Appropriation in Art

Dictionary meaning: “Appropriation - The artistic practice or technique of reusing another’s imagery in a context which differs from its original state, typically without the owners permission.”

To get a thorough understanding of what appropriation is, I looked at a wide variety of resources and studied the works of several different artists working with this technique. I must admit I was astonished at some of the information I read and work that I found! 

Here are just a few artists…

Cindy Sherman

Barbara Kruger

Richard Prince

Original Marlboro ad by Jim Krantz

Richard Prince's Appropriation

Shepard Fairey

I recently saw this artists work at an exhibition in the national gallery, here in Canberra! 

Although the artists above have interesting work and conceptual ideas, the photographs of Sherrie Levine, one of the world’s best-known post-modernists, drew more to my attention. With careful reading and discussion with my photography teacher, Peter (a very wise resouce!), I was able to get my head around the purpose of her work. I also found this really interesting article (click here), which also mentions some of the other artists listed above.

Unlike with Richard Prince, whose rephotographs of advertising imagery divert one’s gaze towards everyday ‘visual culture’ and re-evaluates it, Levine reflects the mechanism of the art system, built around expressions such as authorship and originality, and questions this. Her work is based purely on the conceptual idea rather than the aesthetic artwork itself.

Her controversial images (shown below) are simply photographed artworks of past photographers such as Walker Evans, Manet, Degas, Malevich, Schiele, Van Gogh, Klee, Duchamp, among many others.

She signs her own name to the reproductions she creates and labels her work “after walker evans” or whichever artists work she has used. Her own works are thus 'appropriations' of works by other artists. They prove how unclear in our times is the status of artworks, which more often appear to us as popular icons that are disseminated by advertising and usurped by mass culture. 

Sherrie Levine 

Apart from a slight change in size, there is no collaging or reworking, nor any changes in format, medium, or style. Levine has simply made an exact copy and claimed that copy as her own original (copyrighted) work.