What is Postmodernism?
Postmodernism is an era that came because of a critic of modernism and the project of modernity. Postmodernism is the most controversial era, because this era defies definition; an unstable mix of the theatrical and theoretical, postmodernism was a visually thrilling multifaceted style that ranged from the colorful to the ruinous, the ludicrous to the luxurious.
Postmodernity started in 1970 with the architecture. Postmodernism came after modernism era. Modernism was an exploration of possibilities and a perpetual search for uniqueness and its cognate (individuality). Modernism was rejected by architectural postmodernism in the 50’s and 60’s for conservative reasons.
The characteristic of postmodernism era is anxiety and nihilism. Anxiety is scare. Nihilism is rejection. So, the characteristic of postmodernism era is full of scare and rejection.
Postmodernism shattered established ideas about style. It brought a radical freedom to art and design through gestures that were often funny, sometimes confrontational and occasionally absurd. Most of all, over the course of two decades, from about 1970 to 1990, postmodernism brought a new self-awareness about style itself.
Postmodernism is related to narrative and meta-narrative (beyond the narrative). Besides those two things, postmodernism also related to celebratory and interventionist. Celebratory is nihilism without anxiety as the art functions and the social signs. Interventionist is the relation between the artist as manipulator and viewer as active reader.
Jeff Koons is one of many famous postmodernist artist. He is the one of the most financially successful but controversial postmodernist artists since Andy Warhol (1928-87). Influenced by several of his Pop-art predecessors, like Claes Oldenburg. Jeff Koons is known for his Neo-Pop kitsch style of avant-garde art, exemplified by works such as Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988, porcelain or gold, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art), and by giant reproductions of banal objects like Puppy(1992, flowering plants, Bilbao Guggenheim Museum), and Balloon Dog (1994-2000, stainless steel, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York). Art critics are divided in their opinions of Koons’ postmodernist art, even though his works have sold at auction for astronomical prices. In 1991, one version of Michael Jackson and Bubbles sold for $5.6 million. In 2007, his magenta coloured Hanging Heart, sold at Sotheby’s New York for $23 million, at the time, a world auction record for a living artist. In July 2008, his Balloon Flower sold at Christie’s London for a record $25.7 million, just before the global crash. Since then the value of contemporary art has plummeted although prices for Koons’ earlier series are reportedly holding their own. Still employing more than 100 people in his New York studio, Koons retains one very important advantage: he is treated with enormous respect by the museum world – a clear sign of his popularity with the general public.
These are the photos of his sculpture.
“Balloon Dog” by Jeff Koons
“Michael Jackson and Bubbles” by Jeff Koons
“Puppy” by Jeff Koons
“Hanging Heart” by Jeff Koons
Differences of opinion about Koons’ worth as an artist essentially revolve around differences in the meaning of art. Traditional art theory places great importance on the craftsmanship disclosed by an objective work of art – like a beautiful painting or a wonderfully realistic sculpture. Furthermore, purists consider that only certain subjects are worthy of artistic representation. Using these criteria, critics point to the lack of craftsmanship in Koons’ works, and the fact that a lot of the work was performed by assistants. What’s more, his subjects are uniformly low-brow – too low-brow to be “artistic”. His admirers, on the other hand, point to his popularity among the general public, his high regard among museums, and his bank balance, and say something like: it may not be art, but people like it.
References:
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0242.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/postmodernism/
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-artists/jeff-koons.htm
Visual Cultures 