Minimalism
Minimalism in visual art, generally referred to as "minimal art", "literalist art"[4] and "ABC Art"[5] emerged in New York in the early 1960s as new and older artists moved toward geometric abstraction; exploring via painting in the cases of Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, Al Held, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Ryman and others; and sculpture in the works of various artists including David Smith, Anthony Caro, Tony Smith, Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and others. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism).
Minimalists distanced themselves from the Abstract Expressionists by removing suggestions of biography from their art or, indeed, metaphors of any kind. This denial of expression coupled with an interest in making objects that avoided the appearance of fine art led to the creation of sleek, geometric works that purposefully and radically eschew conventional aesthetic appeal.
The post-Sputnik era revived active interest in Russian Constructivism. The Constructivist approach led to the use of modular fabrication and industrial materials in preference to the craft techniques of traditional sculpture. The readymades of Marcel Duchamp were also inspirational examples of the employment of prefabricated materials. Based on these sources, Minimalists created works that resembled factory-built commodities and upended traditional definitions of art whose meaning was tied to a narrative or to the artist.
The use of prefabricated industrial materials and simple, often repeated geometric forms together with the emphasis placed on the physical space occupied by the artwork led to some works that forced the viewer to confront the arrangement and scale of the forms. Viewers also were led to experience qualities of weight, height, gravity, agility or even the appearance of light as a material presence. They were often faced with artworks that demanded a physical as well as a visual response.
Minimalists sought to breakdown traditional notions of sculpture and to erase distinctions between painting and sculpture. In particular, they rejected the formalist dogma espoused by the critic Clement Greenberg that placed limitations on the art of painting and privileged artists who seemed to paint under his direction. The Minimalists' more democratic point of view was set out in writings as well as exhibitions by their leaders Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, and Robert Morris. (http://www.theartstory.org/movement-minimalism.htm )
Carl Andre installation
Dan Flavin (fluorescent lights)
Donald Judd
Richard Serra (steel sculpture)
Sol LeWitt
Conceptual Art
The idea is more important than the object of art and some artists just design and commissions others to produce the object, which raises many discussions about the authorship.
Conceptual art, sometimes simply called conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called installations, may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions.This method was fundamental to American artist Sol LeWitt's definition of Conceptual art, one of the first to appear in print:
In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.
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Many of the concerns of the conceptual art movement have been taken up by contemporary artists. While they may or may not term themselves "conceptual artists", ideas such as anti-commodification, social and/or political critique, and ideas/information as medium continue to be aspects of contemporary art, especially among artists working with installation art, performance art, net.art and electronic/digital art.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_art )
Sol LeWitt's explanatuion of conceptual art :
A recent BBC documentary about Conceptual Art
The subversive and provocative italian artist Piero Manzoni - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_Manzoni - presented his own «shit» as a work of art - http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/manzoni-artists-shit-t07667
Earth Art/Land Art
Earth Art outgrew of minimalism and conceptualism, it uses uses the natural landscape to create site-specific structures, art forms, and sculptures.
The favored materials for Earthworks were those that could be extracted directly from nature, such as stones, water, gravel, and soil. Influenced by prehistoric artworks such as Stonehenge, Earth artists left their structures exposed to the elements. The resulting ephemerality and eventual disintegration of the works put them outside of the mainstream where works of art were typically coddled and protected in controlled environments (http://www.theartstory.org/movement-earth-art.htm )
Robert Smithson Spiral in Great Salt Lake
Christo Walk on Water
Found Art
Found objects derive their identity as art from the designation placed upon them by the artist and from the social history that comes with the object. This may be indicated by either its anonymous wear and tear (as in collages of Kurt Schwitters) or by its recognizability as a consumer icon (as in the sculptures of Haim Steinbach). The context into which it is placed is also a highly relevant factor. The idea of dignifying commonplace objects in this way was originally a shocking challenge to the accepted distinction between what was considered art as opposed to not art. Although it may now be accepted in the art world as a viable practice, it continues to arouse questioning, as with the Tate Gallery's Turner Prize exhibition of Tracey Emin's My Bed, which consisted literally of her unmade and disheveled bed. In this sense the artist gives the audience time and a stage to contemplate an object. Appreciation of found art in this way can prompt philosophical reflection in the observer.
However, as an art form, found objects tend to include the artist's output—at the very least an idea about it, i.e. the artist's designation of the object as art—which is nearly always reinforced with a title. There is usually some degree of modification of the found object, although not always to the extent that it cannot be recognized, as is the case with ready-mades. Recent critical theory, however, would argue that the mere designation and relocation of any object, ready-mades included, constitutes a modification of the object because it changes our perception of its utility, its lifespan, or its status. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_object)
An interesting article on Found Art - http://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/art_market/the-history-of-the-found-object-in-art-52224
Louise Nevelson
Zac Freeman
Feminist Art
Louise Bourgeois died in 2010 and kept active throughout her life. She has a strong surrealist background and relates to feminist art with the recurrent theme of sexuality (breasts, phalic shapes...). A collection of her works is gathered in the website - https://www.artsy.net/artist/louise-bourgeois
I must confess I'm not a fan of her works, except for the fabulous sculpture of the spider, «Maman» as an homage to her mother, that stands outside Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. For that sculpture she deserves all the merit. I was stunned by it!
I don't like insects, except for butterflies, since we tend to focus on the wings, specially the colourful ones, and don't pay much attention to the middle of the body, but Bourgeois' spider is imponent, the organic forms and the goldish metal is magestic. Beautiful elegant work!
Activist Art
I've just watched a 45 minute documentary with brasilian Cildo Meireles who works in art installations since the 60's. At the time producing activist art against the dictatorship, he evolved to conceptual art.
I enjoyed two installations in particular: 1) the tower with the old radios, each one producing sound from diffrent radio channels and 3) the white setting with the clocks and carpenters' metres, as one walks through it also produces sound.
Jeff Donaldson and AfriCOBRA
Jeff Donaldson is the founder of AfriCobra the black art movement in the sixties that entertwine with the Civil Rights Movement.
This brief documentary explains the reason for the black art affirmation
A collection of paintings in the blog - http://no-miedo.blogspot.pt/2011/03/africobra-la-rivoluzione-nell.html
These artists were close to african american poets that shared the same revolutionary ideas of Black Power, such as Gwendolyn Brooks or Amiri Baraka.