As the economy recovered, China and India welcomed a contemporary art boom and artists from the Middle East and Iran inspired an international audience. Art fairs took over, while museums across the globe underwent major rebuilding programmes. In New York in 2004, MoMA opened the doors of its new home, while in Paris the Louvre reopened its Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 2006. It was also a decade of celebrations; the Tate Modern opened in 2000 with over five million visitors in its first year, while the Guggenheim celebrated its 50th anniversary. Public art projects included British artist Antony Gormley’s One & Other performance in 2009, which involved 2,400 strangers occupying the fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square for one hour each over the course of 100 days. UK audiences also enjoyed major shows of works by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Titian, Edward Hopper and Caravaggio. In Versailles, Jeff Koons pushed the boundaries of taste by installing his flamboyantly kitsch sculptures amongst the opulence of the Palace, including his signature balloon dogs and a rendering of Michael Jackson with his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles.
HOW HAS THE ART INDUSTRY CHANGED OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS?
'Balloon Dog (Magenta)' by Jeff Koons, at the Palace of Versailles in France. Credit: Marc Wathieu
The transformative power of art is unlike anything else in this world. With just their creative vision, artists have the ability to incite political movements, champion human rights and influence new technologies. Over the last 25 years, the art industry has gone through a seismic change, and we’d like to revisit some of its key moments with you.
British rave music, along with a bold exploration of subjects such as LGBT rights, race and AIDS. Performance, conceptual and body art made household names of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, while transgressive street art adorned the world’s capitals and a digital revolution produced the first ‘internet art’. Activists like the Guerrilla Girls also infiltrated the industry to fight against gender and ethnic bias. In 1992, at the opening of the Guggenheim in NYC, their organised demonstration in response to an exclusively white male show included handing out bags with gorilla heads printed on them for protestors to wear over their faces.
Globalisation and the rise of the internet heralded the use of new media and an increased focus on multiculturism. African-American artists like Lorna Simpson and Pat Ward Williams took centre stage at the infamous 1993 Whitney Biennial (regarded by some as ‘America’s most controversial art show’), while critics and consumers alike embraced works by Latino and Asian-American artists. A market crash in the early 1990s was set against a backdrop of influences from German techno and
'Michael Jackson and Bubbles' by Jeff Koons, at the Palace of Versailles in France. Credit: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra
Visitors at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Credit: Will Wilson
The Guerrilla Girls at the V&A Museum in London. Credit: Eric Huybrechts
60 FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN/WINTER 2020
FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN/WINTER 2020 61
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