Beyond “The Shock of the New”: Pivotal Works That Redefined and Shaped Contemporary Art
Keywords:
Shock of the New, Disruptive Art, Contemporary Art, Robert Hughes, Performance Art, and Art Installations
Abstract
This research investigates the disruptive trajectory of art from 1990, analyzing artworks that fundamentally challenged aesthetic, social, and cultural norms. Inspired by Robert Hughes’ critique, The Shock of the New, the research identifies pivotal works that sparked revolutions in style and subject-matter. It is based on Hughes’ core ideas - that Modernism was a vital, self-critical project describing the turbulent 20th-century experience, from the optimistic “Mechanical Paradise” to subsequent “years of irony and protest.” The research problem revolves around how Hughes’ framework defines the fundamental stages of artistic disruption, and how the new media of contemporary artists have helped to neutralize and resist “the shock.” It aims to analyze pivotal artworks that caused disruption. The research adopts a qualitative and critical methodology, and comparative case studies of selected contemporary artworks, in terms of the visual and contextual interpretation of the material and social factors. It concludes that shockingly disruptive art consistently interrogates its own relationship with the audience, and established history. The works that endure are those that successfully force a re-evaluation of aesthetic and social truths, demonstrating that art’s task, to question and resist established power structures, and remains an essential and vital force in cultural dialogue.
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23. Lennon, J. (2022). Conflict Graffiti: From Revolution to Gentrification. USA: University of Chicago Press.
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28. Saltzman, L. (2006). Making Memory Matter Strategies of Remembrance in Contemporary Art. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press.
29. Sotheby's. (2018, Oct. 11). Latest Banksy Artwork 'Love is in the Bin' Created Live at Auction. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Sotheby's: https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/latest-banksy-artwork-love-is-in-the-bin-created-live-at-auction
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32. Stoleriu, I.-A., & Stoleriu, A. (2018, May). Representations of the Pope in Western Art. Research in Medieval Culture and Art , 5(1).
33. The Art Story. (2025). Ancient Egyptian Art. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from The Art Story: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/ancient-egyptian-art/
34. The Associated Press. (2001, Feb. 15). Female Jesus Draws Brooklyn Museum Into Art Storm. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/15/nyregion/female-jesus-draws-brooklyn-museum-into-art-storm.html
35. The Brooklyn Museum. (1999, Oct. 02). Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from The Brooklyn Museum: https://brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/sensation-young-british-artists-from-the-saatchi-collection
36. van de Vall, R., & van Saaze , V. (Eds.). (2023). Conservation of Contemporary Art Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice (Vol. 9). Netherlands: Springer International Publishing.
37. Venturi, L. (1941). The Aesthetic Idea of Impressionism . The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 01(01), 34-45.
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2. Ahmed, F. (2024, Mar. 14). Value and its Aesthetic Elements in Renaissance Art . Al-Academy (111), 321-334.
3. Anfam, D., Burton, J., Deacon, R., & De Salvo, D. (2009). Anish Kapoor Islamic mirror. New York, USA: Phaidon Press.
4. BBC. (2017, Jul. 26). Banksy's balloon girl chosen as nation's favourite artwork. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-40717821
5. BBC News. (1997, Dec. 30). Entertainment Sensational hit for Royal Academy. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/43401.stm
6. Bonham-Carter,, C., & Mann, N. (Eds.). (2017). Rhetoric, Social Value and the Arts But How Does it Work? Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
7. Cincinnati Art Museum . (2025). Still Life with Bread and Eggs. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Cincinnati Art Museum : https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/exhibition-archive/2022/one-each-still-lifes/one-each-audio-exhibition/still-life-with-bread-and-eggs/
8. Cohen, A. (2018, Oct. 11). How Jenny Saville Changed the Way We View the Female Form in Painting. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Artsy: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-jenny-saville-changed-way-view-female-form-painting
9. Conty, A. (2013, Dec.). They Have Eyes That They Might Not See: Walter Benjamin's Aura And The Optical Unconscious. Literature and Theology, 27(04), 472-486 .
10. Coxhead, G. (2015, Nov. 01). Mona Hatoum . Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Art Review: https://artreview.com/october-2016-review-mona-hatoum/
11. Dalmia, A. (2016, Aug.). Anish Kapoor: Embedded Impressions of Indian Culture. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from OCAD University: https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/1240/1/Dalmia_Archana_2016_MA_CADN_MRP.pdf
12. Deborah, G., & Gustlin, Z. (n.d.). Neoclassicism and Romanticism (1760-1860). Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Libre Texts Humannities: https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Art/A_World_Perspective_of_Art_History%3A_1400CE_to_the_21st_Century_(Gustlin_and_Gustlin)/03%3A_The_Effects_of_Colonization_(1700_CE__1800_CE)/3.04%3A_Neoclassicism_and_Romanticism_(1760-1860)
13. Doddington, D., & Lago , E. (Eds.). (2022). Writing the History of Slavery. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.
14. Eclectic Gallery. (2024, Mar. 20). Beyond the Frame: Exploring Installation Art in Contemporary Exhibitions. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Eclectic Gallery : https://eclecticgallery.co.uk/news/223-beyond-the-frame-exploring-installation-art-in-contemporary-immersive-perspectives-navigating-the-world-of-installation-art/
15. Foote, N. (1981, Summer). The Shock of the New. Art Forum, 19(10). Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Art Forum: https://www.artforum.com/columns/the-shock-of-the-new-208606/
16. Goldman, S. (2014, May). THIS IS NOT A JOKE: MAURIZIO CATTELAN’S SITE SPECIFIC PRACTICE. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Scholar Share: https://scholarshare.temple.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/9af463bb-eef7-4028-a623-2e720c192302/content
17. Haines, G. (2008, Nov. 27). Rachel’s inside-out’ house turns art world upside down. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from East London Advertiser: https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/20953246.rachels-inside-out-house-turns-art-world-upside/
18. Hattenstone, S. (2009, Feb. 21). Myra, Margaret and me. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/feb/21/marcus-harvey-margaret-thatcher
19. Hemmings, J. (2017, Aug.). Louise Bourgeois. The Structure of Existence: The Cells (Exhibition Review). The Journal of Cloth & Culture, 16(01), 1-6. Retrieved from https://www.artsy.net/artwork/louise-bourgeois-cell-xxvi-detail
20. Hughes, R. (1991). The Shock of the New. New York, USA: Alfred Knope.
21. Invaluable. (2023, Aug. 03). Damien Hirst’s Shark Explained . Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/blog/damien-hirsts-shark-explained/?srsltid=AfmBOopxGzvzuUCcP_-hR--uXYfnfao3_gEioqURpZTXJLlbZLbRVyZM
22. Kinsella, E. (2018, Apr. 18). The Dung-Adorned Madonna That Giuliani Once Tried to Ban Has Been Donated to MoMA by Steve Cohen. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Art Net: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/steve-cohen-chris-ofili-virgin-mary-moma-1269002
23. Lennon, J. (2022). Conflict Graffiti: From Revolution to Gentrification. USA: University of Chicago Press.
24. Miller, J. (2019). The Act of Seeing: Renee Cox's Yo Mama's Last Supper - Sacrilege or Inspiration? Retrieved Dec. 2025, from ProQuest: https://www.proquest.com/openview/deba1a99703a8947ff53c146dd4af4fd/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
25. Nairne, S. (Ed.). (2002). Art Now: Interviews with Modern Artists (Vol. 5). New York, USA: Continuum.
26. Peabody, R. (2016). Consuming Stories Kara Walker and the Imagining of American Race. USA: University of California Press.
27. Royal Academy of Art. (1997). Sensation - Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection . Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Royal Academy of Art: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/archive/sensation-young-british-artists-from-the-saatchi-collection
28. Saltzman, L. (2006). Making Memory Matter Strategies of Remembrance in Contemporary Art. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press.
29. Sotheby's. (2018, Oct. 11). Latest Banksy Artwork 'Love is in the Bin' Created Live at Auction. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Sotheby's: https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/latest-banksy-artwork-love-is-in-the-bin-created-live-at-auction
30. Sotheby's. (2025). JENNY SAVILLE: Propped. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Sothby's: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/history-of-now-collection-david-teiger-l18623/lot.6.html
31. Stańska, Z. (2025, Sep. 24). The Story of Damien Hirst’s Famous Shark. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Daily Art Magazine: https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/story-damien-hirst-shark/
32. Stoleriu, I.-A., & Stoleriu, A. (2018, May). Representations of the Pope in Western Art. Research in Medieval Culture and Art , 5(1).
33. The Art Story. (2025). Ancient Egyptian Art. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from The Art Story: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/ancient-egyptian-art/
34. The Associated Press. (2001, Feb. 15). Female Jesus Draws Brooklyn Museum Into Art Storm. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/15/nyregion/female-jesus-draws-brooklyn-museum-into-art-storm.html
35. The Brooklyn Museum. (1999, Oct. 02). Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection. Retrieved Dec. 2025, from The Brooklyn Museum: https://brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/sensation-young-british-artists-from-the-saatchi-collection
36. van de Vall, R., & van Saaze , V. (Eds.). (2023). Conservation of Contemporary Art Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice (Vol. 9). Netherlands: Springer International Publishing.
37. Venturi, L. (1941). The Aesthetic Idea of Impressionism . The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 01(01), 34-45.
38. Xavier Hufkens. (2007, Apr. 20). Louise Bourgeois . Retrieved Dec. 2025, from Xavier Hufkens: https://www.xavierhufkens.com/exhibitions/--23
Published
2025-12-16
How to Cite
Dr. Lina Mohammedali Ahmed Kattan. (2025). Beyond “The Shock of the New”: Pivotal Works That Redefined and Shaped Contemporary Art. Era Journal for Humanities and Sociology, (20), 248-269. https://doi.org/10.33193/eJHAS.20.2025.401
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Section
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Copyright (c) 2025 د. لينا محمد علي أحمد قطان
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