Styles & Movements

Multiculturalism

In recent years, the terms multicultural, multiculturalism, and multiculturalist have been used, both positively and negatively, to identify and discuss a movement that confronts certain perceived biases in western and especially U.S. society. The use of this term to describe art usually denotes works that either celebrate unique elements of non-Eurocentric culture, often melding these elements with mainstream techniques and subject matter or point out the deficiencies of mainstream western art traditions in ommitting to include the important contributions of cultures other than European. During the 80s, such artists as Houston Conwill, James Luna, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Jolene Rickard-McKie, and others combine traditional performance, architecture, photographic and painterly practice with content and forms that uniquely reflect underrepresented cultures.