Art teachers share exciting assignments inspired by the work of contemporary artists such as Jihoon Ha, Susan Strazzella, Mark Bradford, Jeff Sonhouse, Susan Rothenberg, Arturo Herrera, and more. Students borrow photos from one another to create meaningful compositions, use clay to make elevated serving pieces, incorporate postmodern principles into mixed-media self-portraits, and much more.
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To bring in multiple perspectives for this month’s issue on teaching with contemporary art, I asked our SchoolArts contributing editors to offer their thoughts about why students should engage with contemporary art. Read my Editor’s Letter to see what they shared.
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For this project, my young students looked at the rich history of artisans who create work designed to be used in daily life. We specifically looked at vessels and serving pieces made by contemporary Korean artists Jin Eui Kim, Sang Ho Shin, and Jihoon Ha, who all have work on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Students naturally fell into a discussion about whether utilitarian pieces are fit for display at a museum, and what it means to be an artist who makes things for practical purposes.
I’m always on a quest for new and exciting assignments inspired by contemporary artists. Susan Strazzella creates detailed and colorful collages of flowers, animals, and still-life compositions with acrylic, paper, and fabric. I was captivated by her work and was instantly inspired to create an art project for my students.
At the start of the school year, after a year of hybrid, virtual, and dual modes of instruction, I noticed a strong resistance to risk-taking in the art room. I needed to retrain my students to take risks and challenge their thinking. The sense of play was no longer there, and students were looking to be told exactly what to do. There was no better time to think like a contemporary artist. Studying artists who base their process of play, chance, and risk was an excellent starting point.
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I wanted to create real-life connections between the art my students saw in class and the world around them. I spent the summer researching art that was local and accessible. I had two criteria: The artwork must be reachable by public transportation and free of cost to experience. Luckily, I live and work in Los Angeles, which has an endless supply of artists. During my research, I found that the work of Mark Bradford not only met these criteria, but had big connections to my students’ lives.
I researched contemporary artists and discovered the work of African American painter Jeff Sonhouse (b. 1968, New York). Sonhouse creates large, realistic paintings using colorful patterns and burnt matches for hair. His work was perfect for covering so many things in my middle-school curriculum – line, shape, color, pattern, and form.
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When creating a great postmodern portrait, embrace the cellphone, the selfie, and TikTok. They are ever-present resources for this generation. We’ve come a long way since glamor shots at the mall! Phone pics and filters are the first stage, and we talk about “bad” portrait photos and things to avoid. Students check their current photo stream for great shots they may already have, then shoot some additional photos with good natural lighting. This serves as digital sketching and composition experimentation.
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In this lesson, students make connections to topics that are important to them while focusing on the collage work of historical and contemporary artists. We start with the historical by exploring the collages of Hannah Höch, Pablo Picasso, Richard Hamilton, and Max Ernst. After that historical look, we explore the works of contemporary artists who are fairly local to us, such as Dell Wells (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), and Natalie Egress (Madison, Wisconsin).
To access contemporary art-making, allow students to explore options within formal for traditional art-making ideas without giving specific stipulation as to what is “better or effective.” This promotes a classroom that champions independence, learning by doing, and a more authentic exploration of a studio process.
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At first glance, Dan Lam’s colorful, eye-catching sculptures might call to mind psychedelic imagery seen in music videos, animations, or rave fliers, but careful observation will reveal the complexity and depth behind her sculptures. Play and fun are obvious components of her work, as are a series of opposites – organic yet inanimate, serious yet lighthearted, and structured yet unstructured.
