Choose 2 artists or artworks from the list below that were introduced in class this semester. Write 500 words each on why you think this artist’s work is important. Write about specific works / images. Issues you might consider; what sets the work apart from other work in that medium? Is the cultural context of the work important (when it was made and in what political/cultural climate)? What do you learn/experience from this artist’s work, how did it change/challenge your previous ideas?
Edward Muybridge – 19thc. sequential photography
George Melies – early film
Winsor McCay – early animation
Alexander Rodchenko – photography / design / Soviet avant-garde
Dziga Vertov – filmmaker / Man with a Movie Camera / Soviet avant-garde
Sergei Eisenstein – filmmaker / Battleship Potemkin / Soviet avant-garde
Vavara Stepanova – Russian / Soviet Avant-garde
Ana Mendieta – performance
Marina Abramovic – performance
Jean Michel Basquiat – painter / graffiti
Un Chien Andalou (Dali and Bunuel) – surrealism / film
Maya Deren – film
John Heartfield – photomontage
Nikki S. Lee -conceptual photography
Carrie Mae Weems – conceptual photography
Vik Muniz – conceptual photography
Lily McElroy – performance
Penelope Umbrico – conceptual photography
Carrie Mae Weems – conceptual photography
Lotte Reiniger – early animation / Prince Achmed
The Brothers Quay – animation
La Jetee (Chris Marker) – film
Kara Walker – installation/graphic arts
Layla Ali – artist / illustration
Cindy Sherman – artist / conceptual photography
Nick Cave – fashion / performance / sculpture
Sherin Neshat – photography / film / installation
