The term “icon” cannot be defined without associating the definition with a person, ideal, or movement that has affected history and transcended generations. The characteristics and qualities of traditional iconic artists, creators, and designers will always alter the spiritual presence and essence of modern and contemporary artworks. Some of the most important and notable representations of the art world are revered for their ability to express their connection to the human spirit through their artwork.

The choice of works and the essays by selected authors in Icons exhibits the contrast of the interpretation of the traditional concept of the icon in art with the phenomenon of the creation of icons in our day-to-day environment. Work from artists such as nineteenth-century landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich, abstract art pioneer Wassily Kandinsky, and art theorist Kazimir Malevich, in addition to contemporary artists such as producer, director, and artist Andy Warhol; filmmaker, sculptor, and painter Niki de Saint Phalle; and sculptor and installation artist Isa Genzke are presented in this volume. The publication aims to demonstrate the spiritual power of art and invites the reader to contemplate the works presented.

About the Authors

Christoph Grunenberg is the director of the Kunsthalle Bremen Museum in Bremen, Germany. His previous publications are Last Year in Marienbad: A Film as Art and Picasso and the Model: Sylvette, Sylvette, Sylvette. Eva Fischer-Hausdorfer is the curator of modern and contemporary art at Kunsthalle Bremen.