What’s the Difference Between Modernism and Postmodernism?

Postmodernism began to form sometime during the 1970s. It began as an architectural movement. Instead of building on the ideas of modernism and progressing forward some architects began to look backward and adapt styles and ideas from the past. Contemporary art is characterized not by a particular style or use of traditional medium but by a use of themes or topics based on theory developed from other fields such as philosophy, art criticism and psychology. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/

One technique used in Postmodernism is appropriation. Appropriation refers to borrowing imagery from someone else and reusing it in a context which reveals meaning not seen in the original. Pop Art saw some of the first uses of appropriation. It took its style and subject matter from popular culture: comic books, advertisements, movies and television.

As Postmodernism has called into question the importance of originality and authenticity, artists have felt free to borrow from popular culture and each other. Most art is inspired by or is built upon the work of others. That inspiration can be more or less recognizable. In earlier periods of art history the emphasis had been on changing or personalizing the source. Postmodernism uses borrowed images more directly. Artist use many types of reproduction in emphasizing the plurality and complexity of culture. They are particularly interested in the combination of ideas and the role the viewer plays in creating the work

Artists are much more interested today in addressing social issues and ideas in their art. They choose to use a particular media depending on how it fits with the ideas they are trying to get across. Following are some of the themes that Postmodernism explores:

Hybridity

Enrique Chagoya, Cannbulis Insulea

Globalization

Ai Weiwei, Remembering, backpacks, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2009,
Yinka Shonibare Victorian Philanthropist Parlour 1996-97,
Surendun Nair, Mephistopheles… Otherwise the Quaquaversal Prolix (Cuckoonebulopolis) 2003

Hyper Reality

Ed Ruscha, Lisp, NEHMA
Kaz Oshiro Washer and Dryer NEHMA

Identity

Deconstructive Architecture

Zaha Hadid, Dancing Towers, Dubai 2009
Frank O. Gehry, Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao Span

The Environment

Helen and Newton Harrison Sierra Nevada: An Adaptation 2011

Media

Bill Viola The Crossing 1996, Five Angels for the Millennium, 2001 video sound installation,
Tim Hawkinson, Emoter, 2002

The Body

Cindy Sherman, Untitled 1989
Barbara Krueger

Appropriation

Jeff Koons

Social Engagement

Theaster Gates