The Postmodern Avatar: The Changing World of the Arts and Jeff Koons

Art Style | Art & Culture International Magazine

Abstract

In their own historical and social essence, the arts comprise moments of rupture or overcoming concerning their purposes. In this article, it is essential to consider the cultural changes in the passage from the 20th to the 21st century. This article seeks to understand this moment as a process of development relating not only to the arts in its milieu of experts, but also the arts in its meaning for audiences in urban centers. These transformations are the main characteristics of urban visual culture, representations of the world view by both characteristics and needs, varying according to political and social cultures. Historical analysis and reflection on the meaning of art in the contemporary world seek to contextualize the purpose of this visual culture in this moment of transition. The ideologies that guided modern art no longer offer their meanings. However, to illustrate the subject of this transition context, the art of Jeff Koons is analyzed for its impact and cultural receptivity, with emphasis on the ongoing dichotomous relationship of our history that breaks with the conservative tradition, which has significant representatives in the Château de Versailles––a symbol of power, not only for a French monarchical tradition but, above all, for the reasons that led to the French Revolution (1789–1799), an advent that transformed Western societies. However, there could be no better scenario to represent a revolution in the arts through contemporary art exhibitions. To understand this recent moment of rupturing, especially with the modern arts–– called the postmodern age––this article discusses whether modernity’s values are surpassed, and which artistic and cultural values prevail in the contemporary. Thus, a fundamental motive in the arts’ universe, with origins in the Renaissance, stands out as an argument for the aesthetic judgment and taste that prevails in the entire cultural sphere reigning absolute––the kitsch. Finally, facing the technical, artistic, and cultural possibilities, such as the stages of different social reality processes, the Kitsch Art or postmodern sculptures of Jeff Koons are placed in the current socio-cultural context.