Fine art. It’s a term that’s as difficult to define as pornography. When you talk to most people their definition of fine art is limited to marble statues and paintings of dead white people. I’ve always loved learning about art because it’s a topic I don’t know enough about even though it was my favorite class in college. Recently I went to the Dallas Art Museum to see an exhibit of Jackson Pollock. A few week later I saw a documentary about Peggy Guggenheim who, come to find out, was the person who discovered Jackson Pollock. Once I found that out I was intrigued so I searched for the movie Pollock to find out some more about their backstory. The whole coincidental experience was enough to reignite my interest in art. After the Peggy Guggenheim documentary I was struck by the idea that Pollock was alive in relatively modern times. All the great artists from Van Gogh to Picasso were all dead before I was born and therefore I associate great works of art with dead people. However it got me thinking that there must be great artists alive right now that I’m missing out on. But who are they?
I’ll admit I don’t know much about living contemporary artists. My knowledge really begins and ends with Banksy. While Banksy is my favorite living artist I figured it wasn’t that strong of a title since I couldn’t name another living artist. I did some research and learned a few things about the current leaders of the art world. The app Artsy was my entry point and provided a good place to browse. To help spread the information here is a list of famous artists. It should be noted that this list is a good start but by no means a complete list.
Fun Fact:
Jeff Koons holds the records for the most expensive piece of art ever sold. His Balloon Dog
(Orange) pictured above sold for $58,400,000.00.
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P.S.
I’m not a fan of Jackson Pollock’s work but I still respect it.
The Gay Gasp 