Contemporary artists

5 pages double spaced

Discuss one or more works of art by each of three contemporary artists, choosing one artist from each of the following three groups:

Group 1: Arshile Gorky

Group 2: Niki de Saint Phalle

Group 3:George Segal

The purpose of this assignment is to present what you see as the important issues in Contemporary Art of Europe and the U.S. from 1945 to the 1960s. Address the following questions in your essay:

• How does the artist’s treatment of the physical and/or associational qualities of the body or object express central concerns in the artist’s work?

• What attitudes toward contemporary culture, society and politics are expressed?

• What changes do you see in the communication of artists to audiences during this time span?

• What connections do you see between artists’ treatments of their subjects?

• Why did some artists pursue formal issues in defining a direction for painting and sculpture?

• Why did some artists deliberately confront images and stereotypes of contemporary culture?

• What overlapping concerns or qualities would you determine are typical of the period?

Your essay should be based on your own observations about the artists’ works. Use your own words to express your ideas, but support your arguments with statements from the artists’ writings found in sources you find in books. Use proper form for all citations. Attach the images of all art works that you discuss as well as a bibliography of sources consulted, including the course text. Plagiarism is not tolerated!