Photographer and filmmaker Thomas Demand was born in Munich, Germany, in 1964. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (1987-89), the Düsseldorf Art Academy (1989-92), Cité des Arts, Paris (1992), Goldsmiths' College, London (1993-4), and Rijksakademie, Amsterdam (1995).

Arte povera  ('impoverished art') was named by art critic Germano Celant after seeing an exhibition at Bretesca Gallery in Genoa in 1967.

Postmodernism describes an approach toward art that arose during the 1970s, and which constituted a departure from the aesthetics, theory, and ideals of modernism. During the seventies, artists expanded artmaking beyond the established realms of painting and sculpture to include performance, time-based media, photography, fiber, and earth art.

Postcolonialism is an academic mode of thinking that acknowledges and examines the continuing economic, cultural, and social repercussions of colonialism and imperialism. Postcolonial thinking has affected the discourses surrounding art and art history, in that some artists make work in response to the aftermath of colonial rule, frequently addressing issues of national and cultural identity, race, and ethnicity.

Postminimalism refers to a broad movement in the United States during the sixties, characterized by divergent aesthetics and strategies that departed from the severe aesthetics of minimalism. While retaining some of the philosophies of minimalism, including a focus on materials, some postminimalist artists expanded their practices to include textiles, rubber, foam, latex, and other materials that make abstract reference to the human body.