shojo culture. Through this gesture, the artists propose ways in which the shojo has, and can, transgress the boundaries of gender hegemony within contemporary Japanese society. The theoretical framework for this thesis explores an overlap in the transgressive modes of local Japanese with global culture where it concerns new feminist expression in contemporary art. This expanding theoretical framework for contemporary feminist art finds its context in art practice in the 2007 Global feminisms exhibition which included Japanese art. Contemporary art is defined in this thesis as a cultural and conceptual break with Modernism’s Western centric values. While feminist art and its scholarship has been in many respects at the fore of this break from Modernist values, it was not until the past two decades that feminist art found synergy with other identity politics. As a result, newer feminist art has produced new ways of understanding gender politics. In Japan, the figure of the shojo is a vehicle for these new ideas. In working at the intersection of the three themes of shojo, contemporary Japanese art and contemporary feminism, this thesis will argue the importance of this figure to feminist expression in contemporary Japanese art, and global feminism more generally.

The article deals with verbal-visual representations in the actual practices of Russian artists at the beginning of the 21st century – Pavel Arseniev, Mitya Bezideiny, Semyon Motolyants, Valery Chtak. The author focuses on the favorite motifs of contemporary artists which integrate verbal and visual elements in art. Inspired by images of urban environment and the sphere of everyday life, the followers of conceptualists actively use iso-verbal techniques. The transemiotic zone of the intersection of two languages – verbal and visual – allows the creation of two-level constructions in which verbal and visual languages merge, forming a synthetic text of culture. To understand the specificity of verbal (implicit and explicit) component in contemporary art, as well as the principles of its existence, the author conducts research, revealing the relationship between the creative practice of Russian contemporary art in 2010–2021 and the rhetoric of the era and the different spheres of spiritual culture. The article analyzes the reasons of unexpected appearance of artistic images, motifs, and ideas in verbal and visual representations of contemporary Russian artists, the aspects of intercultural and interdisciplinary interaction between artworks – classical in contemporary, contemporary in classical. Using semiotics, poststructuralism, morphology, iconographic, and historical-comparative approaches the author considers the topos of the city (synthesis of the real and ideal), attributes of scholarship and knowledge (dialogues beyond time), technical utensils and everyday objects in the context of everyday culture and comes to the conclusion that the specificity of verbal-visual representation in contemporary Russian art is determined by the macrocontext of culture, not only domestic but also European as a whole. A study of visual rhetoric in the current practices of Russian artists, 2010–2021, might be an important step in the history of art in the general situation of lack of theoretical understanding of Russian art. The present study reveals new points of view in the analysis of verbal and visual representations of contemporary Russian artists, as well as actual cultural policy, which may serve as a basis for further theoretical developments in this area. The positions, conclusions, and materials of the article can be used for contemporary interpretation of Russian art, in the development of lecture and training programs, and in the creation of exhibition projects.

The research subject is the study of the Phenomenon of identity and its reflection in contemporary Ukrainian art. The purpose of the work is to investigate the specifics of the Phenomenon's reflection of identity in contemporary Ukrainian art. The work methodology is based on chronological and scientific comprehensiveness, art history, historical, philosophical, and culturological approaches, ontological, axiological, hermeneutic, phenomenological, cross-cultural, and method of art analysis. The work results allow us to understand the evolution of researchers' views in various fields on the Phenomenon of identity and its application in contemporary art approaches. The results' scope is today's artistic practices, history, art theory, and art criticism, teaching activities for students and graduate students of creative specialties. Findings. The Phenomenon of identity in contemporary art means that problem of its reflection in the art exists and begins to be understandable. Some conclusions about the correctness of the direction of practices and patterns to a new search identity approach can be made considering foreign experience. Simultaneously, a society that interacts with contemporary art in the latest cultural projects and what principles of such participation should be taken into account in organizational, design, exhibition, and interpretive activities. The proof that modern contemporary art in its various manifestations is deeply rooted in the socio-cultural process, and therefore has different forms of identity, is closely connected with the past and present of Ukraine. Appeal to the past in art - preserving memory, rethinks symbols and signs, gives new life to archaic images and techniques; art is turned to the present, reflecting on reality. Presenting society's moods and problems accumulate the achievements of Ukraine as an independent country.Keywords: contemporary art, identity, Ukraine, the beginning of XXI century.

Colonial Legacies: Contemporary Lens-Based Art and the Democratic Republic of Congo by Gabriella Nugent

This chapter builds on Chapters 9 about fashion and Chapter 10 on design, deals with contemporary art and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, and critically analyses the civilian construction exploitation methods in Brazil, which urgently need to be changed, approaching a mindset on CE and SSE practices. Contemporary art often reflects on the impacts of the take-make-use-dispose-pollute system intertwined with the construction business, which is in sharp contrast with the nature-integrated construction system used by the indigenous peoples in Brazil. Therefore, when contemporary artists are set to analyse the construction works of indigenous communities, they are also considering alternative ways of life and alternative ways to consider the environment than the mainstream Western view. Hence, this chapter will consider the cosmovisions of indigenous communities and the integrated way of indigenous construction and its representation in contemporary Brazilian art, and by doing so, this allows us to reflect on how the indigenous technological knowledge may facilitate SSE and CE practices.

Contributors

ABSTRACTThe following editorial sets out the context for this special edition of the Journal of Visual Art Practice by situating contemporary Chinese art and its critical engagement with society and politics — both within and outside the People's Republic of China and Taiwan — in relation to a wider history of modernist, postmodernist and contemporary visual art theory and practice. It also outlines the particular social, economic, cultural and political conditions in relation to which contemporary art is produced and received within the PRC and Taiwan as well as differences between localized Chinese and international perspectives on the critical significance of contemporary Chinese art.

The purpose of the article is to identify the influence of imitation of the painting traditions of old masters on the work of representatives of contemporary Ukrainian realist art. The methodology of the study is based on the following philosophical and general scientific approaches, which made it possible to consider the phenomenon of imitation in contemporary Ukrainian art from different perspectives: the interdisciplinary approach ensured the use of the latest theoretical achievements of the social sciences and humanities in the analysis of the phenomenon of imitation; the phenomenological method was applied at the stage of revealing the essence and concretization of such a phenomenon as imitation, its transformations in the contemporary artistic space. The scientific novelty is due to the fact that the attention is focused on certain factors, including the imitation by contemporary Ukrainian artists of the painting traditions of old masters, which directly affects the formation of the art of modern Ukraine. Conclusions. It has been stated that the appeal to the artistic tradition of old masters is not a new approach in art, but Ukrainian art history lacks a sufficient number of fundamental scientific studies on the influence of the work of old masters on the formation of contemporary Ukrainian artists. It has been found that contemporary artists show interest in scrupulous detail, smooth style of painting, baroque complex angles, convey the psychology of images in the manner of Caravaggio and Rembrandt, actualizing classical traditions in contemporary painting. It is proved that pictorial illusion, artistic, compositional and coloristic searches, and even universal meanings in the works of old masters can serve as inspirations in the works of V. Kostyrko, E. Ravsky, O. Glazunov and other Ukrainian artists. It is emphasized that the issue of imitation of the painting traditions of old masters in Ukrainian realist painting requires additional research, but in our opinion, this is a promising topic for further research within the framework of art history and cultural studies.

Gifts from Our Elders: African Arts<i>and Visionary Art History</i>