1980年代起，有關文化交流、文化傳輸與跨文化的理論與研究，多半與後殖民理論、跨國論述、飄零海外的文化（cultural diasporas）、以及流放、揉雜等概念、問題、或範疇相連。在此影響下的當代藝術的研究，多半侷限於藝術史、或政治社會學的領域，並強調當代藝術家及其創作的文化差異性，而忽略許多當代藝術家，無法以一種特殊文化、或以某種文化認同方式被界定的普世性面容及其普世性特質。為此，本文選擇從人類學與美學的角度，針對「普世性藝術家的新角色」的問題進行研究與分析。本文作者認為，許多當代具有普世性特質的藝術家，對於藝術、作品、創作等都有新穎、甚至超前衛的思維、理論與實踐，對這些直接地、或間接地拒絕從單一文化認同的角度來思考自己的作品與創作的普世性藝術家進行研究，具有多方面意義與價值：不僅促使我們重新深入探討既有的藝術品概念和藝術評價準則，也促使我們重新思考既有藝術與美學理論的詮釋與理解問題。為此，本文將以卡普爾（Anish Kapoor, 1954-）、朱銘、和巴塔巴斯（Bartabas, 1957-）為例，探討「普世性藝術家」的可能意義與特質，並針對其所引起的美學方法問題進行思考與研究。

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.