Choose 2 artists or artworks from the list below that were introduced in class this semester.  Write 500 words each on why you think this artist’s work is important. Write about specific works / images.  Issues you might consider; what sets the work apart from other work in that medium?  Is the cultural context of the work important (when it was made and in what political/cultural climate)? What do you learn/experience from this artist’s work, how did it change/challenge your previous ideas?

Edward Muybridge – 19thc. sequential photography

George Melies – early film

Winsor McCay – early animation

Alexander Rodchenko – photography / design / Soviet avant-garde

Dziga Vertov – filmmaker / Man with a Movie Camera / Soviet avant-garde

Sergei Eisenstein – filmmaker / Battleship Potemkin / Soviet avant-garde

Vavara Stepanova – Russian / Soviet Avant-garde

Ana Mendieta – performance

Marina Abramovic – performance

Jean Michel Basquiat – painter / graffiti

Un Chien Andalou (Dali and Bunuel) – surrealism / film

Maya Deren – film

John Heartfield – photomontage

Nikki S. Lee -conceptual photography

Carrie Mae Weems – conceptual photography

Vik Muniz – conceptual photography

Lily McElroy – performance

Penelope Umbrico – conceptual photography

Carrie Mae Weems – conceptual photography

Lotte Reiniger – early animation / Prince Achmed

The Brothers Quay – animation

La Jetee (Chris Marker) – film

Kara Walker – installation/graphic arts

Layla Ali – artist / illustration 

Cindy Sherman – artist / conceptual photography

Nick Cave – fashion / performance / sculpture

Sherin Neshat – photography / film / installation