The aesthetic question of the universal artists [trad. du chinois]

Since the 1980's, the reflection concerning meeting of cultures, cultural transmission, and inter-culturalism usually concerns domains all linked with post-colonial, trans-national, and cultural diasporas questions, but also exile, hybridity, etc. In such a context, the methodological approach of contemporary art is mostly founded on sociology and history of art methods. The paper thus proposes an aesthetic approach of this problem, through the practical study of what we have chosen to call the "new figures of universal artists." It seems interesting to study these artists that refuse, even in an indirect way, an appreciation of their art based on an identity, or on a specific culture, approach. Their attitude as well as their creativity forces us to re-examine the validity of usual appreciation categories and of art evaluation. More than that, a number of them express on their artwork and on artistic creation even more pioneer ideas than any avant-garde theories. Therefore, this paper will examine, through the study of several contemporary "universal artists," as Anish Kapoor, Ju Ming, or Bartabas for instance, after having defined what we mean by "universal artists," methodological methods implied by such a study