Whether observing and satirizing society or reinventing icons of literature, art history and popular culture, the artists featured in this episode capture the sensibilities of our age while at times inhabiting the characters they have created.

Yinka Shonibare, MBE, was born in London and spent his early years in Nigeria. Working in multiple mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography and film, Shonibare draws upon his bicultural upbringing, European literary classics, 18th- and 19th-century history and current events to create tableaux of dazzling color and patterns that provoke re-consideration of stereotypical colonial narratives. Art21 filmed Shonibare creating a new drawing "dedicated to the architects of the current economic crisis." Cindy Sherman is well-known for her photographic series in which she creates a myriad of characters, metamorphosing herself from Hollywood starlet to clown to society matron in her photographs and early films. Working alone in her studio, she draws inspiration as much from contemporary tabloids, TV and movies, as from fairy tales and canonical works of art history. Paul McCarthy has created works of video, installation, sculpture and performance throughout his career. His videotaped performances and multimedia installations satirize polite society, ridicule authority and bombard the viewer with a sensory overload of spectacular imagery. His works, which riff on cultural icons ranging from Hummel figurines to Disney characters, from George Bush to Queen Elizabeth, are often controversial and aim to subvert tradition.