Although there are no figures in Suchitra Mattai's massive tapestry called Exodus, the presence of the South Asian diaspora is manifest through the almost 200 globally sourced saris.
1980 – now
Assemblage, a practice of art production that combines disparate everyday objects and materials to create new meanings and forms, rose to popularity among American artists following World War II.
Assemblage
Old sports photographs and hair commercials provide inspiration for American artist Lorna Simpson.
Lorna Simpson – ‘Everything I Do Comes ...
Yatika Starr Fields grew up in Tahlequah, in northeastern Oklahoma, whose nature and landscape continues to influence his work today.
Yatika Starr Fields and mural painting
Referencing the photographs of Edward Curtis, Wilson intends to produce a contemporary visual reimagining of Native American culture through his photographs.
Will Wilson, Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange
Mel Chin describes the origins and motivations behind the nationwide art project Paydirt in a keynote address to the 2008 National Art Education Association Convention, and visits multiple sites in New Orleans adversely affected by both Hurricane Katrina and lead contamination in the soil.
Mel Chin, Paydirt
Artist Lee Bul reveals her thinking and inspiration behind her site-specific installation at the Turbine Hall of the Industrial Precinct on Cockatoo Island, titled 'Willing To Be Vulnerable' (2015–16) for the Embassy of the Real.
Artist interview with Lee Bul about Willing ...
To behold a painting or sculpture by the Korean artist and philosopher Lee Ufan is to feel suspended in a single breath longer than seems biologically possible.
Lee Ufan
"As an abstract painter, I work with things that I cannot see," says Jack Whitten.
Jack Whitten on Mapping the Soul
In his New York City studio, Takashi Murakami discusses his three-decades-long practice in which he blends traditional and modern art techniques to create enormous paintings with a visual power unmatched in contemporary art.
Takashi Murakami
Using industrial materials such as plaster, concrete, resin, rubber and metal to cast everyday objects and architectural space, Rachel Whiteread evocative sculptures range from the intimate to the monumental.
Who is Rachel Whiteread?
In her Bogotá studio, artist Doris Salcedo discusses the stereotypes she faces as a citizen of a Third World country and how she embraces these first-hand experiences of discrimination to inform her art.
Doris Salcedo: Third World Identity
Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich describes the centrality of childhood memory to his work and its move from painting to sculpture.
Artist Profile: Sopheap Pich on Rattan, Sculpture, ...
Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabekwe) discuses symbolism within her work "Rising to the Occasion"
Rebecca Belmore on Rising to the Occasion
Jesús Rafael Soto's final and most ambitious work, a site-specific installation intended to be touched, handled, and waded through, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Jesús Rafael Soto, Houston Penetrable
Zineb Sedira was born in Paris to Algerian parents, and her works are often autobiographical, addressing issues of cultural identity and the personal consequences of migration.
Zineb Sedira – ‘The Personal is Political’
Sally Mann’s iconic series “Immediate Family” features intimate black-and-white photographs of the artist's children, who eat, sleep, and play in an idyllic Southern landscape.
Sally Mann, Blowing Bubbles
Mona Hatoum creates a challenging vision of our world, exposing its contradictions and complexities.
Mona Hatoum – ‘Nothing Is a Finished ...
Afghan artist Lida Abdul describes the chance encounter that became the basis for her elegiac film Dome.
Browse Smarthistory images for teaching & learning!
