Toyism

Toyism started in the Netherlands in the 1990s. Introduced by an artist using the pseudonym Dejo at the Veenmuseum in 1993, the toyist style of painting emphasizes narrative depictions featuring figurative rather than abstract objects focusing on aspects of the human condition. In a style that features the heavy use of outlining, bold colors and craftsmanship. Toyist artists select a pseudonym and an icon which is incorporated into their paintings.
Every Toyist portrays his own unique story and by doing so adds a new dimension to Toyism. After the manifesto was rewritten in October 2002, the movement became more accessible to fresh, young artists. Toyist artworks need a high quality standard, and the Manifesto draws the artists together in making it a Movement. Every Toyist works under a chosen pseudonym. With this name the work is signed. In combination with a Toyistic puppet every Toyist is recognizable. It’s not the face that is important; it’s about the art which is carried out. The founders Mr. Dejo and Mr. Blaak have since been joined by Miss Fihi, Mr. Jaf’r, Mr. Alfago all from the Netherlands and Miss Mwano from Kaapstad, Mr. Toescat from New York and Miss Sassy from Austin, Texas USA. Together they represent the original movement, each adding their own accent to the expression of the ideas. In this way the style continues to undergo an explosion in growth, ensuring that future artists from other countries and cultures who join will make a definite impact on the movement. In 2005, with the "Let the Games Begin" publication and exhibition, the compositions have also become the combined work of two artists following certain rules of play. During this particular exhibition, every visitor could create his/her composition, being directly involved in the game.
http://www.toyism.com .....website







title: Toy Travis,this painting tells personal story of the life of Toy Travis that surreally is locked up in the future.

artist: DEJO
year: 2003
size (cm): 30 x 40 cm
size (inch): 12 X 16
material: acrylic on canvas




title: Hearts of Giraffe is Trump Card.This is a mind game,where you have to see the world as a big game. There are four cards in the game. Between the cards, the life vein, either the blood line walks that is necessarily to understand the game. If you want to play it right you need this special card; the trump card! De trump card brings success, health and money into your life. Therefore this card is called from now on: The Hearts of Giraffe play card! Try to get hold of this and your life will change.

artist: DEJO
year: 2007
size (cm): 100 x 100 cm
size (inch): 40 X 40
material: acrylic on canvas




Kasparov - Deep Blue

title: Kasparov – Deep Blue - Between 17 and 18 - )Story )In 1997, world-champion chess player Kasparov lost to chess computer Deep Blue. It was the first time in history that this had taken place on such a level. Using this legendary dual as a basis, Dejo and Jaf’r have created a work of art consisting of 64 canvasses which represent the underlying theme: the contrast between man and machine. The diagram of the situation between the sixteenth and seventeenth set of the sixth match has been depicted
artists: JAF’R - DEJO
year: 2005
size frame total (cm): 180 x 180 cm (64 x 20 x 20 cm)
size frame total (inch): 70 X 70 (64 x 8 x 8 inch)
material: 64 x acrylic on canvas



title: Monkey, Note, Music!
artists: ALFAGO, DEJO, JAFR, FIHI
year: 2006
size (cm): 100 x 100 cm
size (inch): 40 X 40
material: acrylic on canvas

The fact that this painting was created by four Toyist artists (Alfago, Dejo, Fihi and Jaf’r) working in conjunction makes it truly special. It shows four animal species (bird, fish, reptile and mammal) making music together in the form of musicians: the swan elegantly playing the harp, the octopus whose tentacles gently glide over the keys of the piano, the snake immersed in the sounds of the didgeridoo, and the monkey blowing on the trumpet while hanging by his tail. This rendition may or may not be heard by the audience.



title: Two Monkeys
artist: JAF’R
year: 2004
size frame (cm): 24 x 24 cm
size frame (inch): 9 X 9
material: piezo graphic




title: Drinking Coffee Together - meaning drinking coffee as a social event. ‘a cup of coffee’ often equals: ‘let’s talk’.


artist: JAF’R
year: 2008
size (cm): 20 x 30 cm
size (inch): 8 X 12
material: acrylic on paper

Massurrealism (1990's)

Massurrealism is a mixture of surrealism and mass media work.The definition was first used in 1992 by American artist, James Seehafer- who ones called it "a form of technology art."His shopping cart picture that meant "represented American mass-consumerism that fuels mass-media".Afterwards he then started incorporated collages of colour photocopies and spray paint with the artist's traditional medium of oil paint.
In 1995, he assembled a small group show near New York and found a local cyber-cafe, where he started to post material about massurrealism on internet arts news groups, inspiring some German art students to stage a massurrealist show.The following year,he set up his own website called www.massurrealism.com - of which he began to receive work from other artists and both mixed media and digitally-generated.That lead him to be known across the art world.
Seehafer ones said "I am not being credited with inventing a new technique, nor I don't think I should be credited with starting a new art movement, but rather simply coining a word to categorize the type of modern day surrealist art that had been lacking in definition. As a result, word "massurrealism" has received a lot of enthusiasm from artists. Though there are some who feel that defining something essentially limits it, the human condition has always had the need to categorize and classify everything in life"
Other artist who's style is the same as Seehafer are- Phil Kocsis, John Adams, Anita Fontaine and Sergio Spinelli.You can see they work at Seehafer website at www.massurrealism.com

(1990)

(1960s - 1970s) Feminist Art

Carolee Schneemann Performing
Interior Scroll. Photography by
Anthony McCall

The feminist art movement refers to the efforts and accomplishments of feminists internationally to make art that reflects women's lives and experiences. It was also there to make women more noticeable in art history. The movement began in the late 1960s and continued throughout the 1970s, its effects continue to the present. The strength of the feminist movement allowed for the emergence and visibility of many new types of work by women, but also including a whole range of new practices by men.
A small number of mostly American women, among the many thousands associated with feminist art, are artists


Judy Chicago


Miriam Schapiro


Suzanne Lacy


Faith Wilding


Martha Rosler


Mary Kelly


Kate Millett


Nancy Spero


Faith Ringgold


June Wayne


Sheila Levrant de Bretteville


Dara Birnbaum


Lucy Lippard


Griselda Pollock


Arlene Raven

(1990) Neo-Pop

Neo-Pop

Neo-Pop was a post modern art movement, Neo- Pop artists, such as Jeff Koons were influenced by pop art.

Jeff Koons: "The public is ready-made"

Koons made a name for himself in the 1980's, as a result he set up a factory like studio in New York, and employed over 30 staff.  His factory worked in a similar mode to that of Andy Warhol and the studio of Damien Hirst.

Koons received extreme reactions to his work, critic Amy Dempsey described his Balloon Dog as "an awesome presence...a massive durable monument".

"Is it important that your work be famous?"

Koons- "There is a difference between being famous and being significant. I am interested in my work's significance- anything that can enrich our lives and make  them vaster- but I'm not really interested in the idea for fame's sake.

Net Art-Early 1990

Net Art was a group of artists who worked on the the internet,of which was often called internet art.

The main members of this movement are Vuk Ćosić, Jodi.org, Alexei Shulgin, Olia Lialina, and Heath Bunting. Who came together to create http://www.netart.com/.- that was a freak website.

http://www.net-art.it/

Another website created was jodi.org, that was created by Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans.That showed meaningless text, until a glance at the HTML source code reveals detailed diagrams of hydrogen and uranium bombs. Their early work often used this tactic of mimicking computer glitches and viruses as an aesthetic or humorous device.(But this web site is blocked to many computers.)

(1970s)

(1970s)

(1970s) Wolfgang Petrick

http://www.museumofbadart.org/

(2000) FUNISM

"On this site stood" is a project to install sculptures --historical markers and plaques -- on buildings and in parks around lower Manhattan from May through September of 2009.

The sculptures look just like traditional “historical” markers and plaques but instead of highlighting a civil war battle or the birthplace of a famous person, they highlight a contemporary social or political issue, adding the weight of historical importance to today’s concerns. The text on each one is carefully crafted to provoke thought without alienating the viewer. One reads:

ON THIS SITE STOOD
RY BRAUER, TYPICAL AMERICAN
TEEN. BY THE AGE OF 18, HE
HAD WITNESSED OVER 30,000
MURDERS ON TV.

The text on them is carefully crafted to engage, not enrage, to draw the viewers in, to plant a message that just might resonate. I love the idea of public art that makes people think, and socially conscious art that’s accessible and inviting instead of inaccessible and insulting. That's the art I'm trying to create with this project. I hope I've succeeded.

(2000) FUNISM

"#4 Allow (the tolerance of intolerance)"
2000 Acrylic on Wood
36" x 26"

Hatred, bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, murder, the death penalty, violence. It’s not actually intolerance, but our society’s tolerance of it that is the true sin.

A turtle pulls back into its shell and is inundated by the quick growing weed, poison ivy.

(2000) FUNISM

"#1: Apart (the desire for risk free living)"

The desire for freedom from accountability/repercussions from our words and deeds. Lying, backpeddling, spin, hedging, the “it’s not my fault” mentality, reluctance to admit culpability, etc.

A skunk lives in a bubble of his own creation, destined to wallow in his own stink and to be forever separated from the beautiful world around him.

(2000) FUNISM

America's Seven Deadly Sins

As many artists do, I work in series. And as many artists have done before me, I decided that the seven deadly sins would make an interesting series. It quickly became apparent to me though, that I couldn’t honestly embrace the Catholic list of seven: lust, greed (avarice), envy, sloth, wrath, gluttony, pride.

As an artist, pride is a happily attendant by-product of much of my work. As a father of three heavenly children, I felt that lust had really, finally served me well. As an American and a capitalist, I think that, in addition to its obvious dark side, greed can also be a motivator for good.

So I discarded the definitive list of seven and began to create my own; and as I had done for previous projects, I looked to my country for inspiration. So was born “America’s Seven Deadly Sins.”

They are not the root sins, from which all others spring (as they are in the original list) and they are not only found here in America, they are simply the most egregious traits this country has to offer.

(2000) FUNISM

Do Unto Others

(2000) FUNISM

Practice What You Preach

(2000) FUNISM

The I 75 Project

(2000) FUNISM

The I-75 Project
by Norm Magnusson.

For the past few years, I've been creating what I call "art of social conscience:" tv spots, viral emails, paintings and posters, but none of it has engaged viewers as much as this series of "historical" markers, each one a small story containing a discrete point of view.

The types of people who stop to read them are collectively defined more by their curiosity about the world around them than they are by any shared ideological leanings, which makes them a perfect audience for a carefully crafted message. And unlike most artworks on social or political themes, these markers don’t merely speak to the small group of viewers that seek out such work in galleries and museums; instead, they gently insert themselves into the public realm.

"Are they real?" is a question viewers frequently ask, meaning "are they state-sponsored?" I love this confusion and hope to slip a message in while people are mulling it over.

These markers are just the kind of public art I really enjoy: gently assertive and non-confrontational, firmly thought-provoking and pretty to look at and just a little bit subversive.

(2000) FUNISM

“Magnitude of loss” 2002
2,801 empty hangers, 2 coat racks each 60’ long

This piece made me cry repeatedly. It successfully dimensionalized the number of dead. So many empty hangers. Something about the mundane tools that would no longer be needed to hold the coats of the dead seemed both mundane and profound. Moving in an ordinary way.

The idea of this piece was that visitors to the gallery would be invited to write the name of one of the deceased on a “remembrance tag,” a claim check. They would place the large part of the tag over the hanger and take the claim tab with them as their own remembrance.

The poet T.S. Eliot said “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” and the connection between the mundane objects and the days of our lives has fascinated me ever since.

I bought the pipes and fittings at the Home Depot in Brooklyn and my local dry cleaner ordered me the hangers.

(2000) FUNISM

“Loss of innocence” 2002
Paper weaving 36 x 54”

I think it was September 12 that the New York Times published an article written by an American who had lived in Israel for many years. His main point was “now you know.” Now we know what the rest of the world deals with. Now we know what it’s like to feel vulnerable. Now we know. Ah, the sweet fleeting bliss of ignorance. Now we know. This piece is a paper weaving of a map of the U.S. and a map of the world. September 11 made us a part of the world. Our psychological separatism fueled by geographic isolation was over. Our innocence was lost.

(2000) FUNISM

“A sense of imperialism” 2002
Cloth dolls Various dimensions

Cloth dolls from maps of Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush said that it was not now nor had it ever been the policy of the U.S. to engage in nation building. I think it has always been our policy. These dolls were arranged in a little pool of sand on the gallery floor, pawns waiting to be played in the desert.

(2000) FUNISM

“Disgust at the commodification of ground zero” 2002
Mixed media (flour and dirt) 12 x 9 x 3 1/2”

Not long after the disaster, merchants popped up down near ground zero selling memorabilia, people flocked down there to get their pictures taken by the chain link fence. Mementos began appearing on eBay. People even offered me dust from the rubble for my show. It all seemed so disrespectful.

I love this piece because it disgusts me.

(2000) FUNISM

“The willingness to trade civil liberties for protection” 2001
Mixed media 12 x 12 x 18 1/2”

I was at a dinner party of artists after the Patriot Act was passed by congress and they were up at arms. My feeling was whatever price our safety costs, it’s worth it and there will be enough checks and balances in place to prevent any agency of the government from abusing the powers contained in that act. I was in a small, reviled minority around that dinner table of libertarian alarmists.

Gradually, as the details of the act came to light, I saw that my Chicken Little friends were right. The act impinges on numerous civil liberties and gives the government and its agencies powers that would have our founding fathers turning in their graves.

With the Patriot Act, the Bush administration used fear to rush through sweeping diminishments of individual rights to privacy and increases to governmental snooping, even into the lives of ordinary citizens.

This piece was made from a plaster cast of an Israeli gas mask for children. It has been covered with the American Constitution and Bill of Rights.

(2000) FUNISM

“The desire for protection” 2001
Mixed media on canvas 52 x 54”

Very similar to “The desire for rescue,” but this piece represents the more mystical steps that people took. There were a lot of articles at the time about people going back to church to find answers and solace. I envy those people their faith.

I am not a superstitious person, so I found this path curious. Especially when religion seemed to be such a big source of the enmity between the Muslim extremists and America.

I researched superstitions on the internet and found an interesting array to use in this piece, ranging from the ancient to the current. I put 8 of them into this painting and two of my own commentaries.

George Bush said repeatedly in the months after the attacks that Americans should get on with their lives, go out and buy something. I appreciate his desire to keep the economy flowing, but nevertheless, it seemed a bit trite in light of what had just happened. In keeping with the theme of the piece, I subtitled his exhortation “voodoo economics,” which is what his father had called Ronald Reagan’s supply-side proposals when he was campaigning against him.

The second commentary was the American flag and the words “wrap yourself in it.” The way it popped up after the attacks, you’d think it had magical powers.

A man of no faith, my desire for protection was unquenched.

(2000) FUNISM

“The desire for rescue” 2001
Mixed media Dimensions variable

This seems a very natural response for people when their world is suddenly turned upside down. Somebody, anybody, please, rescue me.

I thought of people climbing out of a burning building on a rope ladder made from tied-together sheets, a fairly common sight in movies. Only here, the ladder that was thrown down was the ladder of patriotism.

I consider myself a great patriot, loving this country a great deal, but the sudden surge of patriotic sentiment and flag-waving post 9/11 seemed a little artificial, manufactured, even.

(1970) Ugly Realism

(2000) FUNISM

13 “Resentment” 2001
Dollar bills, pine box 37 x 18” (edition of 3)

This was the first piece I did. There was no show planned at the time I did this piece; the thought just came to me and I made it. At the time, I was thinking about America’s generosity, regardless of what percentage of gross domestic product we share, the actual dollar amount of U.S. foreign aid is staggering. This piece is about what we send out in the world and how it comes back to us, it’s about jealousy and its next generation: resentment. When I first finished this piece, I called it “Pétard,” as in the phrase “hoisted by your own pétard.” That what I felt had just happened to America.

The noose used about 180 dollar bills. Everybody asks. I folded them in half lengthwise, folded each edge in to the middle and slipped the folded dollar bills together and into each other, overlapping and underlapping by about an inch and a half, and used this as one strand in what became a braid of dollar bills. Once the braid was done (about 60 feet of braid), I folded it over on itself and twisted it round and round until it resembled a rope. Once the rope was complete, I tied it into a noose, complete with the traditional 13 loops.

When I was a kid, my sister used to know how to make a weaving out of chewing gum wrappers. This noose has reminded a lot of people of that craft.

(1970) Ugly Realism

In the 1970s a style of painting developed which was known to be ugly. These images showed the shallowness and cruelty of the modern world. Many of the artists associated with the movement were originally members of the cooperative gallery Grossgörschen 35, founded in Berlin in 1964. Arguments took place between the group, which led to a split in 1966, and Ulrich Baehr, Charles Diehl, Wolfgang Petrick and Peter Sorge went on to start the Galerie Eva Poll, which was known as Ugly Realism.

(2000) FUNISM

Funism is an art movement founded in 1991 by Norm Magnusson in New York City.

Its basic tenets have remained the same:
1) Art should be intellectually engaging without being intellectually elitist, and
2) Art should be as much fun to look at as it is to think about.

Unlike so many other art movements, this one is philosophically focused rather than aesthetically, or design focused.

Norm Magnusson (born March 20, 1960) is a New York-based artist and political activist.

Founder of the art movement Funism, he began his career creating allegorical animal paintings with pointed social commentaries. Eventually became more and more interested in political art and its potential for persuasion.

This led him away from the canvas and into the public realm where he created short videos that ran on U.S. national television prior to 2004's U.S. general election, viral emails and roadside historical markers with contemporary social content.

In the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art (Franklin Furnace Artist's Book Archive), The Springfield Museum of Art, The Anchorage Museum of History and Art, The Pember Museum and numerous other public and private collections, he has exhibited at these museum and for many years before it closed, at the infamous East Village-born Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery in NYC. His sculptures of historical markers were shown at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum's 2007 Main Street Sculpture Project, a show entitled "On this site stood." He was honored with a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 1999 and a grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2008 for the realization of "On this site stood - lower Manhattan" a project to put 'historical' plaques with contemporary social content around lower Manhattan in summer 2009.

(2000) THINKISM

About the Artist

David Kam was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. His creativity surfaced early in his life. He was one of the best students in his high school. After a brief stint in fashion design, he completely shunned arts and graduated from Industrial Engineering instead. Throughout his life, he has been driven to raise money for various social causes, such as cancer research, prevention of violence against women, fighting racism, fighting for freedom, protection of the environment… etc. After graduation from university, he started his own business, developing and marketing healthy beverages. His beverage label designs and promotional music CDs brought him numerous international design awards. His creativity also allowed him to create several patent pending Internet and technology inventions. He was thrust back into pure fine art due to several major events in his life: a) the terrorism of 911; b) the death of his father; c) the death of his God sister’s whole family in a plane crash; d) soft drink monopolies prevented him from expanding his beverage business; e) stealing of his intellectual property inventions by major corporations with more money and power; f) his financial setback and g) visiting Martin Luther King Jr.’s house and exhibition in Atlanta. These made him think about making art as a vehicle to explore man’s (woman’s) relationship to the world, the world’s relationship to a man (a woman) and man’s (woman’s)relationship to each other.

(2000) THINKISM

Barbie Britney

American Media Series

Artist: David Kam

Love Pamela

American Media series

Artist: David Kam

Golden Madonna

American Media Series

Artist: David Kam

(2000) THINKISM

Thinkism Art manifesto:
http://www.thinkism.org/asp/manifesto.asp

Extinction Style (a branch of the Thinkism Art Movement) manifesto:
http://www.thinkism.org/asp/extinctionmanifesto.asp

(2000) THINKISM

The Embrace

Love Series

Artist: David Kam

I Love Japan

Love Series

Artist: David Kam

I Love Canada

Love Series

Artist: Davis Kam

I Love America

Love Series

Artist: David Kam

(2000) THINKISM

How to distinguish Thinkism Art?

Thinkism Art often incorporates symbols and modern everyday items into the art piece. Some Thinkism Art may look like Pop Art, but will likely involve a cerebral twist. Thinkism may also use simplified drawings and sculptures to make complex matters easier to understand. Thinkism Art is not shy to employ different elements in various combinations to stimulate the sense of sight, taste, smell, hearing, tough and intuition (emotion). Artworks must have the following elements to be classified as Thinkism Art:

1) Art work talks about man’s (woman’s) relationship to the world
2) Art work talks about the world’s relationship to a man (woman)
3) Art work talks about man’s (woman’s relationship to each other
4) After seeing the art work you think about W5s, who, what, when, where and why
5) Must have a socially conscious theme.

(2000) THINKISM

Arfican Elephant - Extinction

Extinction Series

Artist: David Kam

Blue Whale - Extinction

Extinction Series

Artist: David Kam

California Condor - Extinction

Extinction Series

Artist: David Kam

(2000) THINKISM

Sunflower in Tornado's Eye

Love Series

artist: David Kam

Tomorrow is Another Day to Be Happy
Love Series
artist: David Kam

(2000) THINKISM

Art can be more than mere decorations on a wall. Art can be meaningful beyond words, beyond culture, and language.

David Kam

Thinkism Art Founder

David Kam feels there is a certain responsibility to create works of art that shed new light on various social, philosophical, political, environmental, psychological, and religious issues. Thinkism art explores people's relationship to the world, and our relationship to one other.
Some people view Thinkism as “protest art”, but it is more than that. We are living on the brink of a world metamorphosis, with world events moving at the speed of light; Thinkism art's 21st century themes include: war, climate change, extinction of species, poverty, media control, the rise of the Internet, pop culture domination, genetically modified organisms, love, freedom, racism, gun control, globalization, terrorism, fashion in society, celebrities in society, the role of money in society, the fine line between advertising and false advertising, food in society, sex in society ...etc.
The Thinkism Art Movement which started out in 2001 was not only about creating socially conscious art, but in David Kam's manifesto in 2001 he wanted also to use art to make the world a better place by creating positive social change.

Researchists

Outline of Art History - Contemporary Art
Visual Arts Movements - 1970s-Present
1970
Post-Modernism - 1970s-mid 1980s
Ugly Realism - 1970s
Feminist Art - 1970s-Present
Yunnan School - late 1970s-Present
Neo-Conceptualism - late 1970s-Present
Neo-Expressionism - late 1970s-1980s
Bad Painting - late 1970s-early 1980s
Demoscene - late 1970s-Present
New Image Painting - late 1970s-Present
Nuovi Nuovi - late 1970s-Present
Aboriginal 'Dot Painting' - 1971-Present
Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru - 1974-1980s
Mühlheimer Liberty - 1979-1984
Transavantgarde - 1979-Present
1980
Free Figuration (Figuration Libre) - early 1980s-Present
Neue Wilde - early 1980s-Present
Neo-Geo - mid-1980s
Multiculturalism - 1980s-Present
Graffiti Movement - 1980s-Present
BritArt / Young British Artists ("yBa") - 1988-Present
Neo-Pop - late 1980s-Present
1990
Net Art - early 1990s-Present
Massurrealism - early 1990s-Present
Artefactoria - 1990/91-Present
Toyism - 1992-Present
Lowbrow - ca. 1994-Present
New Leipzig School - mid-1990s-Present
Tiki Art - 1996-Present
Bitterism - 1998-Present
Stuckism - 1999-Present
2000
Thinkism - September 12, 2001-Present
Funism - ca. 2002-Present