1980s
Context: Social, Political, Cultural, Economic
"Hip-hop’s ascension had been steady, but in 1988 the genre exploded into a diverse array of styles and sounds that forever restructured how the artform was perceived and how the music was marketed." Daily Beast, 2018
Victor Simmons, 1988: The Year Hip-Hop Made Noise, October, 2011 (New York Public Library)
Public Enemy, Don't Believe The Hype, 1988
Seminal
Events
Fall of the Berlin Wall, November 1989
Exhibition Influence of American Modernism in China through Rauschenberg, 1985
"Crisis of Representation"
"Crisis of Representation"
Roger Shimomura
American b. 1939
American b. 1939
Roger Shimomura, Diary: December 12, acrylic on canvas, 1941
Roger Shimomura, Diary: December 12, acrylic on canvas, 1941 Smarthistory
Sigmar Polke
German 1941-2020
German 1941-2020
Sigmar Polke, Bunnies, 1966, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 100 cm / 59 x 39-½” (Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.) (Smarthistory)
Sigmar Polke, Watchtower, 1984, synthetic polymer paints and dry pigment on patterned fabric, 9′ 10″ x 7′ 4 1/2″ (Smarthistory)
Streets, Clubs and Speakeasies
Streets, Clubs and Speakeasies
Art Term: Queer Art
Robert Mapplethorpe
American 1946-88
American 1946-88
Robert Mapplethorpe, Ken Moody, 1983
Kevin Moore, Whipping Up a Storm: how Robert Mapplethorpe Shocked America, The Guardian, 2015
Robert Mapplethorpe
David Wojnarowicz
American 1954-92
American 1954-92
1 Minute 1 Work: David Wojnarowicz, Beautiful People, Super 5 film, 1988 HeniTalks
David Wojnarowicz, Beautiful People, Super 5 film, 1988
David Wojnarowicz at the Whitney, 2018
Neo Expressionism
Neo Expressionism
Art Term: New Expressionism
''It's a humanistic gesture, more than anything else,'' said the artist, who called his work ''a political and subversive act - an attempt to psychologically destroy the wall by painting it.'' (On Keith Haring's painting of the Berlin Wall, 1988) New York Times
Keith Haring
American 1958-1990
American 1958-1990
Keith Haring, Untitled, 1985
Five Things to Know: Keith Haring Tate
(Keith Haring, Crack Down! 1986)
(Keith Haring, Crack Down! 1986)
Keith Haring Paints Mural on Berlin Wall, October 1986 New York Times
Jean-Michel Basquiat
American 1960-1988
American 1960-1988
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Horn Players, acrylic, oilstick on 3 canvas panels, 1983
Jean-Michel Basquiat: Post-Punk Prodigy, Heni Talks
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Elizabeth Murray
American 1940-2007
American 1940-2007
Elizabeth Murray, Untitled (Black Cup), hand colored lithograph 1984
Elizabeth Murray, Bop, 2013 Art21
Institutional Critique + Appropriation
Institutional Critique + Appropriation
Art Terms:
Institutional Critique
Appropriation
Sonia Boyce
British Afro-Caribbean b. 1962
British Afro-Caribbean b. 1962
Sonia Boyce, T05021 From Tarzan to Rambo: English Born ‘Native’ Considers her Relationship to the Constructed/Self Image and her Roots in Reconstruction 1987
Sonia Boyce TateShots
Barbara Kruger
American b. 1945
American b. 1945
Barbara Kruger, Untitled, photolithograph screenprint, 1986
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Questions) (1990/2018) MoCA
Andrea Fraser
American b. 1965
American b. 1965
Andrea Fraser, A Gallery Talk, video/monitor, 1989
Andrea Fraser's Museum Highlights, Excerpt, 1989
Andrea Fraser, Little Frank And His Carp, performance art, 2001
more on Andrea Fraser
Women's Artist Collective,
Article: Who are the Guerilla Girls? Tate
Article: Who are the Guerilla Girls? Tate
Guerilla Girls Review the Whitney, screenprint, 1987
Guerilla Girls, TateShots
Sarah Parrish, Guerrilla Girls, Reinventing The "F" Word, Feminism, Opening Contempary Art
Glenn Ligon
American b. 1960
American b. 1960
Glenn Ligon, Untitled ('I AM A MAN'), 1988
Glenn Ligon: 'I AM A MAN', 2019 Heni Talks
Krzysztof Wodiczko
b. Poland 1943 lives New York + Cambridge
b. Poland 1943 lives New York + Cambridge
Krzysztof Wodiczko, Homeless Vehicle, Variant 5, 1988
Animation: Krzysztof Wodiczko Homeless Vehicle Project
Monument for the Living, Krysztof Wodiczko, 2020 Art21
Zhang Peili b. Hangzhou, China 1957
Zhang Peili, 30x30, 1988, single channel video (5 min clip of 3 hours)
Guggenheim, Artist Profile: Zhang Peili, 2017
Barbara Pollock, ARTNews, Breaking and Entering, May 2017
Photo: Zhang Peili, Document on Hygiene No. 3 (still), 1991.
Photo: Zhang Peili, Document on Hygiene No. 3 (still), 1991.
Yasumasa Morimura, b. Osaka, Japan 1951
Yasumasa Morimura, Daughter of Art History, Theater B, 1989, Chromogenic print with transparent acrylic mounted to a wood panel, 71 × 97 in. © Yasumasa Morimura
Illusionism / Consumerism / Generative
Illusionism / Consumerism / Generative
Jeff Koons
American b. 1955
American b. 1955
Jeff KoonsNew Hoover Convertibles, Green, Blue; New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Blue; Doubledecker1981–1987
Richard Prince
American (Canal Zone Panama) b. 1949
American (Canal Zone Panama) b. 1949
Richard Prince, Untitled (cowboy), chromogenic print, 50"x70", 1989
ART TERM: Generative Art is a type of art that uses algorithms, mathematical equations, and machine learning to create unique, dynamic, and often interactive pieces. The art is "generated" based on a set of rules, parameters, or inputs, rather than being manually created by an artist.
Meta AI 1.31.2025
Harold Cohen
British 1928-2016
British 1928-2016
Harold Cohen, Untitled, colored dye over ink on paper, 1982
Harold Cohen: Discussing the Earliest AI Program for Artmaking, Whitney Museum of Amerian Art, 3.21.2024
banner photo: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Horn Players, 1983 (photo: the broad)