Avant-garde () is French for "vanguard". The term is commonly used in French, English, and German to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art and culture.
Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. The notion of the existence of the avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, as distinct from postmodernism. Postmodernism posits that the age of the constant pushing of boundaries is no longer with us and that avant-garde has little to no applicability in the age of Postmodern art.
Visual artists
Architects
Performance artists
Musicians
- Laurie Anderson (American composer)
- George Antheil (American composer)
- Albert Ayler (Free jazz)
- John Balance (Music Composer, poet)
- The Beatles (English rock lyricists, composers, and singers)
- Luciano Berio (Italian composer)
- Arthur Brown (English rock singer and performer)
- Pierre Boulez (French composer)
- David Bowie (English rock singer and performer)
- Glenn Branca (American guitarist and composer)
- John Zorn (American musician and composer)
- Harold Budd (American composer)
- John Cage (American composer)
- Les Claypool (American musician, singer, bassist, film maker, novelist, composer)
- Ornette Coleman (American jazz musician)
- John Coltrane (American jazz musician)
- Anna Eriksson (Finnish composer)
- Conlon Nancarrow (American composer)
- Tony Conrad (American violinist and composer)
- Ivor Cutler (Scottish avant-musician and poet)
- Miles Davis (American jazz musician)
- Claude Debussy (French composer)
- Eric Dolphy (American jazz musician)
- Duke Ellington (American jazz musician, band leader and composer)
- Don Ellis (American jazz musician, band leader and composer)
- Brian Eno (English musician and composer)
- Aphex Twin (British musician and composer)
- Morton Feldman (American composer)
- Brigitte Fontaine (French Singer, novelist, playwright and actress)
- Aaron Funk (Canadian electronic musician)
- Diamanda Galás (American musician, composer and performance artist)
- Philip Glass (American composer)
- Dave Holland (British jazz musician)
- Charles Ives (American composer)
- Roland Kirk (American jazz musician)
- Bill Laswell (avant-garde musician)
- György Ligeti (Hungarian/Austrian/Romanian composer)
- Witold LutosÃ
Âawski (Polish composer)
- Béla Bartók (Hungarian composer)
- Lydia Lunch (American singer, poet, writer and actress)
- Angus MacLise (American percussionist)
- Charles Mingus (American jazz musician)
- Thelonious Monk (American jazz musician)
- Max Neuhaus (composer)
- Mike Oldfield (English composer)
- Pauline Oliveros (American composer and accordionist)
- Yoko Ono (Japanese artist and musician)
- Harry Partch (American composer and instrument designer)
- Mike Patton (American musician, singer and composer)
- Krzysztof Penderecki (Polish composer)
- Astor Piazzolla (Argentine nuevo tango pioneer)
- JarosÃ
Âaw Pijarowski (Polish contemporary musician, poet, photographer, creator of fine arts and theatre-music spectacles)
- Sun Ra (Free jazz innovator)
- Steve Reich (American composer)
- Terry Riley (American composer)
- Diana Ringo (Finnish composer)
- Arthur Russell (American musician, singer and composer)
- Pharoah Sanders (American jazz musician)
- Erik Satie (French composer and pianist)
- Janek Schaefer (English composer musician artist)
- Pierre Schaeffer (French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist and acoustician)
- Arnold Schoenberg (Austrian/American composer)
- Archie Shepp (American jazz musician)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen (German composer)
- Igor Stravinsky (Russian composer)
- David Tudor (American composer)
- Arto Tunçboyacñyan (Armenian vocalist, multiinstrumentalist)
- Edgard Varèse (French composer, later naturalized American citizen)
- David Vorhaus (American electronic composer with the English band White Noise)
- Igor Wakhévitch (French composer)
- Anton Webern (Second Viennese School)
- Robert Wyatt (English singer and songwriter)
- Iannis Xenakis (Greek composer and architect)
- Kathleen Yearwood (Canadian composer)
- La Monte Young (American composer)
- Frank Zappa (American composer, guitarist and satirist)
Authors, playwrights, actors, theatre directors and poets
- JoAnne Akalaitis (writer/director/ Mabou Mines)
- Guillaume Apollinaire (writer)
- Antonin Artaud (French actor, director and theorist)
- H. C. Artmann (Austrian-born poet and writer)
- Hugo Ball (German writer, dadaist)
- J. G. Ballard (British author)
- Georges Bataille (French writer and essayist)
- Julian Beck (actor/director/ The Living Theatre)
- Samuel Beckett (Irish playwright)
- Maurice Blanchot (French writer and essayist)
- Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine short story writer)
- André Breton (French author)
- Hermann Broch (Austrian writer)
- Christine Brooke-Rose (British writer and literary critic)
- William S. Burroughs (author, poet, essayist)
- Jim Carroll (avant-garde poet)
- Louis-Ferdinand Céline (author)
- Gregory Corso (experimental Beat poet)
- Jayne Cortez (American poet and spoken-word artist)
- E. E. Cummings (poet)
- Jeffrey Daniels (American Poet)
- Guy Debord (French author, and philosopher)
- John Dos Passos (American writer)
- Duncan Fallowell (English writer)
- Benjamin Fondane (Romanian/French poet, critic, existentialist philosopher)
- Richard Foreman (American Director/designer/playwright/compositional theater maker)
- Genpei Akasegawa (Japanese artist and novelist)
- Allen Ginsberg (poet)
- Witold Gombrowicz (writer)
- Eugen Gomringer (the father of concrete poetry)
- Jerzy Grotowski (director)
- Stewart Home (writer)
- Per Højholt (Danish poet)
- Ernst Jandl (Austrian writer, poet, and translator)
- Alfred Jarry (writer)
- James Joyce (writer)
- Franz Kafka (writer)
- Tadeusz Kantor (director)
- Lajos Kassák (1887âÂÂ1967, Hungarian avant-garde poet and painter)
- SreÃÂko Kosovel (Slovene poet)
- Peter Laugesen (Danish poet)
- Jackson Mac Low, American poet
- Mina Loy (British painter/poet)
- Dimitris Lyacos (writer/playwright/poet)
- Judith Malina (actor/director/ The Living Theatre)
- Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (founder of Italian futurism)
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (Russian futurist writer and poet)
- Vsevolod Meyerhold (director)
- Henry Miller (author)
- Ion Minulescu (Romanian poet, novelist, short story writer, journalist, literary critic, playwright)
- Yukio Mishima (writer, playwright, poet)
- Vladimir Nabokov (Russian author)
- Anaïs Nin (French diarist, author, poet)
- Ezra Pound (American poet)
- Alain Robbe-Grillet (French author, playwright, filmmaker)
- Raymond Roussel (writer)
- Bruno Schulz (writer)
- Kirill Serebrennikov (Russian theater director)
- Gertrude Stein (author, essayist)
- Ellen Stewart (theater director/ La MaMa)
- Jean Tardieu (artist, playwright, poet)
- Sergei Tretyakov (Russian writer)
- Tristan Tzara (Romanian poet)
- Urmuz (Romanian writer)
- Ilarie Voronca (Romanian poet, essayist)
- William Carlos Williams (American poet)
- Miroslav Wanek (Czech composer, poet, singer)
- StanisÃ
Âaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (writer)
- Robert Wilson (director)
- Virginia Woolf (English author)
Photographers, filmmakers, video artists
- John Abraham (Indian movie director)
- Kenneth Anger (American filmmaker)
- Diane Arbus (American photographer)
- Berenice Abbott (American photographer)
- Bruce Baillie (American filmmaker)
- Craig Baldwin (American filmmaker)
- Matthew Barney (American performance artist, filmmaker, photographer)
- Timur Bekmambetov (Russian filmmaker)
- Jordan Belson (American filmmaker)
- Patrick Bokanowski (French filmmaker)
- Stan Brakhage (American filmmaker)
- Luis Buñuel (Spanish filmmaker)
- John Cassavetes (American filmmaker)
- VÃÂra Chytilová (Czech filmmaker)
- Jean Cocteau (French poet, artist, filmmaker)
- Bruce Conner (American filmmaker, sculptor, and painter)
- Tony Conrad (American video artist, experimental filmmaker)
- David Cronenberg (American filmmaker)
- Maya Deren (American filmmaker)
- Nathaniel Dorsky (American filmmaker)
- Germaine Dulac (French filmmaker)
- Anna Eriksson (Finnish filmmaker)
- Harun Farocki (German filmmaker)
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder (German filmmaker)
- David Gatten (American filmmaker)
- Ernie Gehr (American filmmaker)
- Jean-Luc Godard (French filmmaker)
- Larry Gottheim (American filmmaker)
- Philippe Grandrieux (French filmmaker)
- Jerome Hiler (American filmmaker)
- Peter Hutton (American filmmaker)
- Ken Jacobs (American filmmaker)
- Alejandro Jodorowsky (Chilean director)
- Mary Jordan (American filmmaker, performance artist, activist)
- Jaromil JireÃ
¡ (Czechoslovak filmmaker)
- Harmony Korine (American filmmaker)
- Kurt Kren (Austrian filmmaker)
- Stanley Kubrick (American filmmaker)
- Peter Kubelka (Austrian filmmaker)
- Jørgen Leth (Danish filmmaker)
- Len Lye (New Zealand filmmaker)
- David Lynch (American filmmaker)
- Jodie Mack (American filmmaker)
- Christopher Maclaine (American filmmaker)
- Robert Mapplethorpe (American photographer)
- Toshio Matsumoto (Japanese experimental filmmakerâ video artist)
- Jonas Mekas (Lithuanian-American filmmaker)
- Otto Muehl (Austrian filmmaker)
- Dudley Murphy (Experimental filmmaker)
- RyÃ
«tarÃ
 Nakamura (Japanese director and animator)
- Gunvor Nelson (Swedish filmmaker)
- Nikos Nikolaidis (Greek filmmaker)
- Andrew Noren (American filmmaker)
- Mamoru Oshii (Japanese filmmaker)
- Pier Paolo Pasolini (Italian filmmaker, poet and writer)
- Simone Rapisarda Casanova (Italian filmmaker)
- Man Ray (American/French, photographer and filmmaker)
- Alain Resnais (French filmmaker)
- Diana Ringo (Finnish filmmaker)
- Jacques Rivette (French filmmaker)
- Jean Rouch (Ethnographic filmmaker)
- Rudolf Schwarzkogler (Austrian filmmaker)
- Kirill Serebrennikov (Russian filmmaker)
- Jack Smith (American filmmaker)
- Michael Snow (Canadian artist, filmmaker)
- Sion Sono (Japanese filmmaker, dramatist and poet)
- StraubâÂÂHuillet (French filmmakers)
- Phil Solomon (American filmmaker)
- Léopold Survage (French artist of Russian-Danish-Finnish descent)
- ShÃ
«ji Terayama (Japanese dramatist, filmmaker, poet and writer)
- Lars von Trier (Danish filmmaker)
- Andy Warhol (American artist)
- Peter Weibel (Austrian filmmaker)
- Joel-Peter Witkin (American photographer)
- Fred Worden (American filmmaker)
- Kansuke Yamamoto (Japanese photographer and poet)
- Thierry Zéno (Belgian filmmaker)
Dancers and choreographers
- Pina Bausch (German dancer, choreographer)
- Trisha Brown (American dancer, choreographer)
- Lucinda Childs (American dancer, choreographer)
- Merce Cunningham (American dancer, choreographer)
- Isadora Duncan (pioneer of modern dance)
- Loie Fuller (pioneer of modern dance)
- Valeska Gert (1892âÂÂ1978) (German dancer)
- Martha Graham (American dancer, choreographer)
- Sally Gross (American dancer, choreographer)
- Deborah Hay (American dancer, choreographer)
- Anna Halprin (American dancer, choreographer)
- Erick Hawkins (American dancer, choreographer)
- Hanya Holm (pioneer of modern dance)
- Doris Humphrey (pioneer of modern dance)
- Léonide Massine (pioneer of modern dance)
- Vaslav Nijinsky (pioneer of modern dance)
- Alwin Nikolais (American dancer, choreographer)
- Yvonne Rainer (American dancer, choreographer)
- Ruth St. Denis (pioneer of modern dance)
- Ted Shawn (pioneer of modern dance)
- Anna Sokolow (American dancer, choreographer)
- Helen Tamiris (pioneer of modern dance)
- Twyla Tharp (American choreographer, dancer)
- Charles Weidman (pioneer of modern dance)
- Mary Wigman (German dancer, choreographer)
Others
See also
References
Further reading
- Brakhage, Stan. Film at Wit's End â Essays on American Independent Filmmakers. (Edinburgh, Polygon. 1989)
- Brakhage, Stan. Essential Brakhage â Selected Writings on Filmmaking. (New York, McPherson. 2001)
- Cage, John. 1961. Silence: Lectures and Writings. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. Unaltered reprints: Wesleyan University press, 1966 (pbk), 1967 (cloth), 1973 (pbk ["First Wesleyan paperback edition"]), 1975 (unknown binding); Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971; London: Calder & Boyars, 1968, 1971, 1973 (cloth) (pbk). London: Marion Boyars, 1986, 1999 (pbk); [n.p.]: Reprint Services Corporation, 1988 (cloth) [In particular the essays "Experimental Music", pp. 7âÂÂ12, and "Experimental Music: Doctrine", pp. 13âÂÂ17.]
- Cope, David. 1997. Techniques of the Contemporary Composer. New York, New York: Schirmer Books. .
- Curtis, David. Experimental Cinema â A Fifty Year Evolution. (London. Studio Vista. 1971)
- Curtis, David (ed.) A Directory of British Film and Video Artists (Arts Council, 1999).
- Dixon, Wheeler Winston, The Exploding Eye: A Re-Visionary History of 1960s American Experimental Cinema. (Albany, New York. State University of New York Press, 1997)
- Dixon, Wheeler Winston and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster (eds.) Experimental Cinema â The Film Reader, (London: Routledge, 2002)
- Jachec, Nancy. The Philosophy and Politics of Abstract Expressionism 1940âÂÂ1960 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2000
- Le Grice, Malcolm, Abstract Film and Beyond (MIT, 1977).
- MacDonald, Scott. A Critical Cinema, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988, 1992 and 1998).
- MacDonald, Scott. Avant-Garde Film: Motion Studies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
- Mauceri, Frank X. 1997. "From Experimental Music to Musical Experiment". Perspectives of New Music 35, no. 1 (Winter): 187âÂÂ204.
- Meyer, Leonard B. 1994. Music, the Arts, and Ideas: Patterns and Predictions in Twentieth-Century Culture. 2nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Nicholls, David. 1998. "Avant-garde and Experimental Music." In Cambridge History of American Music. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Nyman, Michael. 1974. Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. New York: Schirmer. . 2nd edition, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
- O'Connor, Francis V. Jackson Pollock [exhibition catalogue] (New York, Museum of Modern Art, [1967])
- O'Pray, Michael. Avant-Garde Film: Forms, Themes and Passions (London: Wallflower Press, 2003).
- Peterson, James. Dreams of Chaos, Visions of Order: Understanding the American Avant-Garde Cinema (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1994).
- Rees, A. L., A History of Experimental Film and Video (British Film Institute, 1999).
- Sargeant, Jack, ' (Creation, 1997).
- Saunders, Frances Stonor, The cultural cold war: the CIA and the world of arts and letters (New York: New Press: Distributed by W.W. Norton & Co., 2000)
- Sitney, P. Adams. Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974).
- Tapié, Michel. Pollock (Paris, P. Facchetti, 1952)
- Tapié, Michel. Hans Hofmann: peintures 1962 : 23 avril â 18 mai 1963. (Paris: Galerie Anderson-Mayer, 1963.) [exhibition catalogue and commentary]
- Tyler, Parker, Underground Film: A Critical History. (New York: Grove Press, 1969)
External links