Contemporary Art

Media - 2015.34 - SAAM-2015.34_1 - 116878
Mark Bradford, Amendment #8, 2014, mixed media, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Lohrfink Foundation and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.34, © 2014, Mark Bradford

In recent years, the museum has strengthened its commitment to contemporary art through acquisitions, commissions, and exhibitions. The museum has acquired important works by Barbara BosworthDeborah ButterfieldWalton FordFrank GohlkeJohn GossageJenny HolzerRobert LongoKerry James MarshallTim Rollins and K.O.S, Sean Scully, and Jean Shin, among others.

A particular collecting focus has been video and time-based art. The museum has assembled a serious collection of key artworks from the history of video art as well as works by new generation of artists on the cutting edge of media arts. Cory ArcangelJim CampbellPeter CampusKota EzawaSvetlana and Igor KopystianskyNam June PaikMarina Zurkow, and many others are represented in the museum's permanent collection.

Selected Works

Media - 2002.23 - SAAM-2002.23_1 - 81981
Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii
Date1995
fifty-one channel video installation (including one closed-circuit television feed), custom electronics, neon lighting, steel and wood; color, sound
On view
Media - 2015.34 - SAAM-2015.34_1 - 116878
Amendment #8
Date2014
mixed media
On view
Media - 2010.22A-C - SAAM-2010.22A-C_1 - 72595
Grand Central Station #2
Date2009
custom electronics, LEDs, and mounted photo-transparency
Not on view
Media - 2002.3 - SAAM-2002.3_1 - 73311
Monekana
Date2001
bronze
Not on view
Media - 2007.40.31 - SAAM-2007.40.31_1 - 68302
Untitled, from the series The Pond
Date1985
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Media - 2010.2A-E - SAAM-2010.2A-E_1 - 73438
Chemical Balance III
Date2009
prescription pill bottles, acrylic mirrors, epoxy, fluorescent lights
Not on view
Media - 2004.1A-C - SAAM-2004.1A-C_1 - 61336
Maesta
Date1983
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 2008.4A-C - SAAM-2008.4A-C_1 - 68274
Tur
Date2007
watercolor and gouache on paper
Not on view
Media - 2009.1 - SAAM-2009.1_1 - 70866
Untitled (Hercules)
Date2008
charcoal on paper
Not on view
Media - 2010.29 - SAAM-2010.29_1 - 73447
SOB, SOB
Date2003
acrylic on fiberglass
On view
Media - 2008.2.24 - SAAM-2008.2.24_1 - 67853
Two Eastern Phoebes
Date2004
chromogenic print
Not on view
Media - 1992.32.24 - SAAM-1992.32.24_1 - 75232
Aerial View — Tulsa, Oklahoma
Date1981, printed 1982
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Media - 2010.18 - SAAM-2010.18_1 - 74047
By Any Means Necessary (after Malcolm X)
Date2008
matte acrylic and book pages on canvas
On view
Media - 2010.24 - SAAM-2010.24_1 - 73859
Elixir II
Date2009
continuous digital animation, color, silent; 05:00 minutes
Not on view

Related Artists

Barbara Bosworth
born Cleveland, OH 1953

Photographer Barbara Bosworth focuses on landscape photography and is particularly interested in the interrelatedness of man and the natural environment.

Deborah Butterfield
born San Diego, CA 1949
Walton Ford
born Larchmont, NY 1960
Frank Gohlke
born Wichita Falls, TX 1942
John R. Gossage
born New York City 1946
Jenny Holzer
born Gallipolis, OH 1950
Robert Longo
born New York City 1953
Kerry James Marshall
born Birmingham, AL 1955
Tim Rollins
born Pittsfield, ME 1955-died New York City 2017
Sean Scully
born Dublin, Ireland 1945

Scully was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1945 but was raised in London, where his family moved in 1949.

Jean Shin
born Seoul, South Korea 1971
Cory Arcangel
born Buffalo, NY 1978
Jim Campbell
born Chicago, IL 1956
Peter Campus
born New York City 1937
Kota Ezawa
born Cologne, Germany 1969
Svetlana Kopystiansky
born Voronez, Russia 1950
Igor Kopystiansky
born Lvov, Ukraine 1954
Media - portrait_image_114969.jpg - 134917
Nam June Paik
born Seoul, Korea 1932-died Miami Beach, FL 2006

Nam June Paik (1932–2006), internationally recognized as the "Father of Video Art," created a large body of work including video sculptures, installations, performances, videotapes and television productions.

Marina Zurkow
born New York City 1962