Mythology in contemporary art

Mythology, which will continue its influence even in the future under the name of past, present and living legend, is faced with various situations in contemporary art. There are discernments of myths under all those ideologies, theories, beliefs, movements and order that exist between the past and present contemporaries and the contemporary narratives of the time. In the history of art that provides us with information on the approaches of the artists of the classical period and before to mythology; modern, contemporary and contemporary artists have no trace of mythology. The aim to be reached in this thesis / work of art report, titled as Mythology in Contemporary Art, is to clarify how mythology stands in contemporary art. In this thesis study, specific situations between the way of the mythology of ancient and classical artists and the way in which modern and contemporary artists are treated by mythology are investigated, and it is concluded that the roots of contemporary art movements are based on mythology. Throughout the thesis, the theories and perspectives of Roland Barthes, Claude Levi-Strauss, Joseph Campbell and Carl Gustav Jung on the mythology changed from the history of humanity to the present have been used. Then, the historical period of reading mythology in art is mentioned. Besides, the reflections of mythology in contemporary art were tried to be clarified in this thesis. In doing so, Nietzsche’s figuration of the Dionysian philosophy was utilized in theoretical terms. While referring to the artists who made references to the Myth, created a new myth and formed their own myths; examples of personal myths and artist myths were also given. In the last section, my own art practices are interpreted from the theoretical perspective of this thesis in art and myth axis and it is concluded that the art exists entirely within a mythical texture.