I feel as though a true 21st century artist has to send a message about society through his work to his audience. In earlier times, repressive regimes in Europe and elsewhere forbid social commentary in virtually all forms: art, literature, etc. Nowadays, most nations of the world openly embrace freedom of expression, paving the way for artists to express their opinions without fear of retaliation. This new freedom granted to artists, coupled with the multitude of problems plaguing the world today, almost makes it the responsibility of artists to bring unjust and immoral actions to light through their art. Whether an artist takes photographs of war refugees or paints a landscape blackened by oil, it is essential that today’s artists expose wrongdoing and work to correct abuses by today’s governments and corporations. I agree with Sarah when she says that most modern art is controversial and political.
I also agree with Sadia when she states that an artist does not have to have gone through formal training to be considered an artist. In today’s digital world, people from all sorts of different backgrounds can create works of art that send powerful messages. Evidence of this can be seen in the dozens of parodies of the BP logo that appeared in online blogs after the events of the Gulf oil spill. I think that it is extremely important to forever keep the definitions of art and artists open to anyone and everyone.
Very nice post.
http://ncac.org/Controversial-artwork-vandalized-in-Colorado” rel=”
Controversial art is marked by the political atmosphere where it is preformed or presented. Paul Mac-Cartney was considered a threat to the American society during the early part of his career, we still struggle to stretch the puritanical ideology from dominating our art institutions.