The ideas of the most influential 1960's movements, such as conceptual, minimalism, performance, and installation art, figures such as Judy Chicago, Barbara Kruger, and Robert Smithson extended even further. Vito Acconci, Marina Abramovic, Ulay, and Ana Mendieta while pushing the body to its limit, deconstructed some of the most important values in creativity. With such strong figures, the following major movements were born or re-defined.
Land Art
The link to nature and its importance for the works of various authors dates from the beginning of time. The major development in painting occurred when Impressionism painters took their easels en plein air. But, with the birth of land art, nature was no longer just a setting but it was yet another surface creatives embedded the concerns of formal art making directly into. In 1970, with his stone construction Spiral Jetty implanted into a salt lake in Utah, Robert Smithson changed not only the face of art but its relationship to usual exhibition setting and the market[4]. The fixed outside location, used materials, and the fact that the visibility of the work depended on the water level of the lake, pushed away from the notion of the art object as an artifact.
Along with Robert Smithson, Walter De Maria, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Richard Long are also associated with this movement. In Japan, the loose group Mono-ha was also influential in the re-shaping of the understanding towards sculpture, its materials, and the ephemeral quality of the work.
Feminist Art
Amidst the passion of anti-war demonstrations, civil and queer rights actions, and the advent of the Women's Liberation movement on the West Coast, feminist art stepped boldly forward. Addressing the social, political, and cultural concerns of womanhood, feminist artists sought to create a dialogue between the viewer and the artwork through the inclusion of a women's perspective[5]. Fighting against the tradition that firmly denied female artists inclusion into the male run circles, authors such as Judy Chicago paved the way for further questions about equality, identity, politics, and the pressing need for the re-write of art's history. Through thought-provoking works, such as Chicago's Dinner Party, later text-based slogan works by Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman's photography questioning stereotypes or the ad in the Artforum featuring Lynda Benglis naked and manipulating a massive dildo, feminist artists expanded the definition of fine arts.
Recently, many critics continue to ask, if the revolution movement such as this one, in the end created another gender dominated role, and have done yet another disservice to female artists?
Gutai Art
Allan Kaprow actively cited Gutai as an influence on his Happenings, and the famous Abstract Expressionism painter, Jackson Pollock was also aware of it. Even thought this Japanese proto-conceptual movement formalized in 1954, and was active until the 1980s, much of its groundbreaking work was produced during the 70s art period. Attempting to break away from the traditional art production, the group's goal was in fact reflected in its name. The combination of the word gu meaning tool and tai meaning body, best helps to illustrate the focus on the production where the body of the creative was at its center and was the main tool. The artist Kazuo Shiraga, in fact, painted his canvases using only his feet, while Atsuko Tanaka combined household object, or found technology, for her sculptures, and performance art.
While the conceptual and performance art of the 1970s was heavily influenced by these Japanese creatives, it was only recently that their importance surfaced and has caught the eye of the Western market.
Performance Art
Using the naked female body as a tool, as a living paintbrush, happenings of Yves Klein, experimental work of John Cage, and the thought provoking actions and work of Joseph Beuys helped to shape the performance art. Yet, in the decade of our focus, such a movement emerged with another goal in mind. Completely deconstructing the determent ideas about the time, space, place, and subject, performance art of this time was stricter. Echoing the feminist art, such events encouraged the release of frustration at social injustices and the discussion of the women's sexuality[6]. Adding an element of endurance, artist Marina Abramovic truly pioneered. Recalling Yoko Ono's Cut Piece, first performed in 1964, Abramovic's Rhythm O, a six-hour performance, pushed her body to its limit and commented on the injustices female bodies have been a subject to. The body was not spared in some of the most disturbing actions of the Viennese Actionism as well, while Chris Burden in the name of protest art, asked his friend to shot him with a .22 caliber rifle. Among the mentioned, Vito Acconci was also influential for the art that blurred the line between body and canvas, pain and creativity.
Seen as integral to the 1980's New Wave scene were the recordings of Laurie Anderson. Along with Nam June Paik, and her combination of technology, poetry, absurdity, and the found object, the two artists added yet another dimension to this movement.