Art-historical accounts of the 1980s are dominated by the tale of two postmodernisms, which pits the critical rigor of Pictures artists against the fast-and-loose pluralism of neo-expressionists.

Result #1

Art-historical accounts of the 1980s are dominated by the tale of two postmodernisms, which pits the critical rigor of Pictures artists against the fast-and-loose pluralism of neo-expressionists. These oppositions are only partly related, however, since the early 80s the artist has been trying to deconstruct his own history, his own past, in order to create a new, postmodern image. His latest body of work, The Message, was an attempt to do just that.The artist had a number of themes in common with the postmodernist image: the human body, the body as an organ, the body as a material, the body as a sign of sociality, the body as a space, the body as a sign of identity, the body as a site of power, the body as a site of communication. The main subject of The Message was the body, and the body as a material. The body as a sign of identity was emphasized by the artists use of an American flag as a sign of his identity. The body as a sign of power was suggested by the juxtaposition of the artists hand and the flag, a symbol of power. The body as a space was indicated by the artist using the American flag as a pedestal for a white ceramic sculpture, and by the placement of the flag on the pedestal. The body as a space was suggested by the artists use of an American flag as a pedestal for a white ceramic sculpture.The message was a beautiful, almost utopian body of letters, addressed to a future society, to a future society that would see the body as a material and that would understand the body as a sign of sociality. The message was a beautiful, almost utopian body of letters, addressed to a future society, to a future society that would see the body as a material and that would understand the body as a sign of sociality. The body as a sign of power was suggested by the juxtaposition of the artists hand with the flag, a symbol of power.

Result #2

The late-1980s renaissance of painting is, however, now in the past, and the field of sculpture, too, is in the present. For these young artists, the possibilities of new technologies and new media are still as exciting as ever.What distinguishes the present from the past is the rapid spread of styles. The figure of the artist has entered into a political discourse that is both present and past. The rhetoric of postmodernism has become more and more hyperbolic, and the terms of debate are becoming increasingly restrictive. What remains to be seen is how the debates will be resolved.

Result #3

Art-historical accounts of the 1980s are dominated by the tale of two postmodernisms, which pits the critical rigor of Pictures artists against the fast-and-loose pluralism of neo-expressionists. In the wake of the 60s split between those who saw the collapse of Modernism as the dissolution of the Modern, and those who saw it as the triumph of the avant-garde, this account is incomplete. This is why it is especially telling to consider the work of artists like Rick Hirschhorn, whose recent exhibition at KW was perhaps the most uncharitable example of the general decline of Modernism. Hirschhorn is a painter of the 1970s, and this show was no exception. The artist has been characterized as a fetishist of the 70s, yet his work has been largely ignored by the art establishment. The modernist legacy has become an afterthought.Hirschhorns work has always been the product of a wide-ranging aesthetic and conceptual outlook, as evidenced by the multidisciplinary installation The White Box, 1991, and the large-scale, multilingual installation The White Box, 1992. This show featured paintings, wall installations, and sculptures as well as photographs and film. Hirschhorn has been compared to Mark di Suvero, but this comparison is misleading. Di Suveros work is rooted in an aesthetic that is integral to the history of Modernism, as evidenced by the immense number of paintings that were on display here. His works are rooted in an ideological and materialist logic that is diametrically opposed to Hirschhorns. His paintings are extremely precise and his sculptures are simple and domestic, and they are characterized by an almost pathological detachment. These works are the results of a rigorous, analytical process that aims at the complete elimination of all extraneous elements, from color to form to content.Hirschhorns paintings are often made of polyvinyl chloride, a commonly used plastic material that is very hard to find. In this show, he employed this material, which was then covered in layers of plaster, plaster, and concrete, and finally covered in black plaster.

Result #4

One account focuses on the anarchistic, antiart, and antielitist practices of the 80s, as exemplified by a number of artists who, for whatever reason, werent included in the exhibition. This is particularly evident in the work of the many female artists whose works are included in the show, such as Sanya Kantarovsky, who died in a plane crash while flying in New York on a Russian spy plane in 1989. Yet, in the end, this retrospective, while it does include a number of female artists whose work is not representative of any of the current trends, nonetheless emphasizes the centrality of gender in the development of art. The exhibition is thus a necessary corrective to the history of art in Russia. The exhibition, then, is a positive one, and it is one that can only be achieved by a thorough reassessment of the past and an open-ended exploration of the future.

Result #5

Art-historical accounts of the 1980s are dominated by the tale of two postmodernisms, which pits the critical rigor of Pictures artists against the fast-and-loose pluralism of neo-expressionists. Such accounts overlook the fact that neo-expressionism was not born in reaction to a crisis of representation, as the Frankfurt School would have us believe, but rather in the wake of a crisis of the self. The self is now not a question of identity, but rather a question of the self, which is, in fact, a question of the self, and its desire. The self is also, in a sense, a question of the self as a world, and it is this world of representation that is the real subject of neo-expressionism, while the self as a whole is the world of the artist. The world of representation is the world of the artist.The work of art in the 80s is no longer the work of an individual, but rather a world of signs—the sign of the signified, as Marx would have it. The sign is no longer the act of making, but rather the signifier of the act. The sign is no longer the object of a desire, but rather the signifier of a desire. The sign is no longer a work of art, but rather the signifier of the world of signs. The sign is no longer the thing that appears, but rather the sign of the thing that appears. The sign is no longer the thing seen, but rather the signifier of a world of signs, of signs, which is no longer a world of signs, but is, in fact, a world of signs. The sign is no longer the thing seen, but rather the signifier of a world of signs, of signs, which is no longer a world of signs, but is, in fact, a world of signs. The sign is no longer the thing that appears, but rather the signifier of a world of signs, of signs, which is no longer a world of signs.