Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly, Jr. was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns but chose to live in Italy after 1957. Wikipedia

Born: April 25, 1928, Lexington, Virginia, VA

Died: July 5, 2011, Rome, Italy

Spouse: Baroness Tatiana Franchetti (m. 1959–2010)

Artwork: The Geeks, Tiznit, Quattro Stagioni: Primavera, Panorama,More

Fields: Painting, Sculpture

Children: Cyrus Alessandro Twombly

View works.Amoako Boafo, Sunflower Shirt, 2019.
Amoako Boafo, Sunflower Shirt, 2019.
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Amoako Boafo is a painter, born in Accra, Ghana, based in Vienna, Austria.

Boafo’s portrait paintings are enticing in their lucidity, accentuating the figures in each work, who are regularly isolated on single color backgrounds, their gaze the focal point of each work. The brushstrokes are thick and gestural, the contours of the body’s almost soften into abstraction. The most well known of his series, the Black Diaspora portraits serve as a means of celebration of his identity and blackness.
Boafo emphasizes, “The primary idea of my practice is representation, documenting, celebrating and showing new ways to approach blackness.” Much of his work is inspired by his upbringing, commenting on how males are raised to be aggressive and masculine, which he challenges in his works. Although the artists underlying messages are quite intense, there is a certain softness to the works as a whole, the poses are serene and the skin luminous.
Boafo studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. In 2017 was awarded with the jury prize, Walter Koschatzky Art Prize. Widely collected by private and public collectors and institutions, most recently by CCS Bard College Hessel Museum of Art and The Albertina Museum Vienna.

Urs Fischer is a Swiss-born neo-Dada sculptor living in New York.Wikipedia

Born: May 2, 1973 (age 43), Zürich, Switzerland

Spouse: Tara Subkoff (m. 2014), Cassandra MacLeod (m. 1998–2003)

Books: Urs Fischer: Oscar the Grouch, Urs Fischer: Yes

Known for: Photography, Contemporary art

Jaume Plensa is a contemporary Spanish artist best known for his depictions of the human face through sculpture and innovative technology. His commission Crown Fountain (2004), a public installation in Chicago’s Millennium Park, proved to be a turning point in his career. In the work, large reflective towers utilize LEDs to project close-up images of faces. “Sculpture is not only talking about volumes. It is talking about something deep inside ourselves that without sculpture we cannot describe,” he explained. “We are always with one foot in normal life and one foot in the most amazing abstraction. And that is the contradiction that is life.” Born on August 23, 1955 in Barcelona, Spain where he currently lives and works, Plensa studied at the Llotja School of Art and Design and at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Art in Spain in the 1970s. Plensa has transitioned from an abstraction to figuration of the course of his career. The artist’s works are included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Palazzo Forti in Verona, the Reina Sofia National Museum in Madrid, and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, among others.

Abelardo Morell is a Boston-based photographer represented by Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York City. Wikipedia

Born: 1948, Havana, Cuba

Books: Abelardo Morell and the Camera Eye, Abelardo Morell

Artwork: Camera Obscura Image of the Empire State Building in Bedroom, More

Education: Bowdoin College (1997), Yale School of Art (1981)

Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada

Frank Stella is an American painter and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York. Wikipedia

Born: May 12, 1936 (age 80), Malden, MA

Influenced by: Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline, Caravaggio

Periods: Geometric abstraction, Monochrome painting, More

Spouse: Harriet McGurk (m. 1978), Barbara Rose (m. 1961–1969)

Known for: Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Architecture

Wade Guyton is a post-conceptual American artist who among other things makes digital paintings on canvas using scanners and digital inkjet technology. Wikipedia

Born: 1972, Hammond, IN

Books: Drawings for a small room, More

Education: University of Tennessee, Hunter College

In his sculptures, installations, and public artworks, Antony Gormley explores the relation of the human body to space and moments in time. He is well known for his sculptures that use a cast of his own body as their starting point and for his large-scale, outdoor installations such as Angel of the North (1998) and Another Place (1997). In Event Horizon (2007), which has been shown in London, Rotterdam, and New York, Gormley sited 31 body forms atop rooftops, riverbanks, and sidewalks within the dense urban environment. In One & Other (2009), a project for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, he invited members of the public to create their own artwork on top of the plinth for one hour time slots over a period of 100 days.

Kazuo Shiraga (白髪 一雄 Shiraga Kazuo, August 12, 1924 – April 8, 2008) was a Japanese modern artist who belonged to the Gutai group of avant-garde artists. He was acknowledged internationally only after his death.

In the 1940s he studied Nihonga at the Kyoto City University of Arts. In 1953 he founded the group "Zero Kai" with Akira Kanayama, Atsuko Tanaka and Saburo Murakami which merged with Gutai in 1955.[1] Shiraga created "mud paintings" by using his whole body to leave impressions in wet mud.[2] For over tens years, from 1956 to 1966, his Performance Paintings were largely painted with his feet. Later he was influenced by Frenchman Jean-Jacques Lebel. 1971-72 he lived as a Buddhist monk.

In December 2014 his prime-period 1961 abstract, “Chijikusei Gotenrai,” was sold for 3.25 million euros, about $3.7 million.[3]

Tony Cragg is a British sculptor known for his exploration of unconventional materials, including plastic, fiberglass, bronze, and Kevlar. Craggs’ sculptures embody a frozen moment of movement, resulting in swirling abstractions, as seen in his work Point of View (2004). “I felt very free to use the plastic fragments I'd started using in '77 in new forms,” he reflected. “That was almost a kind of punk gesture at the time, a little bit aimed against the pieties of Land Art, Minimalism, or whatever.” Born Anthony Douglas Cragg on April 9, 1949 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, Cragg worked as a lab technician at the Naitonal Rubber Producers Research Association as young man before moving to Wuppertal, Germany in the late 1970s. An instructor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Cragg was awarded the Turner Prize in 1988 and a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2002. His works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others. Cragg currently lives and works in Wuppertal, Germany.

Addressing pop culture and racial conflicts, Nina Chanel Abney paints scenes rooted in autobiography, current events, and traditional storytelling. Driven by a fascination with the perceived importance of celebrity news as compared to politics, she works in a pop-surrealist style, employing cartoonish figures and playful compositions to echo the perpetual stimulation of the digital age. Abney’s paintings present new ways of approaching loaded topics and generating discussion, allowing viewers to come to their own conclusions. In the “Always a Winner” series, which addresses the Black Lives Matter movement, police batons are phallic symbols and clown makeup suggests racial distinctions. The series reflects the absurdity an

Yue Minjun is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Beijing, China. He is best known for oil paintings depicting himself in various settings, frozen in laughter. He has also reproduced this signature image in sculpture, watercolour and prints. Wikipedia

Born: 1962, Daqing, China

Education: Hebei Normal University

Books: Yue Minjun

Known for: Painting, Installation art, Sculpture

Samuel Lewis Francis was an American painter and printmaker.Wikipedia

Born: June 25, 1923, San Mateo, CA

Died: November 4, 1994, Santa Monica, CA

Artwork: Towards Disappearance, II, Senza Titolo III, Basel Mural I,More

Ex-spouse: Mako Idemitsu

Fields: Painting, Printmaking

Parents: Samuel Augustus Francis, Sr, Katherine Lewis Francis

Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California. Wikipedia

Born: December 16, 1937 (age 78), Omaha, NE

Siblings: Paul Ruscha, Shelby Ruscha

Movies: Choose Me, Art City #3: A Ruling Passion

Known for: Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Film, Artist's book

Spouse: Danna Knego (m. 1987), Danna Knego (m. 1967–1972)

Through black ballpoint pen ink, Toyin Odutola’s drawings question physical and sociopolitical identities as they pertain to skin color. Treating skin as topography, she layers ink as a means of mapping a person’s subjective, individual geography built from real-life experiences. Her interest in surface qualities stems from the history of African textiles, which inspires the artist’s rich textures on flat planes. Concerned with historical representations of black subjects in portraiture, Odutola undermines notions of blackness in her drawings by exploring what it means to look or be perceived as black, as, while drawn in black ink, not all of her subjects are of African descent. More recently, Odutola has begun to look beyond pen ink, working with charcoal and pastels to reflect the cultural diversity and ambition of American cities.

Tom Sachs is a contemporary American artist whose work both addresses and participates in the fetishization of consumer culture. Employing a variety of materials, including foamcore, bronze, plywood, automotive paint, and glue, Sachs often reconstructs or repurposes luxurious or iconic brands and objects from history and popular culture. In one his most famous exhibitions, “Space Program,” the artist created a life-size replica of the Apollo Lunar Excursion Module from plywood and steel. “I want labor to be the point, because everything in our lives is miraculously made with no idea of how it's done,” he said of his work. “As an active and critical consumer, and as someone who has attempted to make the flawless and failed, I wanted a transparency of construction here. If we know how it is made and how it falls apart, we will know how to rebuild it.” Born on July 26, 1966 in New York, NY, Sach’s graduated from Bennington College in Vermont before studying architecture in London and furniture design in Los Angeles. In 1990, he moved to New York where he was employed as scenic artist for lighting displays at Barneys New York. By the late 1990s, Sachs had been the subject of solo exhibitions at Mary Boone Gallery in New York and Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Salzburg. Seeking different ways of translating his interest in consumer objects, the artist partnered with Nike in 2012 to produce the NikeCraft Mars Yard sneaker. Sachs continues to live and work in New York, NY. Today, his works are held in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Goetz Collection in Munich, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, among others.

Kehinde Wiley is a young, African-American painter who is quite literally changing the face(s) of portraiture with his sensitive, vibrant, and political portrayals of black folk, ranging from teenagers he meets on the streets, to fellow contemporary artists, and even former President Barack Obama.

Wiley made a name for himself for his naturalistic, brightly colored portraits of young black men, often with dramatic flowery backgrounds. With black masculinity often framed as synonymous with fear and violence in the USA, his generous and vibrant portraits challenge viewers' preconceptions of their subjects and bring young men, and people, of color into the galleries and museums they are so woefully underrepresented in.

Udo Nöger aims to bring out the luminescence of paint in his practice. The artist is known for monochromatic gray works that give the impression of emitting light. Nöger achieves this effect by stretching multiple pieces of fabric or canvas onto one frame; he either paints on or cuts shapes into the different layers beforehand. As a result, the work appears lighter and more transparent in certain parts. Nöger has also been known to paint on the underside of the fabric, and to use materials of varying thickness and opacity.

Christopher Wool is an American artist. Since the 1980s, Wool's art has incorporated issues surrounding post-conceptual ideas. He lives and works in New York City and Marfa, Texas, together with his wife and fellow painter Charline von Heyl. Wikipedia

Born: 1955, Chicago, IL

Education: Sarah Lawrence College

Andy Warhol was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. Wikipedia

Born: August 6, 1928, Pittsburgh, PA

Died: February 22, 1987, Manhattan, New York City, NY

Influenced by: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marcel Duchamp, More

Movies: Sleep, Chelsea Girls, Empire, Blow Job, More

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. He first achieved notoriety as part of SAMO, an informal graffiti duo who wrote enigmatic epigrams in the cultural hotbed of the Lower East Side of Manhattan ... Wikipedia

Born: December 22, 1960, Brooklyn, New York City, NY

Died: August 12, 1988, NoHo, Manhattan, New York City, NY

Buried: Green-Wood Cemetery, New York City, NY

Influenced by: Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Rene Ricard

Kikuo Saito was a color field painter, set designer, and theater director, who began his career as a studio assistant for some of the most preeminent painters of the 1970s and ‘80s, including Larry Poons, Kenneth Noland, and Helen Frankenthaler. Saito’s works are bright and calligraphic, often covered in gestural strokes of color, drips of paint, and stenciled capital letters. Before turning to painting, Saito was a resident at New York’s La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, and collaborated on set design with directors and choreographers like Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, and Jerome Robins. Saito returned to the theater in 1996 with his silent production, Toy Garden, which costumed dancers as characters from Vittore Carpaccio’s painting Two Venetian Women on a Terrace (1490) in an attempt to reimagine the work’s missing half.

Secundino Hernández’s frenetic oil, gouache, and acrylic paintings feature abstract and figurative elements, and references to both Action Painting and the Old Masters, particularly Spanish forbears like El Greco and Velázquez. Hernández works methodically, using brushes or applying paint directly from the tube, rendering animated lines and marks before washing and scraping the surfaces of his works—in effect creating compositions that appear at once ordered and explosive. “I move slowly across the canvas,” he says. “They may look like action painting or expressionism, but it’s a deep and meti

Cynthia Morris "Cindy" Sherman is an American photographer and film director, best known for her conceptual portraits. In 1995, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Wikipedia

Born: January 19, 1954 (age 62), Glen Ridge, NJ

Spouse: Michel Auder (m. 1984–1999)

Influenced by: Barbara Kruger, Diane Arbus, Robert Longo, John Baldessari, Lynda Benglis, Jack Smith

Movies: Office Killer, !Women Art Revolution

Awards: Hasselblad Award, MacArthur Fellowship, More

Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Wikipedia

Born: April 24, 1904, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Died: March 19, 1997, East Hampton, NY

Spouse: Elaine de Kooning (m. 1943)

Influenced by: Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hopper, Josef Albers, John D. Graham

Periods: Modern art, Abstract expressionism

Mike Dargas was born in Cologne, Germany in 1983 where he still resides. Alongside extensive drawing, he started making paintings with oil paint from a very young age. ... The artist studies his subjects with enormous intensity, giving each painted portrait an intense and intimate closeness.

Jasper Johns is an American painter and printmaker. Wikipedia

Born: May 15, 1930 (age 86), Augusta, GA

Influenced by: Robert Rauschenberg, Pablo Picasso, More

Fields: Painting, Printmaking

Periods: Mixed media, Modern art, Pop art, Neo-Dada, Abstract expressionism

Awards: Presidential Medal of Freedom, National Medal of Arts, Wolf Prize in Arts

William Kentridge is a South African artist and draughtsman of Jewish and Lithuanian descent who presents the struggles and emotions of post­-Apartheid South Africa through a multitude of forms, notably his animated films of charcoal drawings, as well as sculpture, tapestry, opera, and various other media. Through the 1970s, Kentridge studied politics and African studies, as well as fine arts in Johannesburg, and was also heavily involved in theatre. This laid a solid foundation for the structure of his work, informing the dramatic and rather jarring subject and narrative, and also influencing the means of approach and production.

Adolph Gottlieb was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor and printmaker. Wikipedia

Born: March 14, 1903, New York City, NY

Died: March 4, 1974, New York City, NY

Artwork: Blast, I, Man Looking at Woman, Pictograph-Symbol, More

Education: Art Students League of New York, Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Parsons School of Design

Periods: Color Field, Modern art, Abstract expressionism

Known for: Painting, Sculpture

Harland Miller is a British artist and author who is best known for his large-scale, photo-realistic paintings, posters, and prints of vintage Penguin book covers. A critically acclaimed novelist as well as an influential painter, his practice explores the combination of image and text, similar in scope to American artist Ed Ruscha. “There's always been this compunction to write on pictures,” he has observed. The covers he paints often feature his own invented, sardonic titles combined with the iconic Penguin logo. His muted tones and painterly brushstrokes imbue his canvases with the worn character of a used book, yet often convey subversive sociopolitical critiques. Born in 1964 in Yorkshire, United Kingdom, Miller received both his BA and MA from the Chelsea College of Art in London, where he currently lives and works. His solo exhibitions include those held at the White Cube in London, Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York, and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, among others.

Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti known as Alighiero e Boetti was an Italian conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera. Wikipedia

Born: December 16, 1940, Turin, Italy

Died: February 24, 1994, Rome, Italy

Period: Arte Povera

Education: University of Turin

Artwork: Mappa, Ononimo, Tutto, More

Known for: Painting, Mixed media

Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for working with popular culture subjects and his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. Wikipedia

Born: January 21, 1955 (age 61), York, PA

Spouse: Ilona Staller (m. 1991–1994), Justine Wheeler Koons

Influenced by: Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, H. C. Westermann

Children: Ludwig Maximillian Koons, Kurt Koons, Scarlet Koons, Blake Koons, Shannon Rodgers, Eric Koons, Sean Kyah Koons

Siblings: Karen Koons

Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer. Prince began copying other photographer's work in 1975. Wikipedia

Born: August 6, 1949 (age 67), Panama Canal Zone, Panama

Period: Contemporary art

Education: Nasson College

Known for: Fine-art photography

Shantell Martin is a British visual artist best known for her stream-of-consciousness drawings and light projections. Martin lives and works in New York, although engages on commercial, private and public projects internationally. Wikipedia

Born: October 1, 1980 (age 38 years), London, United Kingdom

Movies: Lightrhythm Visuals: Notations 02, Lightrhythm Visuals: Koob's

Books: Wave: A Journey Through the Sea of Imagination for the Adventurous Colorist

Education: Bexleyheath Academy, Central Saint Martins

Julian Schnabel is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates. Wikipedia

Born: October 26, 1951 (age 64), Brooklyn, New York City, NY

Children: Vito Schnabel, Stella Schnabel, Lola Schnabel, Olmo Schnabel, Cy Schnabel, Shooter Sandhed Schnabel

Ex-spouses: Olatz López Garmendia, Jacqueline Schnabel

Movies: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Miral, Basquiat, More

Known for: Painting, Film

Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he ... Wikipedia

Born: July 31, 1901, Le Havre, France

Died: May 12, 1985, Paris, France

Education: Académie Julian

Periods: Outsider art, Modern art

Parents: Charles-Alexandre Dubuffet, Jeanne-Léonie Paillette

Joan Mitchell was an American "second generation" abstract expressionist painter and printmaker. She was a member of the American abstract expressionist movement, even though much of her career took place in France. Wikipedia

Born: February 12, 1925, Chicago, IL

Died: October 30, 1992, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

Spouse: Barney Rosset (m. 1949–1952)

Artwork: City Landscape, Ladybug, Grandes Carrieres, Hemlock, More

Influenced by: Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Cézanne

Periods: Modern art, Abstract expressionism

Born in Turks & Caicos, an island group east of Cuba, Bradley Theodore now lives in New York City where he is an integrated part of the art scene. Dedicated to making his art accessible for all to see in the streets of cities like New York, London, Los Angeles, Oslo and Paris, his iconic subjects, painted in bright colors, have become his signature style. A documentary film on Theodore’s life and art is currently being produced and will be released later this year.

Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. Wikipedia

Born: February 9, 1932 (age 84), Dresden, Germany

Known for: Painting

Spouse: Sabine Moritz-Richter (m. 1995), Isa Genzken (m. 1982–1993)

Periods: Conceptual art, Monochrome painting, Contemporary art, Modern art, Abstract art, Photorealism

Children: Betty Richter

Tracey Emin, CBE, RA is an English contemporary artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and sewn appliqué. Wikipedia

Born: July 3, 1963 (age 53), Croydon, United Kingdom

Period: Young British Artists

Movies: Top Spot

Parents: Pamela Cashin, Enver Emin

Education: Kent Institute of Art & Design, Birkbeck, University of London, Royal College of Art

Bruce Nauman is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico.Wikipedia

Born: December 6, 1941 (age 74), Fort Wayne, IN

Influenced by: Samuel Beckett, H. C. Westermann, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philip Glass

Periods: Contemporary art, Modern art

Movies: Bruce Nauman: Make Me Think, Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square

Clyfford Still was an American painter, and one of the leading figures in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediately following World War II. Wikipedia

Born: November 30, 1904, Grandin, ND

Died: June 23, 1980, Baltimore, MD

Known for: Painting

Education: Spokane University, Washington State University

Periods: Color Field, Modern art, Abstract expressionism

Mickalene Thomas, is a contemporary African American artist best known for her complex paintings made of rhinestones, acrylic and enamel.Wikipedia

Born: 1971, Camden, NJ

Books: Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe

Education: Yale University, Pratt Institute

Born in Philadelphia, Walsh lives and works in New York City. His work is included in public collections around the world, including the Fonds National dʼArt Contemporain, Paris, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Daniel Buren is a French conceptual artist. Wikipedia

Born: March 25, 1938 (age 78), Boulogne-Billancourt, France

Artwork: Les Deux Plateaux, More

Periods: Conceptual art, Modern art

Organization founded: BMPT

David Hammons is an American artist especially known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s.Wikipedia

Born: July 24, 1943 (age 73), Springfield, IL

Education: Otis College of Art and Design (1968–1972), More

Books: David Hammons: Selected Works, David Hammons: Blues and the Abstract Truth

Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada

Takashi Murakami is a contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, ...Wikipedia

Born: February 1, 1962 (age 54), Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan

Education: Tokyo University of the Arts

Movies: Jellyfish Eyes

Periods: Superflat, Contemporary art, Pop art

Ex-spouse: Kayo Murakami

Donald Clarence Judd was an American artist associated with minimalism. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it, ultimately achieving a ...Wikipedia

Born: June 3, 1928, Excelsior Springs, MO

Died: February 12, 1994, Manhattan, New York City, NY

Influenced by: Dan Flavin, Yayoi Kusama, H. C. Westermann

Periods: Contemporary art, Modern art, Minimalism

Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada

Jim Shaw is a contemporary American artist, born in Midland, Michigan. He received his B.F.A. from University of Michigan in 1974 and his M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts in 1978. Wikipedia

Born: August 8, 1952 (age 64), Midland, MI

Movies: Destroy All Monsters: Grow Live Monsters

Education: California Institute of the Arts (1978), University of Michigan

Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada

Barry X Ball is an American sculptor based in New York City. From January 29 – May 31, 2004 he had a solo one piece exhibition at MoMA PS1 with a piece entitled "The Head of Matthew Barney. Wikipedia

Born: 1955, Pasadena, CA

Lucio Fontana was an Italian painter, sculptor and theorist of Argentine birth. He was mostly known as the founder of Spatialism and his ties to Arte Povera. Wikipedia

Born: February 19, 1899, Rosario, Argentina

Died: September 7, 1968, Varese, Italy

Education: Brera Academy

Parents: Lucia Bottini, Luigi Fontana

Periods: Monochrome painting, Italian modern and contemporary art

Neo-expressionist painter Eric Fischl achieved recognition in the 1980s for his figurative paintings exploring suburban adolescent sexuality, as in Sleepwalker (1979), which depicts a boy hunched over in a plastic pool, masturbating. His work commonly exposes the dark, disturbing undercurrents of American life; his unconventional 9/11 memorial sculpture, Tumbling Woman (2001), was removed from public view amid controversy. Fischl is also the founder of the “America: Now and Here” project, a mobile museum and performance space that will tour the U.S. for two years.

Günther Förg was a German abstract artist who produced paintings, sculpture, and photographs that explored a lifelong fascination with Modernism. From his early monochromatic pieces to his images of significant architecture, Förg engaged with the formalism of 20th-century avant-garde movements. “I like very much the qualities of lead—the surface, the heaviness. Some of the paintings were completely painted, and you only experience the lead at the edges; this gives the painting a very heavy feeling—it gives the color a different density and weight,” he said of his Lead Paintings. Born on December 5, 1952 in Füssen, Germany, he studied with Art Informel member Karl Fred Dahmen at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1973–1979. His early style was reminiscent of Cy Twombly and Ellsworth Kelly, while his photography implied a painterly hand with its grainy focus and unique perspectives. In 1992, he was represented at the documenta 9, and in 1996, he won the prestigious Wolfgang Hahn Prize, awarded annually by the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Förg died at 61st birthday on December 5, 2013 in Freiburg, Germany. Today, his works can be seen in collections of the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.

Mark Rothko, born Markus Yakovlevich Rotkovich, was an American painter of Russian Jewish descent. Although Rothko himself refused to adhere to any art movement, he is generally identified as an abstract expressionist. Wikipedia

Born: September 25, 1903, Daugavpils, Latvia

Died: February 25, 1970, New York City, NY

Influenced by: Edward Hopper, Friedrich Nietzsche, Milton Avery, John D. Graham

Periods: Color Field, Modern art, Abstract expressionism

Spouse: Mary Alice Beistle (m. 1945–1969), Edith Sachar (m. 1932–1943)

Robert "Rob" Pruitt is an American post-conceptual artist. Working primarily in painting, installation, and sculpture, he does not have a single style or medium. He considers his work to be intensely personal and biographical. Wikipedia

Born: 1964, Washington, D.C.

Books: Rob Pruitt: Pattern and Degradation, 2010, Visionaire # 50: Artists Toys, Rob Pruitt's Ebay Flea Market: Year 1

Influenced by elements of popular culture such as anime, manga, Walt Disney cartoons, and punk rock, Yoshitomo Nara creates paintings, sculptures, and drawings of adorable-yet-sinister childlike characters. Painted with simple bold lines, primary colors, and set against empty backgrounds, these small children and animals often share the canvas with text, knives, plants, and cardboard boxes, among other recurring elements. As one of the fathers and central figures of the Japanese neo-Pop movement, Nara’s work expresses the struggle to find an identity fractured by war, rapid modernization, and an omnipresent visual culture. Nara’s sculptures, made primarily from fiberglass, and his drawings on postcards, envelopes, and scraps of paper, further this exploration using the same elegance of line and simple palette as his paintings.

Martin Kippenberger was a German artist known for his extremely prolific output in a wide range of styles and media, superfiction as well as his provocative, jocular and hard-drinking public persona. Wikipedia

Born: February 25, 1953, Dortmund, Germany

Died: March 7, 1997, Vienna, Austria

Series: Good Reverse Development Knows No Excuses

Period: Contemporary art

Artwork: Zuerst die Füße, More

Children: Helena Kippenberger

Michael "Mike" Kelley was an American artist. His work involved found objects, textile banners, drawings, assemblage, collage, performance and video. Wikipedia

Born: October 27, 1954, Wayne, MI

Died: January 31, 2012, South Pasadena, CA

Music group: Destroy All Monsters (1995 – 2012)

Movies: Mobile Homestead, Day Is Done, Watson and the Shark

Albums: Yummy Puffy Mommy Yoni

Neo Rauch is a German artist whose paintings mine the intersection of his personal history with the politics of industrial alienation. Wikipedia

Born: April 18, 1960 (age 56), Leipzig, Germany

Spouse: Rosa Loy

Period: Contemporary art

Known for: Painting

Books: Neo Rauch

Education: Leipzig University, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig

Paola Pivi is an Italian multimedia artist who lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska but since three years she is in India. In her work, she uses a wide range of art techniques, such as photography, sculpture and performance. Wikipedia

Born: 1971, Milan, Italy

Education: Brera Academy

Paul McCarthy, is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Wikipedia

Born: August 4, 1945 (age 71), Salt Lake City, UT

Period: Contemporary art

Artwork: Tree, Tomato head, Brancusi tree, More

Albums: Paul McCarthy Plays: Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms

Education: University of Southern California, University of Utah, San Francisco Art Institute

Robert Gober is an American sculptor. His work is often related to domestic and familiar objects such as sinks, doors, and legs. Wikipedia

Born: September 12, 1954 (age 61), Wallingford, CT

Known for: Sculpture

Artwork: Untitled Leg, Cat Litter, Drains, Untitled, X Crib, Open Playpen, Prison Window, Rat Bait, Newspaper

Education: Tyler School of Art, Middlebury College

Roy Fox Lichtenstein was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Wikipedia

Born: October 27, 1923, Manhattan, New York City, NY

Died: September 29, 1997, Manhattan, New York City, NY

Influenced by: Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Allan Kaprow

Periods: Modern art, Pop art

Spouse: Dorothy Herzka (m. 1968–1997), Isabel Wilson (m. 1949–1967)

Sigmar Polke was a German painter and photographer. Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials.Wikipedia

Born: February 13, 1941, Oleśnica, Poland

Died: June 10, 2010, Cologne, Germany

Education: Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

Artwork: Untitled (Triptych), Untitled (Square 2), More

Awards: Erasmus Prize

Periods: Contemporary art, Pop art

Yves Klein was a French artist considered an important figure in post-war European art. He is the leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany.Wikipedia

Born: April 28, 1928, Nice, France

Died: June 6, 1962, Paris, France

Periods: Conceptual art, Monochrome painting, Nouveau réalisme, Modern art

Children: Yves Amu Klein

Parents: Marie Raymond, Fred Klein

Anselm Kiefer is a German painter and sculptor. He studied with Joseph Beuys and Peter Dreher during the 1970s. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. Wikipedia

Born: March 8, 1945 (age 71), Donaueschingen, Germany

Spouse: Renate Graf

Period: Contemporary art

Movies: Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow

Awards: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Wolf Prize in Arts

Allan Sekula was an American photographer, writer, filmmaker, theorist and critic. From 1985 until his death in 2013, he taught at California Institute of the Arts. Wikipedia

Born: January 15, 1951, Erie, PA

Died: August 10, 2013, Los Angeles, CA

Education: University of California, San Diego (1974)

Movies: The Forgotten Space

Awards: Special Orizzonti Jury Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities, US & Canada

Ed Moses is an American artist based in the Los Angeles area and considered one of the most innovative and central figures of postwar West Coast art. Wikipedia

Born: April 9, 1926 (age 90), Long Beach, CA

Education: University of California, Los Angeles (1958)

Books: Ed Moses: A Retrospective of the Paintings and Drawings, 1951-1996, More

Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada

Alberto Burri was an Italian painter and sculptor. Wikipedia

Born: March 12, 1915, Città di Castello, Italy

Died: February 13, 1995, Nice, France

Education: University of Perugia

Artwork: Cretto di Burri, Combustione, Sacking and Red, More

Zhang Huan is a Chinese artist based in Shanghai and New York City. He began his career as a painter and then transitioned to performance art before making a comeback to painting. Wikipedia

Born: 1965, Anyang, China

Spouse: Hu Junjun

Education: China Central Academy of Fine Arts

Artwork: Three Heads Six Arms, Ash Head No.1, Earth Life No. 19,More

Periods: Conceptual art, Contemporary art

Known for: Sculpture, Photography, Performance art

Landon Metz was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and currently resides in New York City, where he creates large scale paintings, sculptures and installations.

From the first tear in preparing the canvas to the final hanging of a finished artwork, Metz meditates within an intentionally cyclical process. His respect of the practice as a whole allows him to explore the resonant act of repetition in a quiet appreciation of unseen and unspoken natural patterns. The earth reverberates with primal textures and curves, subtle forms which comfort both the present and inner eye. These observations are readily apparent in Metz’s childhood home of Arizona, where he finds inspiration in immense stratums of rocky peaks and dusks gradient to be explored within the white expanse of his Brooklyn studio.