Art21: Art in the Twenty-First Century

Watch Art21: Art in the Twenty-Fi... Season 6
Episode 3
3. History
aired: Fri, Apr 27, 2012
In this episode, artists Glenn Ligon, Mary Reid Kelley and Marina Abramovic play with historical events, explore and expose commonly held assumptions about historic "truth" and create narratives based on personal experiences.
Episode 2
2. Boundaries
aired: Fri, Apr 20, 2012
The artists in this episode, David Altmejd, Tabaimo and Lynda Benglis, synthesize disparate aesthetic traditions, present taboo subject matter, discover innovative uses of media and explore the shape-shifting potential of the human figure.
Episode 1
1. Change
aired: Fri, Apr 13, 2012
Artists Ai Weiwei, El Anatsui and Catherine Opie bear witness, through their work, to transformation -- cultural, material and aesthetic -- and actively engage communities as collaborators and subjects.
Watch Art21: Art in the Twenty-Fi... Season 5
Episode 4
4. Systems
aired: Wed, Oct 28, 2009
This episode features artists who realize complex projects, whether through acts of appropriation, accumulation, or creating projects so vast in scope as to elude comprehension.
Episode 3
3. Transformation
aired: Wed, Oct 21, 2009
Whether observing and satirizing society or reinventing icons of literature, art history, and popular culture, these artists inhabit the characters they create and capture the sensibilities of our age.
Episode 2
Season 5 Episode 2
aired: Wed, Oct 14, 2009
This episode presents artists whose works defy convention and transport us to unreal worlds and altered states of consciousness.
Episode 1
Season 5 Episode 1
aired: Wed, Oct 7, 2009
This episode features artists whose works explore conscience and the possibility of understanding and reconciling past and present, while exposing injustice and expressing tolerance for others.
Watch Art21: Art in the Twenty-Fi... Season 4
Episode 4
Paradox
aired: Sat, Nov 17, 2007
How do contemporary artists address contradiction, ambiguity, and truth? The Art:21 documentary "Paradox" explores these questions in the work of the artists Allora & Calzadilla, Mark Bradford, Robert Ryman, and Catherine Sullivan.
Episode 3
Ecology
aired: Sat, Nov 10, 2007
How is our understanding of the natural world deeply cultural? The Art:21 documentary "Ecology" explores these questions in the work of the artists Robert Adams, Mark Dion, I?igo Manglano-Ovalle, and Ursula von Rydingsvard.
Episode 2
Protest
aired: Sat, Nov 3, 2007
How do contemporary artists engage politics, inequality, and the many conflicts that besiege the world today? How do artists use their work to discuss or oppose misery, turmoil, and injustice? The Art:21 documentary "Protest" explores these questions in the work of the artists Jenny Holzer, Alfredo Jaar, An-My L?, and Nancy Spero.
Episode 1
Romance
aired: Sat, Oct 27, 2007
What role do intuition, emotion, fantasy, and escapism play in contemporary art? The Art:21 documentary "Romance" explores these questions in the work of the artists Pierre Huyghe, Judy Pfaff, Lari Pittman, and Laurie Simmons.
Watch Art21: Art in the Twenty-Fi... Season 3
Episode 4
Play
aired: Thu, Oct 6, 2005
How do we organize life? What are the ways in which we capture knowledge and attempt greater understanding? The Art:21 documentary "Structures" explores these questions in the work of the artists Roni Horn, Matthew Ritchie, Fred Wilson, and Richard Tuttle, and concludes with an original video artwork by Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler.
Episode 3
Structures
aired: Thu, Sep 29, 2005
Spontaneous and joyful, subversive or amusing, play can take many forms in daily life as well as in contemporary art. The Art:21 documentary "Play" explores the work of the artists Oliver Herring, Arturo Herrera, Jessica Stockholder, and Ellen Gallagher, and concludes with an original video artwork by Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler.
Episode 2
Memory
aired: Thu, Sep 22, 2005
How does memory function? What is history? How do contemporary artists frame the past in their work? The Art:21 documentary "Memory" explores these questions through the work of the artists Susan Rothenberg, Mike Kelley, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Josiah McElheny, and concludes with an original video artwork by Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler.
Episode 1
Power
aired: Thu, Sep 15, 2005
From politics to mass media, the theme of power pervades daily life and is reflected in the ideas and concerns of contemporary artists. The Art:21 documentary "Power" explores the work of the artists Cai Guo-Qiang, Laylah Ali, Krzysztof Wodiczko, and Ida Applebroog, and concludes with an original video artwork by Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler.
Watch Art21: Art in the Twenty-Fi... Season 2
Episode 4
Humor
aired: Tue, Sep 30, 2003
How do artists use irony, goofiness, satire, and sarcasm in their work? Can an artwork be funny and critical at the same time? Do contemporary artists always take themselves seriously? The Art:21 documentary "Humor" explores these questions through the work of Charles Atlas, Eleanor Antin, Raymond Pettibon, Elizabeth Murray, and Walton Ford.
Episode 3
Time
aired: Tue, Sep 9, 2003
How do artists evoke and transform time in their work? Can a work of contemporary art be timeless? How does contemporary art relate to art of the ancient past, to nature, and to the rhythms of the life? The Art:21 documentary "Time" explores these questions through the work of Charles Atlas, Martin Puryear, Paul Pfeiffer, Vija Celmins, and Tim Hawkinson.
Episode 2
Loss and Desire
aired: Tue, Sep 16, 2003
How do contemporary artworks embody emotion? How do artists express longing, love, and human experience in their work? The Art:21 documentary "Loss & Desire" explores these questions through the work of Charles Atlas, Collier Schorr, Gabriel Orozco, and Janine Antoni.
Episode 1
Stories
aired: Mon, Sep 8, 2003
How do artists tell stories in their work? How does contemporary art reflect and reveal narrative traditions? How does the art of today record and describe the world around us? The Art:21 documentary "Stories" explores these questions through the work of Charles Atlas, Kara Walker, Kiki Smith, Do-Ho Suh, and Trenton Doyle Hancock.
Watch Art21: Art in the Twenty-Fi... Season 1
Episode 4
Consumption
aired: Wed, Feb 6, 2002
Artists address the idea of consumption by questioning commonly held assumptions about commerce, mass media, and consumer society.
Episode 3
Identity
aired: Wed, Jan 30, 2002
Artists address the idea of identity by questioning commonly held assumptions about stereotypes, self-awareness, portaiture, and what it means to be an artist.
Episode 2
Spirituality
aired: Wed, Jan 23, 2002
Artists address the idea of spirituality by questioning commonly held assumptions about faith, belief, meditation, and religious symbols.
Episode 1
Place
aired: Wed, Jan 16, 2002
Artists explore the idea of place by questioning commonly held assumptions about land, home and national identity.

