Jose Antonio Herrera Alcazar

bridge and river lithography artwork abstract expressionism

c.2010

Jose Antonio Herrera Alcazar was born in 1960 and was largely influenced by the 1970s. The art sphere of the 1970s was epitomized by a longing to evolve and reinforce itself, as a reaction to the many conflicts of the previous decade. One of the most central movement of the 1970s was Conceptualism, which emerged as an offshoot of Minimalism, while the experimental, creative journey of Process art materialized by combining essential features of Conceptualism with further considerations on art itself. The earliest ideas of environmentalism bounced from Land Art, which took art into earth itself, sculpting the land and bringing art to the outdoors. For the first time since the decline of Abstract Expressionism, Expressive figure painting slowly resurfaced and regained its status, predominantly in Germany through the works of critically acclaimed figures Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz. The city of New York persisted as the most prominent artistic hub of the decade, with international artists drifting through the downtown scene, frequenting bars and art galleries, strengthening the idea of New York City as a cosmopolitan and refined cultural capital. Artists such as Jannis Kounnelis, Mario Merz, and Michelangelo Pistoletto attained international success, as they were widely recognized as renowned members of the Italian movement Arte Povera, much-admired in the 1970s.