Season 3
4 episodes
56 min. per episode
Where to watch
PBS
Free
Visionary artists confront personal demons and societal issues, revealing the transformative power of creativity in a fractured world.
Episodes
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.
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.
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.
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.
The only series on television in the US to focus exclusively on contemporary art and artists, "Art in the Twenty-First Century" is a Peabody Award-winning biennial program following artists at work as they transform inspiration into art.