art21

Synopsis

The first series on television in the U.S. to focus exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists, "Art in the Twenty-First Century" is a Peabody Award-winning biennial program that allows viewers to observe the artists at work, watch as they transform inspiration into art, and hear how they struggle with both the physical and visual challenges of achieving their visions. "Art in the Twenty-First Century" airs on PBS and online in the U.S. Full episodes are available to watch on Art21.org and YouTube.

First Air Date: 2001-09-21

Last Air Date: 2026-02-11

Number of Seasons: 12

Number of Episodes: 43

Created By: Susan Sollins, Susan Dowling

Networks: PBS

View Technical Specifications on IMDb

Top Cast

Claire Danes as Herself - Host
Sophie Calle as Herself
Lubaina Himid as Herself
Tuan Andrew Nguyen as Himself
Dyani White Hawk as Herself
Ragnar Kjartansson as Himself
Candice Lin as Herself
Tomás Saraceno as Himself
Njideka Akunyili Crosby as Herself

Seasons

Season 1 (2001) - (4 Episodes)

Season 2 (2003) - (4 Episodes)

Season 3 (2005) - (4 Episodes)

Season 4 (2007) - (4 Episodes)

Season 5 (2009) - (4 Episodes)

Season 6 (2012) - (4 Episodes)

Season 7 (2014) - (4 Episodes)

Season 8 (2016) - (4 Episodes)

Season 9 (2018) - (3 Episodes)

Season 10 (2020) - (3 Episodes)

Season 11 (2023) - (3 Episodes)

Season 12 (2025) - (2 Episodes)

Season 1 (2001)

No overview available for this season.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: Place (2001-09-21)

Sculptor Richard Serra, "street artists" Margaret Kilgallen and Barry McGee, photographer Sally Mann and installation artist Pepon Osorio. Serra, seen installing one of his massive steel-plate structures in the atrium of an office building, needs a big place for his works. McGee and Kilgallen make gallery art but prefer grafitti. Mann, known for nude photos of her children, is now doing landscapes. And, says Osorio: "I need to create a space. That is overpowering."
Ep. 2: Spirituality (2001-09-21)

Ann Hamilton, who works with textiles; impish multimedia artist John Feodorov; miniaturist Shahzia Sikander; and James Turrell, whose medium is light itself. Linking them: spirituality, "a thread that connects us all," says host S. Epatha Merkerson. "I think ambiguity is where the spiritual lies," says Feodorov, who combines Navajo and Christian themes provocatively. Turrell explains how he designs his projects "to bring the cosmos closer."
Ep. 3: Identity (2001-09-28)

Bruce Nauman, Maya Lin, Louise Bourgeois and Kerry James Marshall, "four contemporary artists who deal in notions of identity," says Steve Martin, who introduces the hour. Marshall uses black themes in his paintings and installations; 90-year-old Bourgeois, a sculptor, frequently fashions hands; Lin, known for the Vietnam War Memorial, is seen at work in Grand Rapids, Mich. And Nauman makes psychologically infused videos and installations, including an outdoor stairway.
Ep. 4: Consumption (2001-09-28)

Mel Chin, Matthew Barney, Michael Ray Charles and Andrea Zittel, artists "who raise questions about the things we consume every day," says tennis great John McEnroe, who introduces the hour. Marshall explores racial stereotypes; filmmaker Barney approaches themes of sex and conflict elliptically; Zittel lives in---or wears---her utilitarian "installations"; and Chin's art has found its way into everything from a burned-out Detroit house to TV's "Melrose Place."