What is a notable artistic work of MODERN times?

Question

What is it's value and what makes it notable?

Answer 1

The film "Le Scaphandre et le papillon" (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) by Julian Schnabel and the novel the it was based on by Jean-Dominique Bauby are beautiful, rare, and very notable artistic works.

Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor of the French edition of  Elle magazine when he suffered a stroke at the end of 1995, at forty-three, that left him paralyzed from head to toe and only able to communicate by blinking with left eye, but with a fully functioning mind in what is known as locked-in syndrome. His speech therapist taught him how to communicate by blinking his eye to indicate a letter, and she and an assistant wrote down his every letter to create the novel. The book is deeply humane, beautiful, wry & inspiring in so many ways, and as you read each word and know the effort that put into it, you're....awed. Jean-Do, as he was called, passed away shortly after the book was published.

The movie is also remarkable. It's humorous, and profound, and it shot in a way that really puts the viewer in the mind of Jean-Do. Every time he blinks, the screen does dark for that blink. It's like we're communicating with him. The movie was nominated for a heap of awards, and Julian Schnabel won several best director awards.  

Schnabel is also a really brilliant, daring painter.

Others:

*The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, for giving its readers a personal perspective of Afghanistan

*The paintings of Jasper Jones

*Disney Concert Hall & all the other buildings by architect

Frank Gehry

* The book & the movie "The Hours" and the performances by Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman & Ed Harris

: )

Answer 2

Check out the link below for work by the sculptor Henry Moore.  It is notable because of it's distinctiveness - no one would mistake another sculptor's work for his.  It's value lies in it's distinctiveness and the sheer volume of his work.

Answer 3

I think the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown meets this standard.  Why?  Because I have never been so disturbed by any other book like this one.  It shook all the fundamental religious teachings of a lifetime, that's why.  It's value is questionable, nevertheless, it is notable for what it did.

Answer 4

The literature of Toni Morrison (among those: _Beloved_, _The Bluest Eye_) , of Thomas Pynchon (_V._, _Gravity's Ranbow_, _The Crying of Lot 49_).  

The architecture of Franciso Calatrava is widely considered on account of its aesthetic innovation.