http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/contemporary-art Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:20:23 -0400 Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:20:23 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1857/hans-bellmers-dolls-and-the-subversion-of-the-female-gaze By Hannah J. Wetzel - Hans Bellmer’s Die Puppe (The Doll) photographic series is perhaps one of the most bizarre works to come out of the surrealist group in the early-to-mid twentieth century. Of every peculiar aspect of the photographs, perhaps the most striking is his treatment of vision. Bellmer always poses his dolls, which he disassembles and reassembles into various unnatural shape, so they face away from his camera. Sometimes, he removes their eyes altogether. Bellmer himself wrote extensively about his doll, which was also featured in the surrealist magazine Minotaure. Many of the themes his doll project... Tue, 05 Jan 2021 03:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1857/hans-bellmers-dolls-and-the-subversion-of-the-female-gaze http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1838/felix-gonzalez-torress-portrait-of-ross-beyond-form-and-content By Julianne Miao - Félix González-Torres’s Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) [1991] uses its unconventional medium and presentation to reveal holes in the limited language of the traditional art historical narrative. Composed of a pile of metallic-wrapped candy, the work of art ideally weighs 175 pounds, but its mass depletes as visitors are invited to take pieces from the pile. Exhibitors of the candy pile replenish the candies when deemed necessary. The artwork serves as a portrait of the artist’s passed lover, Ross Laycock, who died from AIDS-related complications. The installation... Tue, 17 Nov 2020 08:49 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1838/felix-gonzalez-torress-portrait-of-ross-beyond-form-and-content http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1025/the-medicalization-of-blackness-rashid-johnson-and-the-diseased-connotations-of-race By Danielle Wu - "Rashid Johnson: Message to Our Folks" was a solo exhibition on view at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum from September 20, 2013 to January 6, 2014. The gestural painting Antibiotic (pictured below) differed from neighboring works because of its massive size, minimalist approach, and seemingly arbitrary title. This case study on Johnson's use of medium and semiotics reveals how the artist explores the parallels between germaphobia and xenophobia. Although he is often identified as "post-black" artist, Johnson refuses to allow the contemporary era pass as “post-racial,” emphasizing... Fri, 10 Apr 2015 08:30 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1025/the-medicalization-of-blackness-rashid-johnson-and-the-diseased-connotations-of-race http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/768/the-visual-vocabulary-of-chitra-ganesh-femininity-sexuality-and-abjection-in-ganeshs-visual-art By Tausif Noor - Whence does the definitive understanding of the human body as a site of power, pleasure, and horror come? Is there at all a definitive notion of the extent of the body’s capabilities in the first place? The body, long established as an inspirational source for higher form and interpretation throughout the canon of art history, has become a source of contention within the realm of contemporary art. Though the body was previously the most immediate foundation for figurative art, it became more of a tool for manipulation and experimentation beginning with twentieth century modernism and this... Sat, 05 Oct 2013 09:12 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/768/the-visual-vocabulary-of-chitra-ganesh-femininity-sexuality-and-abjection-in-ganeshs-visual-art http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/564/posthuman-exploring-the-obsolescence-of-the-corporeal-body-in-contemporary-art By Ryan P. O'Donnell - A key practitioner in posthumanist art is the Australian performance artist, Stelarc. Stelarc’s work deals heavily with “the obsolete body”. The artist does not however suggest that the body is obsolete in the sense that it can be discarded entirely. He instead suggests that humans as a species have created a new technological environment in which we cannot operate effectively as living organisms. The body is obsolete in the sense that it is no longer compatible with its surroundings. We have reached an evolutionary endpoint where the next logical stage of adaptation is for the... Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:30 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/564/posthuman-exploring-the-obsolescence-of-the-corporeal-body-in-contemporary-art http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1661/appropriation-in-contemporary-art By Hayley A. Rowe - Above we see a contemporary example of appropriation, a painting which borrows its narrative and composition from the infamous Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso. Here Colesscott has developed Picasso’s abstraction and ‘Africanism’ in line with European influences. Colescott has made this famous image his own, in terms of colour and content, whilst still making his inspiration clear. The historical reference to Picasso is there, but this is undeniably the artist’s own work. Other types of appropriation often do not have such clear differences between the original... Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1661/appropriation-in-contemporary-art