Current trends in the work of contemporary artists in the context of the development of global art

Guangyu Yang Applicant, Department of Art History and Pedagogy of Art, A. I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University 191186, Russia, g. Saint Petersburg, ul. Nab. Reki Moiki, 48, korpus 6 yanguanyui@yandex.ru

The process of transformation of the creativity of many contemporary artists is associated with the concepts of "world art" and "global art". The term "world art" originally had colonial roots and was applied to the art of the colonies, contrasting it with Western art. In 2011, this term was formulated in a new way – as denoting a phenomenon that has many different manifestations that are the result of human creativity.

"World art" is a kind of aesthetic identification of objects in their pure "form" or evidence of individual creativity on a universal scale. This idea was discussed in detail in Andre Malraux's book "The Imaginary Museum" ("Le mus?e imaginaire"), first published in 1947. The author of this work appealed to universal aesthetics, pushing cultural and historical differences into the background {4}.

Already after 1989, there were discussions in the scientific community that contemporary international art had lost its geographical boundaries and now turned out to be a kind of global space in global art. Thus began the formation of a new term that differs from the concept of "world art". Over time, problems in the use of the term "world art" have become noticeable. "While world art remained synonymous with the artistic heritage of "others", global art, on the contrary, stepped over the boundaries and demanded recognition of peripheral art as one of the forms of modern practice on a par with Western art... aboriginal art, as a branch of what used to be called world art, declared itself as an equal part of modern art under the auspices of what was now called global art." {4}.

Thus, after the appearance of the term "global art", it was necessary to rethink the concept of "world art" in order for it to finally free itself from its colonial burden.

One of the most important results of the rethinking by the world scientific community of ideas about "world art" was the opportunity for artists from the countries of the East to become a full-fledged, recognized part of the global art community. They begin to actively perceive the general principles of the functioning of this community, its universal attitudes and aesthetic criteria for evaluating beauty, as well as trends in the development of the world art market.

In modern science, there are quite a lot of studies that consider the transformation of art and artistic culture in the conditions of the formation of a global space, under the influence of the effects of globalization. Thus, researcher E.K. Lugovaya addresses the phenomenon of transparency, one of the phenomena of globalization of modern culture, and examines its impact on the modern artistic sphere. The most significant change that globalization brings to the world culture is in the quality of transparency, transparency, fluidity or permeability. To use the expression of Sigmut Bauman, our "fluid modernity" {1} is characterized by the fact that all spheres of material and spiritual culture have lost their specific certainty, stability, closeness and "merged in the universal process of mixing and "viral infection" of each other" {1, C. 232}. Blurring, dissolving borders, overcoming them, destroying any integrity and isolation, leads to the dynamism of the modern world and the realization of colossal freedom: "Social and value entropy bring us closer to posthuman reality. The convergence of art with modern technologies, getting rid of its intellectual and humanistic burden, together with the destruction of stable cultural forms, consistently leads to the destruction of the autonomy of the artistic sphere, its dissolution in everyday life" {2, p. 232}.

The modern global art environment dictates certain conditions for communication between artists and art consumers. The Internet is actively used, in which many artists conduct their blogs, conduct training workshops, contributing not only to the popularization of their work on a global scale, but also to achieve a close connection with their audience. Often in this way the artist manages to explain the important principles of his work, his vision, the ideas that he puts into this or that work – all this, of course, provides a depth of perception and understanding of the viewer of the artist's works, makes them prepared to meet with his understanding of the beautiful.

In this regard, it is important to emphasize that in the process of integration into global art, the problem arises of "translating" the language of a work that is created in the context of a particular school of national painting for a wide audience. Blog forms of communication between the artist and the audience also help in this. In addition, many artists also go by adapting their expressive language, which has narrowly national roots, to universal painting models.

From the point of view of content, the work of artists who are reaching the world level is also changing significantly. It becomes relevant for them to touch upon universal themes and problems. For example, a series of works by Chinese artist Gao called "Chaos" (Fig. 1, 2018) is consonant with the painting of the same name by Australian artist Rick Smith (Fig. 2, 2019), similarly, in the works of artists from around the world we will see similar subjects – the sea, sunrises, rural landscapes, all this is universal phenomena in the culture of different peoples of the world.

Fig. 1. Gao. "Chaos (2)". 2018.

Fig. 2. Rick Smith. "Chaos." 2019.

Many contemporary artists are citizens of the world who exist in the mainstream of globalization processes. Chris Metze is a citizen of the United States and Canada. The artist grew up in Montreal, Quebec and Brooklyn, New York. Metze studied painting and sculpture at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver (Canada), currently lives and paints in Woodstock, New York.

Metze's creativity is subordinated to the desire to explore the aesthetic space between realism and abstraction. He prefers tonal schemes in cool colors and creates a special compositional effect. In many of his works, the idea of landscape, the feeling of looking at the world from top to bottom is realized (Fig. 3, 2010). According to critic Brian Mahoney, Metze's works produce an indelible feeling: "it's like looking down while traveling by plane over rough terrain, noting the fields of color that replace each other - wheat the color of sand, green forest, orange dust, pale blue water - incredible spots that irresistibly captivate for myself" {9}.

Fig. 3. Chris Metze. "Untitled." 2010.

For Metze, color is a self–sufficient object within a work, a thing in itself, "a block of three-dimensionality locked in two dimensions" {9}. It should also be noted that all of Metze's paintings are untitled, which follows from his belief that the experience of his work should be completely open to interpretation. "I don't want to lead the viewer along a certain path," says Metze. "The more I explain something [in the work], the more I deprive him [the viewer] [in the perception of the work]. It loses a little of its magic."{9}

In the creative search, the artist is interested in a nonverbal dialogue between line, shape and color. His paintings depict fuzzy, blurred shapes. The color inclusions placed on the canvases in a chaotic manner vaguely resemble real landscapes. This visualized uncertainty of forms, their interaction within what appears to be a landscape, is at the heart of Metze's works. The artist says that he is interested in the line that separates the perceived rational world from the inner landscape {5}. In his work, Metze combines and dissolves forms, creating organic, structured, and often bizarre paintings. The artist's view of landscapes high from above is connected with the fact that he is "inspired by the relationship that exists between the earth and the sky, and the forms that bind them together; the gaseous quality of smoke or fog combined with the rigid shape of the tower; the expansiveness of the water column combined with fuzzy structures created by man – all this is a unique integral space, which is located between two elements, creating a unique shape" {5}.

Douglas A. Kinsey uses charcoal to create his mystical landscapes.  The artist's works reflect his spiritual quest, it is the quintessence of spiritual struggles and geography {8}. Looking at his paintings, for example, the series of works "Revised Border Line" (Fig. 4, 2009), the viewer understands why Kinsey himself calls them "internal/external landscapes". The artist uses geological forms found in the geographical landscape as a starting point. The curves of the rocks, the pile of stones – in his perception, all this marks the unspoken, metaphysical boundaries.

Fig. 4. Douglas A. Kinsey. "Revised Border Line 8". 2009.

Turning to the boundaries of the "outer" physical reality, Kinsey studies the subconscious symbols of the "inner" spiritual reality. The images that the artist develops in his works are endowed with rich spiritual content. The unspeakable silence contained in dark forms can sometimes cause a roaring sense of mystical silence. It also captivates the viewer and causes deep experiences and moments of inner contemplation.

Claire Fahys was born and raised in Paris, moved to London at the age of 19 to study graphic design at the Central College of Art and Design. St. Martin (Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design / CSM). Since the age of 20, Claire has been exhibiting her work, working with several galleries in London and Paris. By about the age of 26, a deep evolution is taking place in Claire Fahy's work – she focuses her attention on painting. At this time, she discovers the Berlin art scene, especially German expressionism attracts her attention {3}.

Inspired by the work of artists such as Adrian Ghenie and Victor Man, who settled in Berlin, Claire moved there in 2011 in search of new directions for her work. Over the next 6 years, Fahy intensively works in his Berlin studio, mastering the techniques of oil painting. During this period, she shows her work only at two solo exhibitions in Mexico City. Currently, the artist lives and works in Paris again. In her collection there are a number of works that deserve the attention of the general public {3}.

Considering painting as a trajectory in time, the artist wonders how to become part of her continuum. There is an infinite freedom of form and style in contemporary art. Taking this fact as a starting point, Claire Fahy strives to show her true voice and her vision of the world. In her opinion, the creative search, the desire for self-expression requires the utmost honesty from the artist, the exposure of intimate, deep experiences {3}. At the same time, the creative process should not only be thoughtful, but also spontaneous, generating a variety of interpretation options. Creative search is a constant feedback between reality and its representation: fantasy and dream; past and present; something strange but familiar – all this generates paradoxes and free associations. Fahy's paintings demonstrate that for her to draw means to capture these extremes, thereby creating a space for contemplation and reflection.

Observation in Claire Fahy's view is fundamental. This is the initial step that allows us to transform what we see, to change time and space. Inner experience, as symbolists describe, this deep and mysterious inner subjectivity, leads us to images that describe our relationship with the world. This is, for example, the psychological reality in the works of Edvard Munch, which deeply affects the viewer, the variability of contours, his palette, the names of his paintings {3}.

Claire Fahy's painting has an autobiographical dimension – it can be traced in all the artist's works. Inspired by many years of living abroad, she primarily shows landscapes of Mexico in her paintings. For example, the work "Periphery" (Fig. 5, 2017) shows a place that no longer exists today, but which the artist for many years passed on the way to her studio in the center of Mexico City. The work is in many ways similar to Eric Romer's "Metamorphoses of the Landscape", which reflects the industrialization of the French landscape. "The world is doomed to chaos of formlessness, to eternal changes, to incompleteness… The question is not to be for or against, "before" or "today"..., but to find in these metamorphoses a reason for meditation and poetic detachment" {3}.

Fig. 5. Claire Fahy. "Periphery". 2017.

The story of the creation of the painting "Night Vision" (Fig. 6, 2017) is completely different. The work is based on a shot from a surrealist film shot by Luis Bunuel during his Mexican period ("El Angel Exterminador", 1962). The introduction to the film reflects Fahy's arrival in Mexico City. The cinematic light and shadows cast by lampposts on the surrounding lush vegetation on these unknown streets are both frightening and fascinating.

Fig. 6. Claire Fahy. "Night vision". 2017.

Each painting not only has a multi-level structure. The uniqueness of Claire Fahy's works is that they allow the viewer to completely, almost physically, immerse themselves in the space of the canvas. Using color, the artist strives to convey an atmosphere filled with subtle associations and ambiguities, leaving only a few hints for the viewer, which allows him to fill the work with his own associations, experiences and meanings. The understatement of the artist's works is connected with her desire to leave an unfinished impression that touches the imagination and awakens the imagination of the viewer.

Fahy's urban landscapes, such as, for example, "Pocket Compass" (Fig. 7, 2008), depict modern giant cities in which the development of human relations takes place. In her works, Claire Face explores the future of social relations in an increasingly virtual and global world. Freed from any material constraints, virtual communities provide an infinite number of connecting threads that unite an unlimited number of people. The images of these virtual cities at the same time have an inhumane aspect, which causes the artist fears. Such a transition from the old real world to the new virtual world inspires people with a frightening sense of their smallness, insignificance in relation to this virtual infinite and innumerable community {6}.

Fig. 7. Claire Fahy. "Pocket compass". 2008.

Katarzyna Zwolinska is a Polish artist who graduated from the European Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1997. Mainly engaged in easel painting and pastel. The artist's creativity was formed under the influence of Italian painting of the XIV century.

Katarzhina loves to paint still lifes and landscapes. In these genres, she tries to develop a modern aesthetic. The artist leaves aside technical rigor and devotes herself to a simplified form of painting, concentrating entirely on the image of the object. Using synthetic painting, Katarzyna Zvolinska concentrates on the visual aspect of the object. So, in her work "Fruit in a bowl" (Fig. 8, 2005) there are slender geometric lines, the contrasts between the forms are enhanced by flat areas of dense colors.

Fig. 8. Katarzhina Zvolinska. "Fruit in a bowl." 2005.

The artist explores a question that is still relevant in art today: how to find the harmony of color and beauty? The series "Red Fields" (Fig. 9, 2007) is noteworthy, which attracts the viewer's attention primarily by the riot of color. Here Katarzyna Zvolinska also explores the geometry of space, filling it with shades of juicy red. Another characteristic feature is the three-dimensional space, which has a strict geometric structuring, multidimensional. Heaven and earth form a single whole, acting as extensions of each other. These paintings are also an attempt to express the "inner landscape", where the Polish artist reveals the beauty of visible forms of perceived reality in her own way and gives them a new aesthetic in accordance with her subjective vision.

Fig. 9. Katarzhina Zvolinska. The series "Red Fields". 2007.

Nazafarin Lotfi received her bachelor's degree from the University of Tehran in 2007, and in 2011 was awarded a Master's degree in Fine Arts, graduating from the School of Art of the Chicago Institute. The artist's creative quest is interdisciplinary in nature. The main areas for research are oppositions, tension and harmony in spatial arrangement.

Nazafarin Lotfi in his works demonstrates not only the ways of constructing space, but also the methods of its deconstruction {10}. What the viewer encounters in the artist's paintings appears to him both as created and as uncreated. Lotfi's paintings, seemingly showing familiar spatial forms, eventually turn everything inside out. The artist creates in her works such spaces that appear in forms that arise by themselves and are repeatedly destroyed.

Many paintings by Nazafarin Lotfi have no name. For example, in a series of works in 2012 (Fig. 10, 2012), the artist creates a whole world in gray, it is a melancholic and empty space, a world exhausted by life. The artist likes to manipulate materials in the image of objects, create distortions, draw objects in an exaggerated form, thus inventing ways to destabilize hierarchies of spatial relations. The compositions created by her have unstable physical attributes, but when combined into a single, harmonious whole, they create an amazing spatial and compositional integrity. At the same time, these works are deeply subjective. They reflect feelings of instability, dissatisfaction – primarily with the isolation that is present in Muslim society, the desire to be a part of something, the need to assert one's individuality.

Fig. 10. Nazafarin Lotfi. "Drawing". 2012.

The sources of inspiration for the artist of Iranian origin are feelings of chaos, doubt and uncertainty, this is what leads Nazafarin Lotfi to contemplation and creation. The internal discord that spills out onto the canvas leaves no room for any logical reflections on painful topics or attempts to find a solution to these issues. Her works express, first of all, the state of mind, transmitting these feelings to the viewer, involving him, giving him the opportunity to experience something similar, but without offering answers to any questions. It's a feeling of being lost, and "being lost.. it means being in a state of uncertainty and mystery. And a person does not get lost, but loses himself, implying that this is a conscious choice, a conscious surrender of his own free will, a mental state achievable with the help of geography" {11}.

The source of inspiration and inner reflection for Nazafarin Lotfi are Malevich's "Black Square" and the "White Manifesto" written 30 years later – both of these works postulate the rejection of classical ideas about space and form. Nazafarin in his work reflects on the "utopian" message of the "Black Square", challenges it and eventually rejects its flatness, thereby striving to develop his own artistic language that would help open up new horizons and dimensions.

The revolutionary work "Black Square", which Malevich called "the beginning of a new era", attracted the attention of Nazafarin Lotfi due to the fact that the Russian artist protested against the existing artistic traditions at that time. Since Lotfi herself comes from a traditional society that imposes many social restrictions, the rebellious spirit of the painting is in tune with the general mindset of the young artist. 

Nevertheless, Lotfi adheres to his own view of creativity. The artist is not ready to fully share the ideas of utopian universalism proposed by suprematism. She also opposes the social realism in which she grew up. The artist's creativity lies somewhere in the middle, which allows her to create a unique aesthetic, which helps her to express the actual reality in which Lotfi exists as an Iranian artist living in the USA {11}.

The work "Disappeared like Smoke" (Fig. 11, 2017) is a complex composition, for the creation of which Lotfi used papier-mache, plaster, fabric, collage and paints. The work is inspired by reflections on the theme of the "Black Square", its relevance for our time. In the process of creating the work "Disappeared like Smoke", the artist was attracted by the idea of seeing through the cracks on the surface of a black square and imagining the space inside it. "There was something annoying about this flat utopian space, and I wanted to work with it... I kept the dimensions of my work the same as his [Malevich's]. From the very beginning I started to build up the surface" {11}. Looking at this work, you realize that Lotfi managed to go beyond just copying Malevich's work, she managed to rethink the black square, turn its space inside out.

Fig. 11. Nazafarin Lotfi. "Gone like smoke." 2017.

The space in the painting "Disappeared like Smoke" has become voluminous and architectural. The interior and exterior are connected in one plane. As a result, Lotfi creates a space that is a contradictory and irrational unity of external and internal, stable and unstable.

As an Iranian citizen living in the United States, Lotfi knows well what it means to experience limitations and to feel dissatisfaction in this regard: there are no opportunities for self-expression for her in her native country, but there are many prohibitions that do not allow her people to understand and accept the artist's work. Lotfi thinks a lot about utopia, its meaning and its contradictory nature. A place that can be comprehended or imagined, but cannot be experienced; a place that cannot be. Lotfi's work is certainly a reflection of the artist's subjective experience. Her paintings are emotional and deeply psychological. They convey feelings of doubt, uncertainty, understatement, fragmentation, ambiguity. These emotions arise against the background of political uncertainty that we face today, they are also caused by the difficulties of personal life and identity crisis. Lotfi's paintings reflect such moments when it seems to a person that he is losing control of his life, when familiar and familiar things suddenly become different, incomprehensible, incomprehensible. That's why Lotfi's work touches on various spheres – political and existential, fluctuates between the personal and the universal. Exploring the process of losing a person, Lotfi experiments with time and space, expanding the boundaries of the surrounding reality. It is interesting to observe that the feeling of living in an unfamiliar place enhances the perception of everything around you. Lotfi's works affect the viewer in a similar way. They require attention and concentration, time seems to slow down at the moment of contemplation, because we do not immediately know what we are looking at.

Color in Lotfi's recent works is also beginning to be used in order to complicate the composition of the work, to create new spatial levels and forms expressing the diversity of time, perspective, space. The Iranian artist claims to have conceptually and visually developed a new dimension or a third space {11}. This is a kind of hybrid space that is not just material or mental, it embodies our completely different personal, political and historical experiences. This is a space that reflects for everyone his subjective reality.

In the modern global reality, there is not only the development of new ideas about time and space, new hybrid dimensions. The issue of communication, new forms of performing activity (performance) and interaction between the artist and the audience remains important and relevant. Daniel Hutchinson sees his paintings as a way of forming the interaction between visual art and the viewer through performance (performance) {7}.

The artist's paintings, for example, "Shell and Shadows" (Fig. 12) are painted in oil. In them, we see various shades of gray and black on the drawing film attached to the panel. The result is an almost monochrome image, which is largely devoid of traditional modeling in the picture of light and darkness. The image appears as a result of the fact that real light gets into the curves of the strokes, reflected from the ridges of each carefully executed stroke. The movement of the viewer allows light to move across the surface, simultaneously revealing and hiding parts of the depicted object: "My images are constantly on the verge of disintegration, as the elusive movement of light across the surface plunges certain fragments into deep infinite blackness, while other elements of the image fall into a brilliant, sharp focus of reflected light" {7}.

Fig. 12. Daniel Hutchinson. "Shell and Shadows". 2010.

The artist's works come to life as a result of the viewer's optical experience, his images are not local, virtual and continuous. Hutchinson investigates the properties of spaces that are unchanged under continuous deformations. His two–dimensional paintings are an attempt to establish connections between our three-dimensional, corporeal world and the zero dimensions of digital space. His monochrome paintings make it possible to transfer to the real world the experience of perceiving virtual space – its infinite possibilities and a sense of disorientation, in images that are mobile, unfixed, ephemeral and unpredictable, like the representation itself.

Thus, the current artistic reality is characterized by diversity, diversity of forms, it postulates the expansion of spatial and temporal boundaries, the synthesis of traditional art and innovative artistic trends, the erosion of cultural barriers, the denationalization of the artistic sphere, the use of innovative communicative and technical means. Relevance, fashion and the moment come to the fore. Such an attitude of the art of the past, as the desire to perpetuate a certain timeless absolute, has lost its significance today. Representatives of the global artistic community have a new way of thinking associated with their cosmopolitan identity.