What goes on inside the minds of today’s most dynamic visual artists? How do they make the leap between insight and finished object? What inspires artists to break through the barriers of convention to arrive at new ways of seeing? These and other intriguing questions are explored in Season 3 of "Art in the Twenty-First Century," the only series on national public television to focus exclusively on contemporary art and the people who create it....

Thoughts and responses to themes of “Loss & Desire” surface in many areas of our lives, from the philosophical to the emotional. In this episode, specific works of art cause us to contemplate issues such as war and peace; the loss of community and the desire for connection; and the age-old human longing for perfection.

Spontaneous, funny or subversive, play can take many forms. The artists in this episode - Jessica Stockholder, Ellen Gallagher, Arturo Herrera and Oliver Herring - improvise games, draw inspiration from dance and music, and employ color, pattern and movement to induce delight. The hour concludes with an original piece of video art by Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler, a unique and poetic meditation on the idea of play. Grant Hill hosts.

How do we organize life? What are the ways in which we capture knowledge and attempt greater understanding? The artists in this episode - Mathew Ritchie, Fred Wilson, Richard Tuttle and Roni Horn - create systems, shift contexts and engage with perception, utilizing unconventional devices. The hour concludes with an original piece of video art by Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler, a unique and poetic meditation on the idea of structures. Sam Waterston...

"Time" is always present in our interaction with works of art, whether we sit to contemplate a painting, stroll past a sculpture, or watch a video piece for its entire duration or cycle. Some works of art are time-based in that the viewer must experience them through the passage of time, as with music, while others refer to time through links or references to art history, our collective human history, or the timelessness of nature. Filmed on location...

The four artists profiled in “Humor” have been influenced by the history of humor and comedy, including vaudeville, cartoons, and comic books. The artists in this hour reveal how humor and satire can stimulate laughter as well as serve as a vehicle to explore serious subjects, such as feminism, the natural environment, the excesses of consumer culture, social injustice, and war.

With an introduction by John McEnroe in a video created by Barbara Kruger, the second half of this program turns its eye on the influences a consumerist society and pop culture exert on contemporary art and vice-versa. Featured are the experimental home, "furniture" designs, clothing and artificial island of Andrea Zittel. The paintings of Michael Ray Charles analyze the historical relationship between advertising images and cultural stereotypes....

With an introduction and video art by Laurie Anderson, this program considers the influence of place -- physical, conceptual or psychological; regional, national or transnational -- on such artists as Richard Serra, whose massive rolled-steel plates carve private moments out of public spaces; Sally Mann, whose photographs record the historical scars and romanticism latent in the landscape of the South; Barry McGee and Margaret Kilgallen, two San Francisco-based...

Contemporary art breaks out of the confines of museums and art galleries in Season 2 of “Art in the Twenty-First Century.” Shattering the myth of the artist as an isolated genius, this unique series introduces television audiences to 16 artists working in America today. "Art in the Twenty-First Century" is the only series on television to focus exclusively on contemporary art, and it uses the medium to provide an experience of the visual arts...

At the dawn of the 21st century, American artists are taking self-expression and the artistic process into uncharted territory. Today's artists are engaging the world and their audiences in vital and surprising new ways. They use an enormous variety of media and draw on sources ranging from pop culture and politics to ethnic heritage, classical models, and deeply personal life experiences. The artists featured in the series represent a cross-section...