Contemporary Art

We explain what contemporary art is, its characteristics and trends. Also, its relationship with modern art.

What is contemporary art?

Contemporary art is the art produced from the second half of the 20th century to today. It is a broad and complex category that covers the most recent artistic manifestations and styles, typical of industrial and post-industrial society.

The historical delimitation of this movement varies depending on each historian, to the point that for some there is no real distinction between modern art and contemporary art.

This difficulty in defining contemporary art has to do with the ambiguity of the term “contemporary,” which refers to a present that is very difficult to fix in history. It is also due to the fact that in the field of arts a periodization is used that does not always coincide with historical times.

Contemporary art has been a way of expression in which everything seems to be allowed which has mobilized and stimulated extensive reflections and a constant inquiry into the question “What is art?”

• See also: Fine arts

Periodization of contemporary art

Generally, modern art tends to be located in the mid-19th century and extends until the first half of the 20th century, when contemporary art would begin. But there is no consensus on this matter, since the term “contemporary art” has to do with more aesthetic classifications than chronological ones (that is, it refers more to an attitude towards art than to a specific moment in time).

Contemporary art, then, It is usually defined based on their way of understanding art. However, many of its postulates (such as the break with tradition) had already begun to be seen in the positions of modern art. Some authors prefer to use words like “postmodern” to refer to what is strictly contemporary.

The speed of changes in the last century with respect to previous historical stages has generated questions that art has wanted to address from very different angles and with tools from many other humanistic disciplines such as philosophy, history or education, or scientific ones such as geometry. , biology or cybernetics.

The transgression of limits, the search for new ways of thinking and the need to experiment have made contemporary art an extraordinarily diverse expression which has produced interesting ideas, bold proposals, new knowledge and freer ways of seeing the world.

However, some contemporary art circles have been accused of overinterpreting (that is, attributing more meaning than they have) certain works to position them for commercial and elitist purposes.

• See also: Contemporary age

Characteristics of contemporary art

Some characteristics of contemporary art are:

• Covers artistic trends from the mid-20th century to today according to the most widespread periodization. Other authors consider it from Impressionism (approximately 1860) and for some the contemporary is only applicable to production after 1960. The periodization criteria depend on what is considered a real “break”.
• Experimentation is a value in itself in terms of materials, techniques and ideas, which includes everything from digital art and new technologies, to the recovery of ancestral practices.
• Many of the central elements of the artistic tradition are resignified sometimes, in a provocative or ironic way.
• Reflection on the nature of art is frequent and the artist, as well as the spaces of legitimation (museums, institutions, galleries, etc.).
• Gender boundaries are crossed disciplines, categories and styles, pointing to a hybrid, mixed and indeterminate, or disconcerting art.
• Theory and criticism come to the fore. The appreciation of certain works of contemporary art often requires specific knowledge. It is common that works must be presented through specialized texts.

Background of contemporary art

Modern art represented a first important break with an artistic tradition of several centuries. This new perception paved the way for the post-war manifestations that we know today as contemporary art.

Impressionism, which challenged academic tradition, was followed by several movements with disruptive proposals that moved away from tradition to give way to a more experimental and creative attitude. Among the most notable are Expressionism with its deformation of subjects, Fauvism with its provocative and unreal color palette, Cubism and its multiple perspective, Dada with its irreverent attitude, Surrealism with its distancing from reason and abstractionism and its rejection of figuration.

Special mention deserves the readymade or found object (object found) It was not a movement, but it was one of the most influential gestures in contemporary art. It consists of taking a common, mass-produced object and redefining its meaning by presenting it in an artistic context.

In 1913, Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) mounted a bicycle wheel on a stool and presented the result as a work. bicycle wheel (Bicycle route and the later Fountain (a ceramic urinal recognized as a work after Duchamp's verdict in a competition in 1917) became the founding pieces of a new way of making and understanding art, and thus, the most important antecedent of what would later be known as “contemporary art”.

Contemporary art trends

Some of the most important manifestations of contemporary art are pop art, kinetic art, conceptual art and fluxus.

1. Pop art

Pop art (in English popart) is characterized by “elevate” elements of pop culture to the status of art such as comics, serial consumer products or advertisements. He resorted to elements of mass culture, to the repeated designs of well-defined lines and the use of everyday or disposable elements, such as the famous Glitter Box (Brightness Box) by the American Andy Warhol (1928-1987), who was its greatest exponent.

It was a movement close to advertising and is considered celebratory or critical, typical of the rise of capitalism in the West during the Cold War. Other important pop art artists were the Americans Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) and Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997).

• Pop art

2. Kinetic art

Kinetic art is an expression that had its peak between the 1960s and 1970s, in France and the United States. Use movement in works such as paintings, sculptures and monuments.

This movement can be physical (mechanical, electrical, magnetic, wind, etc.), produced by optical effects, and usually requires the active participation of the viewer, through actions such as entering the work.

Among the main representatives of this current are the Argentine Julio Leparc (1928-) or the Venezuelans Jesús Soto (1923-2005) and Carlos Cruz Diez (1923-2019).

3. Concept art

Conceptual art is a form of art that proposes that the idea behind the work is much more important than its materiality Thus, art becomes the expression of a concept and gets rid of the need for physical support. It emerged in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom, but has had important representatives from other latitudes.

Some important conceptualists are the Americans Joseph Kosuth (1941-) and Sol LeWitt (1928-2007), and the Serbian Marina Abramovich (1946-).

4. Fluxus

Fluxus was a multidisciplinary artistic movement that emerged in Europe between 1960 and 1970 and led by the Lithuanian-American George Maciunas (1931-1978). It was characterized by the rejection of the conventions of the artistic medium and by placing emphasis on experimentation, collective art, questioning the notion of the individual author and the active inclusion of the public in the works.

The art of fluxus emphasized action, experience and idea and gave rise to countless manifestations, from performances and ephemeral forms, to installations, sculptures and audiovisual productions. Among its main exponents are the Japanese Yoko Ono (1933-), the Korean Nam June Paik (1932-2006) and the German Joseph Beuys (1921-1986).

Modern art or contemporary art?

There is no doubt that modern art represented the first significant break with the classical artistic tradition. This new perception paved the way, during the postwar period, to freer and deeper manifestations that today are categorized as contemporary art.

The periodization of contemporary art is complex for two reasons:

• Being referred to the present (to our time), the contemporary shifts its axis as time progresses. Thus, the art that called itself “contemporary” in 1900 is currently considered modern art.
• What is understood by contemporary art does not correspond so much to a specific time as to a way of seeing art, characterized by critical reflection, experimentation and the exploration of new forms of expression. This means that there may be art produced in the present that is not considered “contemporary art.”

Although there are differences of opinion about the “true” moment of break in the traditional canons of art, and certain authors locate the beginning of contemporary art from the end of the 19th century, Most current scholars agree that contemporary art begins in 1945, after the end of World War II. This places the movements prior to that date within the category of modern art.

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References

• Cauquelin, A. (2002). Contemporary Art. Cruz O Publications.
• Danto, Arthur C. (2010). After the end of art: contemporary art and the edge of history. Paidós.
• Di Martino Calvo, MV (2012). Modern Art Center, Expoarte Guadalajara and Sector Reforma: decisive spaces in the development and dissemination of contemporary art. University of Guadalajara, University Center of Art, Architecture and Design.
• Guasch, Ana M. (2016). The latest art of the 20th century: from post-minimalism to multiculturalism. Alliance.
• Millet, C. (2018). contemporary art.
• ‌Smith, T. (2009). What is contemporary art? University Of Chicago Press.