In response to art-market demand, contemporary artists had to find suitable roles long ago; fluctuating between self-staging and self-fulfilment, between art and commercialisation. They contrive to meet the expectancies—genius, outsider, or star—projected onto them by society in a modern fashion, whether they are subject to irony or idealisation, and whether elevated or dropped by the market. The texts in this book present a vivid, easy-to-grasp survey of artistic strategies and role models in contemporary art. The spectrum of artists ranges from Andy Warhol and Sigmar Polke to Neo Rauch and Sophie Calle. We are offered insights into the ways in which artists’ self-staging has increased, altered and been redefined from the nineteen-seventies to the present day: a book for a wide readership with an interest in art and culture.

Andy Warhol
Neo Rauch
Rebecca Horn
Sigmar Polke
Jonathan Meese
Martin Kippenberger
Bruce Nauman
Martin Liebscher
Sophie Calle
Anselm Kiefer
Monica Bonvicini
Christoph Schlingensief
Gerhard Richter