Mixed media refers to a style of art that includes more than one medium, and is probably one of the most underappreciated fields in the creative industry.
The average art admirer can recognise The Mona Lisa easily and identify Michelangelo’s David without skipping a beat, but are unable to name any of the best artists who work in mixed media.
Sadly, such artists have been forgotten by society, despite producing beautiful and meaningful works. We’ve put together a short list of five of the best mixed media artists whose pieces deserve more attention.
1. Njideka Akunyili Crosby
The Nigerian-born artist routinely works with a wide variety of media, including photography, collage (with magazine and newspaper), painting, charcoal and fabric. Her art explores both her Nigerian heritage and her connection to her new home in the USA – currently in Los Angeles, California.
One of her larger pieces was a mural for the exterior wall of Moca Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. Her works combine rich colours and minute details to create a layered appearance.
2. El Anatsui
Another African artist, El Anatsui works with many kinds of material to create sculptures that express some of the experience of growing up in Ghana and Nigeria. Initially he worked with wood, but later turned to clay, and then to found objects – using “rubbish” to create artworks that have inspired many other professional artists.
His work has been exhibited across the world, including being displayed at the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), and Kunstmuseum Bern (Museum of Fine Arts Bern, in Switzerland).
3. Faith Ringgold
Born in 1930, Faith Ringgold is a revered mixed media artist, and for good reason: her artworks combine extensive media, including painting, drawing, quilting/textiles and sculpture. When she tried to enrol in an art degree in 1948, she was faced with blatant institutional racism and sexism which has influenced her work in many ways. In 1980 she created her first quilt with her mother, Willi Posey Jones.
Her use of colours and textures produces vibrant artworks that interpret the political and societal climate of the time – in alignment with her long career of activism against racism and sexism.
4. Anni Albers
During her lifetime, German-born Anni Albers produced a body of work that influences and inspires mixed media and textile artists all over the world. She was forced to leave her birthplace during the build-up to the Second World War, and began teaching various art forms at a college in North Carolina. She worked mostly in textiles and was drawn to weaving on looms.
Earlier in career she visited Mexico and took inspiration from the traditional textiles she saw. In later years, she experimented with printmaking – using techniques such as lithography, silk-screening and embossing.
The Future Of Art
Just like a real money pokie bonus at sites like https://realmoneypokies.biz/bonuses/, art itself is continuously undergoing change. Many artists are turning more and more to a variety of media in order to express themselves. While painting and drawing always remain the bedrock, new creatives are eager to branch out and revolutionise the way we view and experience art.
