To start off this post I would like to say that this list is no particular order, honestly. I don't think I could put any of these wonderful artists in any order because it would be to hard to pick one over the other. I admire all of these artists beyond comprehension!
I have been very lucky to see some of their works in person, most of which resonated with me. I enjoyed learning about these artists after I viewed their works and in a way it helped me better understand what contemplated them to make such fantastic creations. I believe this is also an important part of the learning process and as I am not formally trained artist. I take great joy in doing my own self learning and encourage you to do your own after you see works that you also resonate with.
I wanted to share with you some of my favourite artists who I admire and why I admire them. I feel it is important to share this information incase you have not had the pleasure of learning their name or seeing their work online or in person.
Yayoi Kusama
Who is Yayoi Kusama?
Kusama is a Japanese artist and writer, born on March 22, 1929. She is now acknowledged as one of the most important living artists that has come from Japan, as well as an important voice of the avant-garde.
In 1957 she moved to the United States, there she produced a series of paintings influenced by abstract expressionism and then switched to sculpture and installation as her primary medium. In the early sixties, she became a fixture of the New York avant-garde and became associated with the pop-art movement. During this time she embraced the rise of hippie culture and caught the attention of New Yorkers after she had organised a series of gatherings at Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge where naked participants were painted with brightly coloured polka dots.
By 1977 she had returned to Japan and feeling unwell she checked herself into the Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill. Once there she took up permanent residence and still resides there today. Her studio is a short distance from the hospital. Kusama is quite often quoted saying, "If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago."
Her work is based on conceptual art and show some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, pop-art and abstract expressionism. She infuses these works with autobiographical, psychological and sexual content. She has had major retrospectives at MoMa (1998), the Whitney Museum (2012) and the Tate Modern (2012). In 2008, one of her works sold for $5.1 million and she claimed the record for highest paid work for a living female artist.
READ MORE ABOUT YAYOI KUSAMA HERE
Infinity Room (conceptualised in 1965, unknown date of production)
Why do I admire her?
I hadn't heard the name "Yayoi Kusama" until last year when I was in New York with my boyfriend and he pointed out one of her works at a small gallery in Mid Town. Little did I know that I had been to one of her exhibitions at Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane. I remember one work, The Infinity Room, it was the most beautiful installation I had ever seen. I could believe my eyes! I also hadn't realised that I had been walking past a work of her's, Narcissus Garden, in Queensland Art Gallery for years!
I really admire her strength and determination to be an outstanding female artist within her own country and internationally. Even throughout her own hardships she has displayed the courage it takes to put herself out in the world art arena and come out on top.
Tracey Emin
Who is Tracey Emin?
Emin is an English contemporary artist, born 3 July 1963. She is known for her autobiographical and confessional work, using a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, film, neon text and sewn appliqué.
In 1987 she moved to London to study at the Royal College of Art and two years later obtained an MA in Painting. After her graduation she had two traumatic abortions and those experiences led her to destroy all of her work that she had produced in graduate school. She later described this as "emotional suicide".
She has often gained considerable media exposure for being a raw and real artist. In 1997, her work "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963 - 1995", a tent with the names of everyone she had shared a bed with sown within it was shown at Charles Saatchi's Sensation exhibition held at the Royal Academy in London. In 1999, she was a Turner Prize nominee and exhibited "My Bed", an installation consisting of her own unmade dirty bed, in which she had spent several weeks drinking, smoking, eating, sleeping and having sex while undergoing a period of intense emotional states. The artwork also featured used condoms and blood stained underwear. There was media attention regarding the trivial and possibly unhygienic elements of the installation.
READ MORE ABOUT TRACEY EMIN HERE
My Bed (1999)
Why do I admire her?
I love Tracey Emin more than words could describe, love is an understatement! I have actually sent her late night drunken emails expressing my admiration for her work. Maybe borderline crazy, but you know, that's what fan girls do!
I remember going to a solo exhibition she held at a prominent New York gallery in 2016 and I was taken back by the dedication she put into her work and how true the emotions are that you feel coming off her work. When you walk into her exhibition it really is like you are living through the happiness and heartache that she has felt. It's astounding, you really should try to reach one of her exhibitions if you have a chance.
Salvador Dalí
Who is Salvador Dali?
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech, Marquis of Dali de Pubol, known professionally as Salvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist painter, born on May 11, 1904. As a young boy, he was taken to his late Brother's grave, he was also named Salvador, and Dali was told he was a reincarnation of his brother, a concept he came to believe.
He was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painting skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, "The Persistence of Memory", was completed in August 1931. His expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.
Dali was highly imaginative and also enjoyed indulging in unusual and grandiose behaviour. His eccentric manner and attention-grabbing public actions sometimes drew more attention that his artwork, to the dismay of those who held his work in high esteem and to the irritation of his critics.
After being expelled from the Academy in 1926, Dali travelled to Paris to meet with Pablo Picasso. Picasso had heard many great things from fellow artist Joan Miró, whom had introduced Dali to many surrealist artists back in Spain. Over the next few years, a lot of Dali's works was influenced by Picasso and Miró.
READ MORE ABOUT SALVADOR DALI HERE
The Persistence of Memory (1931)
Why do I admire him?
Well... I don't think there is much that needs to be said about why I admire Dali. I think a lot of people admire him and probably for the same reason! He is who he was and he did it so well. He really didn't care what anyone thought of what he was doing even if it was so bizarre and out there, he still did it. I really admire his self determination and commitment to his art. He lived for it and that's amazing!
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Who is Jean-Michel Basquiat?
Jean-Michel Basquiat wasn an American artist born December 22, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. Basquiat dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and then attended City-As-School, an alternative high school in Manhattan. His Father kicked him out of home and he stayed with friends in Brooklyn, while also creating t-shirts and handmade postcards to support himself.
He first achieved fame as part of SAMO, an informal graffiti duo who wrote enigmatic epigrams in the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the late 1970s where punk, hip hop and the street art movement had coalesced. By the 1980's he was exhibiting his neo-expressionist paintings in galleries and museums internationally. In March of 1982, he worked in Modena, Italy and from November, he worked from the ground floor display and studio space that Larry Gagosian had built below his Californian home and commended a series of paintings for a 1983 show, his second at the world famous Gagosian Gallery, then in West Hollywood. He brought along his girlfriend, then unknown aspiring singer Madonna. In 1982, Basquiat also worked briefly with musician and artist David Bowie. Between 1983 and 1985, he worked with Andy Warhol on a series of paintings, a suggestion made by Swiss art dealer Bruno Bischofberger.
Basquiat's art focused on "suggestive dichotomies", such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and the inner versus outer experience. He appropriated poetry, drawing and painting married with text and image, abstraction, figuration and historical information mixed with contemporary critique. The Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of his art in 1992, four years after his death. He died of a heroin overdose at his studio at age 27 despite an attempt for sobriety during a trip to Hawaii.
Basquiat used social commentary in his paintings as a "springboard to deeper truths about the individual", as well as attacks on power structures and systems of racism, while his poetics were acutely political and direct in their criticism of colonialism and support for class struggle.
On May 18, 2017 at a Sotheby's auction, Basquiat's 1982 painting, "also Untitled", created with oil stick and spray paint depicting a skull, set a new high record for any U.S. artist at auction selling for $110,500,000.
READ MORE ABOUT JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT HERE
scull (1981)
Why do I admire him?
I really adore Basquiat's "fuck you" attitude towards fine art. In the beginning when I was first learning about fine art in New York I had a similar feeling and in that aspect I can really resonate with his artworks. He showed everyone that he could be king without doing traditional and classic art styles, which I think is just fantastic!
I have spoken to numerous people about his works and most think he just didn't care about what he produced, but once you come up close and personal with his works you really see the dedication and thought that he put into them. It's quite spectacular that someone, like himself, would go to such level of scrutiny and meticulous effort to produce something that almost looks like a child drew it. In saying that, I have a lot of respect for him. He really proved everyone wrong while giving the middle finger and having a somewhat great time.
Keith Haring
Who is Keith Haring?
Keith Haring was an American artist who incorporated pop art and graffiti into his artwork. His rise came in the 1980's when he was living in New York. His work grew to iconic popularity from his exuberant and spontaneous drawings in New York City subways, usually constructed from chalk outlines on blank advertising spaces. He would often draw babies, flying saucers and dogs. After public recognition he created larger scaled works which were colourful and many of them commissioned. His imagery has become widely recognised as visual language. In his later works he often addressed political and societal themes such as homosexuality and AIDS.
In the early eighties, Haring had established friendships with fellow emerging artists such as Futura, Madonna and Jean-Michel Basquiat. He created more than 50 public works in more than a dozen cities around the world by the end of the eighties. He would often use lines of energy to emphasise kinetic movement, vitality and euphoric spirit. He also got to know Andy Warhol, who was the theme of several pieces.
Keith Haring sadly passed away on February 16, 1990 of AIDS related complications. Before he passed away he established the Keith Haring Foundation to provide funding and imagery to AIDS organisations and children's programs.
READ MORE ABOUT KEITH HARING HERE
Keith Haring's mural in Collingwood, Melbourne (1984)
Why do I admire him?
Keith Haring was a master in his own right and regard. He used figures as a way to symbolise emotion and feelings in a way that was energetic and alluring.
It really is sad what happened to Keith and how he passed away so young and in his peak. I am so glad that he set up his foundation to help those who struggle with HIV/AIDS or don't have access to medical help. He kept pushing on and proved that he was an everlasting name in the art scene. Without him I don't think we'd have such great creatives in the game.
Ai Weiwei
Who is Ai Weiwei?
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist and activist. As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups. He was arrested by the Chinese Government in 2011 and held for 81 days without any official charges being filed against him. Ai had a very hard life growing up, being sent to a labour camp when he was just one year old. This happened after his Father denounced the Anti-Rightist Movement. They ended up living there for 16 years until the end of the Cultural Revolution and they returned to Beijing.
From 1981 to 1993 he lived in the United States of America. He studied English at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California. Later he moved to New York City, where he studied briefly at Parsons School of Design. Ai attended the Art Students League of New York for three years and dropped out of school and made a living out of drawing street portraits and working odd jobs. During this period, he gained exposure to the works of Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns, and began creating conceptual art by altering readymade objects.
While living in the East Village, Ai carried a camera with him all the time and would take pictures of his surroundings wherever he was. The result was a collection of photos later selected and now known as the New York Photographs.
READ MORE ABOUT AI WEIWEI HERE
Ai Weiwei Coca-Cola (2010)
Why do I admire him?
I admire Ai Weiwei because of his determination to spread awareness of corruption and devastation around the world while also giving insight to the hope that we have as a society. He has chosen to dedicate his life to using his art as a way to communicate these issues and reflect on his own life. I admire his persistence to help China "break free" from the lack of freedom of speech that holds so many of its citizens down from expressing themselves.