"Art," Yayoi Kusama once said, "is both the symptom and cause for my obsession." Indeed, her works -- many of which amalgamate thousands of polka dots into recognizable forms -- are the manifestation of the spots, nets, and flowers that she has seen in hallucinations since childhood. Many cite her tr

Biomorphic, Collage, Conceptual installation, Eclectic, Happenings & environments, Kinetic, Layered, Round

Like an avenging angel invading the capital of high culture, Pablo Picasso came to Paris to confront the establishment and write himself across the face of modernity. He viewed art as a way of recreating himself, and invented -- only to later shed -- any number of artistic styles. The young Picas

Cubism, Distorted, Figurative painting, Geometric, Kinetic, Mythic, Perverse, Political, Polychromatic, Primal

"De Kooning is probably the most libidinal painter America has ever had." So says art critic Robert Hughes, and when we look at de Kooning's paintings, the way he immersed himself in the female form in his famous "Women" series from the 50s, and the way the body -- admittedly in pieces, but the sensu

Abstract expressionism, Biomorphic, Dense, Improvised, Kaleidoscopic, Kinetic, Manic, Violent, Whimsical

If Postmodernism raises low art to the level of high art, it also allows folks who control the media to cash in on subcultural trends: Rap, grunge, vogueing, whatever. Andy Warhol made a joke of it, but Keith Haring turned the tables. When this Graffiti artist lifted his brush to the walls of subways

Cartoonish, Graffitists and cartoonists, Homoerotic, In-your-face, Kinetic, Playful, Political, Pop, Profane, Queer art