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TOP 200 ARTISTS
OF THE 20TH CENTURY
TO NOW

TIMES READERS AND SAATCHI ONLINE VISITORS VOTE FOR THEIR FAVOURITE ARTISTS

AFTER 1.4 MILLION VOTES WERE CAST, HERE ARE YOUR LEADING 200 ARTISTS:

-Pablo Picasso
-Paul Cezanne
-Gustav Klimt
-Claude Monet
-Marcel Duchamp
-Henri Matisse
-Jackson Pollock
-Andy Warhol
-Willem De Kooning
-Piet Mondrian
-Paul Gauguin
-Francis Bacon
-Robert Rauschenberg
-Georges Braque
-Wassily Kandinsky
-Constantin Brancusi
-Kasimir Malevich
-Jasper Johns
-Frida Kahlo
-Martin Kippenberger
-Paul Klee
-Egon Schiele
-Donald Judd
-Bruce Nauman
-Alberto Giacometti
-Salvador Dalí
-Auguste Rodin
-Mark Rothko
-Edward Hopper
-Lucian Freud
-Richard Serra
-Rene Magritte
-David Hockney
-Philip Guston
-Henri Cartier-Bresson
-Pierre Bonnard
-Jean-Michel Basquiat
-Max Ernst
-Diane Arbus
-Georgia O'Keeffe
-Cy Twombly
-Max Beckmann
-Barnett Newman
-Giorgio De Chirico
-Roy Lichtenstein
-Edvard Munch
-Pierre Auguste Renoir
-Man Ray
-Henry Moore
-Cindy Sherman
-Jeff Koons
-Tracey Emin
-Damien Hirst
-Yves Klein
-Henri Rousseau
-Chaim Soutine
-Arshile Gorky
-Amedeo Modigliani
-Umberto Boccioni
-Jean Dubuffet
-Eva Hesse
-Edouard Vuillard
-Carl Andre
-Juan Gris
-Lucio Fontana
-Franz Kline
-David Smith
-Joseph Beuys
-Alexander Calder
-Louise Bourgeois
-Marc Chagall
-Gerhard Richter
- Balthus
-Joan Miro
-Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
-Frank Stella
-Georg Baselitz
-Francis Picabia
-Jenny Saville
-Dan Flavin
-Alfred Stieglitz
-Anselm Kiefer
-Matthew Barney
-George Grosz
-Bernd And Hilla Becher
-Sigmar Polke
-Brice Marden
-Maurizio Cattelan
-Sol LeWitt
-Chuck Close
-Edward Weston
-Joseph Cornell
-Karel Appel
-Bridget Riley
-Alexander Archipenko
-Anthony Caro
-Richard Hamilton
-Clyfford Still
-Luc Tuymans
-Claes Oldenburg

TO SEE THE FULL 200 CLICK HERE
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Saatchi Gallery
Aleksandra Mir Art

Aleksandra Mir

artist's work  |  biography  |  articles  |  other resources

Selected Works by Aleksandra Mir


Aleksandra Mir

Cold War

2005
felt tip pen on paper
305 x 483 cm

Click on images to enlarge

Aleksandra Mir, Schwartze Ballons

Beauty Free, Cold War Hot Stuff and Real Real Estate Flowers belong to a series of twenty huge drawings created by Aleksandra Mir and a team of sixteen assistants – mainly students and art school graduates - as part of a non-stop "Sharpie marathon" held in a temporary East Village studio, New York, during the month of May 2005. Each work consists of eight sheets of paper, pieced together in a landscape format, the common feature of which is an outlined map of the United States.

Retro text and motifs evoking idealist 1960s Americana such as the draft, the baby boom, Civil War, road trips, the space race, the Bicentennial, love and God were sketched by Mir overnight and filled in by her helpers working in shifts each day and evening using black Sharpie felt tips pens. The process of collaboration, and the use of atypical materials – in this case a humble household marker pen – are similarly integral to the artist's working practice.

Beauty Free is a commentary on the American Civil War, a bloody conflict dominated by the issue of slavery which began in 1860 when Confederate states in the south declared their independence and claimed the right of secession from the union. The southern states are here labelled "free", the letters spelled out in stars from the country's flag, while the northern states are threaded together by one long, continuous, looping stripe and the word "beauty". Cold War Hot Stuff employs the same device – stars in the form of snowflakes above and stripes in the form of sunbeams below – to create a contrast of warm and cold, light and dark, and, in a more overtly political sense, good and evil. Real Real Estate Flowers, probably the most psychedelic of the three, maps the officially designated flowers of each state.
Aleksandra Mir

Beauty Free

2005
Felt tip pen on paper
305 x 483 cm
Aleksandra Mir
 
Aleksandra Mir

Real Estate Flowers

2005
Felt tip pen on paper
305 x 483 cm
Aleksandra Mir
 

NEWSROOM 1986-2000, 2007

News becomes history as soon as it is reported. What fascinates me in talking about history is the paradoxical movement backwards while obviously propelling ahead with a story into the future. The 15-year time period covered in the show is of a recent past, a past that still unites many New Yorkers in recognition of a city at once familiar and long gone. The NYC tabloids New York Daily News and New York Post serve as practical tools that unite the population around shared joys and fears; they help spread the city's gossip and form its identity. Whether one buys them or not, a glance at the headlines while passing by a deli or waiting for a bus is enough to be connected to the diverse masses that make up their readership. Never mind if what is reported is mostly disaster or scandal. In retrospect, news before 9/11/2001 makes this megalopolis look like a quaint town full of petty crooks, with this accident or that occasional murder resulting in the loss of a single life. A rape in Central Park and a love triangle on Long Island were the two longest running news stories of New York in the 15 years leading up to the end of the millennium.

In research for the show at the Mary Boone gallery in September-October 2007, three assistants and myself spent months in the NYC Public Library copying 10,000 covers of the two tabloids - the outcome of their combined cover stories of 15 years. From these, I selected around 200 that were particularly poignant, or which formed an ongoing narrative, but most importantly, that made me smile with recognition. I lived in New York between 1989 and 2005, 15 years that roughly coincide with the time period of the show. As I never had a studio in the city, I developed a practice that relied heavily on communication instead: phone, Internet, publishing, travel, performance, ephemera, event production. The show drew on all of the above.

During the two months of the duration of the show, I created an environment that primitively simulated a newsroom of a major agency or newspaper. The material output of the agency took the form of drawings, which for me were traces of activities such as reading, moving, talking, remembering and reporting. Together with a team of assistants, I created 200 drawings (out of which 21 are exhibited here) inspired by the aforementioned tabloid covers and my personal references to them. The gallery was turned into the studio I never had; at the same time, we produced art at a schedule more akin to a news agency than to that of an artist's studio. Every day, there was new art and old news on the walls.

Aleksandra Mir
July 2007 / August 2008
Saatchi Gallery Project Room

Aleksandra Mir: Newsroom 1986-2000, 2007
Cops and Teens

21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each

 Aleksandra Mir: Newsroom 1986-2000, 2007 Cops and Teens
Aleksandra Mir: Newsroom 1986-2000, 2007 Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cops Bagged (9th July 1992)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cop Lived For His Son (20th May 1997)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cop Lied (19th August 1997)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
He Won't Be A Cop Again (30th September 1994)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Ex-Cop In Big Tix Fix (8th February 1996)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Fugitive Cop Kills Self (8th November 1986)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cop's Widow Speaks
(30th May 1998)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cowboys or Cops?
(20th August 1986)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cops Capture Graffiti King
(20th August 1986)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Psycho Cop
(12th July 1994)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
More Cops On The Way
(6th August 1991)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cop Shoots Teen In Back
(29th January 1990)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Teen Tourist Vanishes Here
(24th August 1987)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Why Teen Had Her Dad Killed
(14th September 1987)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Slashed Teen Played Possum
(12th May 1988)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Killing Spree Teen Seized
(10th January 1988)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Teens For Sale
(4th June 1992)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
Cop Shot
(27th July 1998)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
2 Cops Shot
(23rd August 1994)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
3 Cops Shot
(19th January 1996)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Cops and Teens
4 Cops Shot
(13th August 2000)

2007
21 drawings, marker on paper
188 x 147.3 cm each
Aleksandra Mir, Cops and Teens
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: '87 Crash
Wall St. Bloodbath
(19th October 1987)

2007
5 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: '87 Crash, Wall St. Bloodbath
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: '87 Crash
Stox Ride The Seesaw
(20th October 1987)

2007
5 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: '87 Crash, Stox Ride The Seesaw
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: '87 Crash
Wall St. On A Roll
(21st October 1987)

2007
5 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: '87 Crash, Wall St. On A Roll
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: '87 Crash
Fed $$$ Fail To Nip Dip
(22nd October 1987)

2007
5 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: '87 Crash, Fed $$$ Fail To Nip Dip
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: '87 Crash
TGIF!
(23rd October 1987)

2007
5 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: '87 Crash, TGIF!
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Monday Madness
(16th October 1989)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Monday Madness
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
What A Ride!
(5th April 2000)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, What A Ride!
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Nightmare On Wall St.
(14th October 1989)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Nightmare On Wall St.
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Panic!
(20th October 1987)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Panic!
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Raging Bull
(14th February 1997)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Raging Bull
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Whew!
(29th October 1997)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Whew!
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Free Fall!
(16th/17th November 1991)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Free Fall!
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Scary!
(5th April 2000)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Scary!
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
How Now, Dow
(23rd October 1987)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, How Now, Dow
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Dow Picks Itself Up
(17th October 1989)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Dow Picks Itself Up
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Soar Point
(3rd June 2000)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Soar Point
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Relief!
(24th October 1987)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Relief!
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Sell Of A Day
(1st September 1998)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Sell Of A Day
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
After The Fall
(21st October 1987)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, After The Fall
 
Aleksandra Mir

Stock Market: Up And Down
Black Friday
(15th April 2000)

2007
15 drawings, marker, paper
188 x 147.3 cm
Aleksandra Mir, Stock Market: Up And Down, Black Friday
 

 

 

 

 

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