Hello, my esteemed inhabitants of planet #steem:
On the occasion of starting a new year in #steemit, in which I hope the blackouts, Internet failures and so many problems here in #venezuela cease, here I am again--
This time I intend to celebrate such an important date for my evolution in Steemit by sharing with you my proposal to open a STEEM-SCHOOL OF CONTEMPORARY ART, an initiative that I will take with the hope of contributing to give value to our platform through the creation of a permanent space for all of us to learn a bit more about this "Crazy Little Thing Called" Contemporary Art, and, hopefully, so that more and more Steemians dare to develop innovative and creative projects within the many alternatives offered by the new paths of art.
For this I have the generous support of 
Of course, I must also thank Help-Venezuela for their constant support and the beautiful dolphin Melinda, curator of another great contest such as #shadowphoto, and to 
I know that much more support will come for this learning initiative that is for everyone.
Robert Rauschenberg: Black market, 1961. Combine painting: oil, watercolor, pencil, paper, fabric, newspaper, printed paper, printed reproductions, wood, metal, tin, and four metal clipboards on canvas with rope, rubber stamp, ink pad, and various objects in wood valise randomly given and taken by viewers. 49 1/2 × 59 × 4 in. 125.7 × 149.9 × 10.2 cm. Cologne, Museum Ludwig.
Contemporary Art presents itself to us as a complex universe in which we can easily get lost due to the multiplicity of trends, disciplines, formats, materials, artists and proposals, some of which, it must be said, come to disconcert us because it is really difficult for us to understand their meaning and because, it must also be said, sometimes very bad and not very serious proposals can slip in. Or some that are simply variegated to the point of extravagance...
Damien Hirst: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. 1991. 2170 x 5420 x 1800 mm | 85.5 x 213.4 x 70.9 in. Glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark and 5% formaldehyde solution. Tate Modern, London.
It's not that I know much about the theme, but the fact that I'm taking on the Chair of Performance and Other Trends in Contemporary Art at the National Experimental University of the Arts, UNEARTE, in Caracas, Venezuela, has motivated me to share with you the knowledge I've been acquiring over time on a subject that, at least for me, is very interesting and, at times, highly poetic.
Edward Kienholz: The Wait. 1964 – 1965. Fiberglass, furniture, glasses, photographs, dissected cat and other materials. 80 x 160 x 84 in. (203.2 x 406.4 x 213.36 cms). New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.
And what are we going to talk about in this STEEM-SCHOOL OF CONTEMPORARY ART?
Well, basically of the new searches that the painting has assumed, which, being one of the oldest manifestations has been confronted by diverse avant-garde and movements, such as expressionism, abstraction, cubism, dadaism, surrealism, kinetic art, pop art, hyperrealism, nouveau rèalisme, minimal art, conceptual art, electronic media, etc., etc., etc.. We will also see what has happened with sculpture and photography, what have been the results provided by the artists of these disciplines when they have ventured into the aforementioned currents.
César (César Baldaccini): Compressione "Ricard". 1962. Compressed car body parts. 153 x 73 x 65 cms. Paris. Musèe National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou.
But, of course, we will also review what new media and expressive resources have appeared to make the boundaries between life and art disappear, from the first collages and ready-made to intermediate art, video-installations and the latest technologies.
Nam June Paik: Voltaire. 1989- Video-sculpture. 300 x 200 x 55 cms. Paris, Galerie Beauborg.
And, of course, we wouldn't be talking about a real CONTEMPORARY ART SCHOOL if we didn't review what happened when artists began to investigate their own bodies as an artistic medium. Here we will find everything from very lyrical and exquisite things to true challenges to pain and death... everything, then!
Joseph Beuys: Wie man dem toten Hasen die Bilder erklärt (How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare). Performance. November 26, 1965. "Beuys was wearing wide shoes with felt and copper soles, his face was covered with honey and gold leaf as he affectionately cradled the dead hare in his arms, explaining 'art' to him for three hours whilst walking him around the paintings. He then sat on a stool speaking confidentially to the hare, addressing the corpse in an incomprehensible murmur that over-intellectualized people could no longer or could not yet comprehend." Alfred Schmela Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany,
So, along what I hope will be a long and very trending post sequel, we will talk about the Futurists evenings, the Dada's Cabaret Voltaire and the surrealists' live experimentations, up to Fluxus, Happening, Body Art, Performance, Live Art and Sound Poetry, Viennese Actionism, Poor Art, Environment Art and Land Art, Video Art and On-line Art...
Rudolf Schwarzhogler: 1st Action, Wedding. February 6, 1965. Action in the apartment of Heinz Cibulka, Vienna.
Ugh, it sounds like excessive but I assure you that it is only a part of the vast ocean that artistic creation has become from the twentieth century to the present day. Every journey, non-traditional forms of expression appear, every day new limits are crossed, every night artists dare to go further in the search for that indefinable thing that ART is...
Stelarc. Third hand. 1995. Performance. Tokyo.
And do you really know so much?, one of you will ask me... Well, no. What happens is that I am fortunate to have a good collection of books. It is with this artillery that I intend to wage this battle to spread contemporary art throughout the labyrinths of the planet Steem... - That sounded corny, didn't it? - Books that are true jewels, especially for us Venezuelans, because you can imagine how much they can cost with this inflation that we've been suffering for years. Like this one from the Taschen publishing house, which is rightly called Art of the 20th Century and from which I took the photos I include in this inaugural post of the STEEM-SCHOOL OF CONTEMPORARY ART.
I imagine you want to know the name of the work that appears on the cover and who its author is... Well, he is Duane Hanson and the sculpture is entitled Supermarket Lady. It was made in 1969 from painted fibreglass, polyester and clothing, and a shopping cart with boxes of products. Its dimensions are 166 x 70 x 70 cms and it is exhibited at the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, in Aachen.
Well, this has been the OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT of the on-line opening of our STEEM-SCHOOL OF CONTEMPORARY ART...
Needless to say, I count on your crypto-support and above all on your willingness to make this effort available to everyone.
All the images I used in this post was taken from
Karl Ruhrberg; Manfred Schneckenburger; Christiane Fricke; Klaus Honnef; Ingo F Walther: Art of the 20th century. Painting. Sculpture. New media. Photography. Editorial Taschen. Köln, 1999.
You can find a review or buy the book here
I recommend you to visit their website
https://www.taschen.com/
