Emerging Narratives in Art: The Role of Historical Power and Contemporary Discourse in Shaping Visual Culture

This study explores the relationships between historical power relations, changing power narratives, critical reception and cultural and social transformation within the context of the present. A mixed-methods design was used, including a quantitative survey of 263 respondents, analysed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, and semi-structured interviews of 21 experts. The results indicate the persistence of historical power relations in the contexts of current visual culture. Historical art movements continue to serve as points of reference through which current artworks can be interpreted, and evolving accounts of power are linked to broad social change. Critical reception, cultural change and social change also play a role in contemporary meaning making as they shape the evaluation, contextualization, discussion and reinterpretation of artworks. The qualitative results also indicate that these processes take place via audience co-creation, digital reinterpretation, decentralized online criticism, shifting artistic norms and opposition to inherited forms of authority. Combined, these findings indicate that contemporary visual meaning is a process that is negotiated between historical legacies, cultural change, social transformation, and present-day interpretation.