Contemporary Art

     Contemporary art is art produced at the present period in time. Contemporary art includes, and develops from, Postmodern art, which is itself a successor to Modern art.




     






     Contemporary art is the art of today, produced by artists who are living in the twenty-first century. Contemporary art provides an opportunity to reflect on contemporary society and the issues relevant to ourselves, and the world around us.


     No one seems to agree about the exact meaning of contemporary art. Critics, curators and historians define it in varying ways. One of the reasons for the confusion is that "Contemporary Art" is preceded by "Modern Art", and there is no precise agreement on when "Modern Art" ended.


     To make things even more complicated, a third term "Postmodernist art" is sometimes used as a synonym for "Contemporary Art." This buzzword denotes the main style-trend after Modernism or Modern Art, but it applies to dozens of other disciplines including architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, design, fashion, and technology, all of which have differing timelines, so it's hard to get a fix on exactly when postmodernism begins. Also, it's not synonymous with contemporary art. The latter refers to an era (a time period) while postmodernism is more of an attitude and style within this period. In due course, postmodernism will be superseded by a newer "-ism" but both will be forms of Contemporary art.




What Makes Contemporary Art Different from Modern Art?


     The answer to this question requires an entire book. We only have a paragraph, so here goes. First, some background. The Italian Renaissanceestablished the basis for Western art after the Classical Antiquity and Medieval eras. Renaissance ideas and rules were disseminated across Europe through various Academies of Fine Arts, such as the Academy of Florence (Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno: founded 1562), the Academy of Rome (Accademia di San Luca: founded 1583), the French Academy (Académie des Beaux-Arts) the Royal Academy in London (founded 1768) and the later Royal Hibernian Academy and the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, in Ireland. These academies taught art according to an unvarying set of canons, which artists had to follow in order to earn a living. By the early 19th century, this academic approach had ceased to be relevant.


Modern Era


     Enter Edouard Manet in 1860 along with the French Impressionists, whose revolutionary subjective style of painting ushered in the era of Modern Art. This period witnessed a succession of schools, styles and movements - including Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Op-Art, to name but a tiny few. Nearly all of these styles reflected the political and social trends of the period, such as World War I, the economic depression of the 1920s and 1930s, World War II, and its post-colonial aftermath. But despite recognizing the increasing fragmentation and lack of meaning within society during this period, "modern artists" (except Dada) still believed that works of art could provide the answer - art could do what other human institutions couldn't do - and provide the coherence and meaning which had been lost. During the 1960s, however, this optimism among artists began to fade, and it is this loss of optimism which marks the beginning of Postmodernism and the emergence of Contemporary Art.


Contemporary Era


     Post-modernists reject the idea that art can provide meaning. If life is meaningless, they say, fine - let's not pretend that art can do better. Let's just accept that it's nonsense, like everything else, and get on with it. This new Post-Modernist philosophy thus triggered a whole new set of priorities, which were greatly facilitated by the coincident arrival of new technologies, like television, video, and computers. Contemporary art movements focused on "how" art was created and disseminated, rather that "what" was produced. They emphasized ideas and concepts rather than precious objects and the skills needed to make them. In their attempt to popularize and broaden access to visual art, they introduced (or refined) a series of new art forms, such as Conceptualism, Performance, Happenings, Installation, Earthworks, and in the process took full advantage of new media like video, computers and digital technology. It's all a far cry from Claude Monet and his lifelong quest to capture the differing effects of sunlight.

20th Century Art

    20th-century art and what it became as — modern art — began with modernism in the late 19th century. Nineteenth-century movements of Post-Impressionism (Les Nabis), Art Nouveau and Symbolism led to the first twentieth-century art movements of Fauvism in France and Die Brücke ("The Bridge") in Germany.

    There is no precise definition of the term "Modern Art", although it usually refers to works produced during the approximate period 1870-1970. Typically, modern artists rejected previous Renaissance-based traditions, in favor of new forms of artistic experimentation. They used new materials, new techniques of painting, and developed new theories about how art should reflect the perceived world, and what their functions as artists should be. In addition, entirely new types of art were developed during the period.

    The century between 1860 and 1960 encompassed so many differing styles (from realistic portraiture to whimsical Dada and Pop-Art) that it is difficult to think of any unifying theme which defined the era. But if there is anything that separates Modern artists from both the earlier traditionalists and later postmodernists, it is their self-belief that art mattered: it had real value.

    Modernism didn't just stop, it faded gradually during the late 1960s - a period which coincided with the rise of mass pop-culture and also with the rise of anti-authoritarian challenges (in social and political areas as well as the arts) to the existing orthodoxies. As Modernism faded, a new general idiom emerged, usually referred to as Postmodernist art. In simple terms, Postmodernist schools advocate a new philosophy of art characterized by a greater focus on medium and style. They emphasize style over substance (eg. not 'what' but 'how'; not 'art for art's sake', but 'style for style's sake'), and place much greater importance on artist-communication with the audience. This new direction is closely intertwined with the spread of TV, video and the Internet, which now exerts a significant influence on the development of popular iconography.

    Although the 1960s is the basic cut-off point between "Modern" and "Contemporary" art, the world did not become post-modernist overnight. Some movements (eg. Pop-Art, Minimalism) included artists who were more forward-looking, and developed a more postmodernist or contemporary style. The same goes for new forms like Conceptual, Performance,Installation and Video Art, all of which can be classified as either "Modern" or "Contemporary". We happen to consider them under "Contemporary Art" because this is the era during which they were fully explored.

Reference: (N.d.). "Modern ArtDefinition, Characteristics, History, Movements." visual-arts-cork.com. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/modern-art.htm#collections

Modern Art

    Modern Art or Modernism is the loose term given to the succession of styles and movements in art and architecture which dominated Western culture from 19th Century up until the 1960's. Movements associated with Modern art include Impressionism, Cubism, Bauhaus, Surrealism, Futurism, Pop Art and Op Art.

    The birth of modernism and modern art can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, a period that lasted from the 18th to the 19th century, in which rapid changes in manufacturing, transportation, and technology profoundly affected the social, economic, and cultural conditions of life in Western Europe, North America, and eventually the world. New forms of transportation, including the railroad, the steam engine, and the subway changed the way people lived, worked, and traveled, both at home and abroad, expanding their worldview and access to new ideas. As urban centers prospered, workers flocked to cities for industrial jobs, and urban populations boomed.

    There is no precise definition of the term "Modern Art", although it usually refers to works produced during the approximate period 1870-1970. Typically, modern artists rejected previous Renaissance-based traditions, in favour of new forms of artistic experimentation. They used new materials, new techniques of painting, and developed new theories about how art should reflect the perceived world, and what their functions as artists should be. In addition, entirely new types of art were developed during the period.

    According to most art critics, Modernism in painting first started with the Frenchman Edouard Manet (1832-83) and the French Impressionists. However, we have decided to include the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as an early forerunner of modernism, for its rejection of traditional academic art forms of the 18th and early 19th century.

    The century between 1860 and 1960 encompassed so many differing styles (from realistic portraiture to whimsical Dada and Pop-Art) that it is difficult to think of any unifying theme which defined the era. But if there is anything that separates Modern artists from both the earlier traditionalists and later postmodernists, it is their self-belief that art mattered: it had real value.

    In comparison, their precedessors simply "assumed" that art had value. They didn't even think about it. After all they lived in an era governed by religious meaning. Thus they simply "followed the rules." Those who came after the Modern period (mid-60s onwards), the so-called "postmodernists", largely rejected the idea that art (or life) had any intrinsic value. This is not a defining characteristic of modern art: merely a difference between the periods.

Art Beyond the West

African Art

    African art is a term typically used for the art of Sub-Saharan Africa. Often, casual observers tend to generalize "traditional" African art, but the continent is full of people, societies and civilizations, each with a unique visual culture. 

• The creation of art for use by the people, not just for display. This use may be for everyday life such as pottery or for ceremonies such as a funeral. 
• Sculpture and other 3 dimensional arts was a preferred art form as opposed to paintings. 
• The creation of very colorful works of art. 
• Abstract art was favored. 
• The human image is a favorite subject. 

Oceanic Art

    Oceanic art or Oceanian art refers to the creative works made by the native peoples of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Easter Island. 

    The zone encompasses a continent (Australia), the second largest island in the world (New Guinea), several other large islands such as those of New Zealand - and a host of smaller islands littering the huge surface of the Pacific between New Guinea and South America. Not surprisingly, the native tribal art produced in such a vast area is very diverse in form, and for ethnic as well as geographical reasons. Its creators are the descendants of successive settlings by migrants from the west of mixed origins, some Mongoloid, some Melanotic or dark-skinned. Anthropologists and ethnologists usually identify three separate areas in Oceania - namely, Melanesia,Polynesia and Micronesia. There are frequent affinities with the art and culture of the tribes of South-East Asia. 

Different to Western Art

    Similar to indigenous African art including African sculpture, Oceanic artifacts were not made with any notion of their being "art" as the word is used in the West. Oceanic painting, sculpture and wood-carving were conceived as an integral part of the religious and social ceremony of everyday island life, and were aspects of the various prevalent forms of ancestor-worship and spirit-worship. The focus on fertility is recurrent and there are also more sinister signs of occasional headhunting and ritual cannibalism. 

Islamic Art

    Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations. It is thus a very difficult art to define because it covers many lands and various peoples over some 1400 years; it is not art specifically of a religion, or of a time, or of a place, or of a single medium like painting. The huge field of Islamic architecture is the subject of a separate article, leaving fields as varied as calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, and textiles, among others. 

Indian Art

    Indian Art consists of a variety of art forms, including plastic arts (e.g., pottery and sculpture), visual arts(e.g., cave paintings), and textile arts (e.g., woven silk). Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

Painting and Sculpture From India

    The cultural heritage of India is one of the richest and most ancient in the world, rivalled only by Chinese art. The art of sculpture, the most highly respected medium for artists, was widely practised throughout the subcontinent, and buildings were profusely adorned with it. The subject matter of Indian sculpture was almost invariably abstracted human forms that were portrayed to instruct people in the truths of the Hindu Buddhist or Jain religions. Painting in India typically concerned religious deities and kings and was influenced in style by Chinese painting as well as the art of Ancient Persia and other countries from middle and central Asia, as well as Greece. Painting in India encompasses Buddhist murals in the Ajanta caves and the Brihadisvara Temple, to the large frescoes of Ellora to the miniaturist tradition of Mughal, to the mixed-media embellished works from the Tanjore school. The paintings from Gandhar-Taxila are influenced by Persia to the west, while the eastern style of Indian painting - taking inspiration from Indian mythology, grew up around the Nalanda school of art. India culture is also a rich source of architecture and architectural styles, one of its more minor examples being the famous Taj Mahal. 

Chinese Art

    Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists. The Chinese art in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and that of overseas Chinese can also be considered part of Chinese art where it is based in or draws on Chinese heritage and Chinese culture. 

Symbolism in Chinese Visual Art

    Chinese art is full of symbolism, in that artists typically seek to depict some aspect of a totality of which they are intuitively aware. In addition, Chinese art is packed with specific symbols: bamboo represents a spirit which can be bent by circumstance but not broken; jade represents purity; a dragon often symbolizes the emperor; the crane, long life; a pair of ducks, fidelity in marriage. Plant symbols include: the orchid, another symbol of purity and loyalty; and the pine tree, which symbolizes endurance. Some art critics, however, prefer to describe Chinese art as essentially expressionist, rather than symbolic. 

Japanese Art

    Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting and calligraphy on silk and paper, ukiyo-e paintings and woodblock prints, kiri-e, kirigami, origami, and more recently manga—modern Japanese cartooning and comics—along with a myriad of other types of works ... 

    But traditional Japanese conceptions endured, particularly in the use of modular space in architecture, certain spacing intervals in music and dance, a propensity for certain color combinations and characteristic literary forms. Art from 1603 to 1945 (Edo period and Prewar period) were supported by merchants.

Baroque Art

Baroque Art

    In fine art, the term Baroque (portuguese 'barocco' meaning, 'irregular pearl or stone') describes a fairly complex idiom, originating in Rome, which flowered during 16th century, and which embraced painting, sculpture, and architecture. After the idealism of the Renaissance, and the slightly 'forced' nature of Mannerism, Baroque art above all reflected the religious tensions of the age - notably the desire of the Catholic Church in Rome (as annuciated at the Council of Trent) to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Thus it is almost synonymous with Catholic Counter-Reformation Art of the period.

Style/Types of Baroue Art

    In order to fulfill its propagandist role, Catholic-inspired Baroque art tended to be large-scale works of public art, such as monumental wall-paintings and huge frescoes for the ceilings and vaults of palaces and churches.

Baroque painting illustrated key elements of Catholic dogma, either directly in Biblical works or indirectly in mythological or allegorical compositions. Along with this monumental, high-minded approach, painters typically portrayed a strong sense of movement, using swirling spirals and upward diagonals, and strong sumptuous colour schemes, in order to dazzle and surprise. New techniques of tenebrism and chiaroscuro were developed to enhance atmosphere.

Baroque sculpture typically larger-than-life size, is marked by a similar sense of dynamic movement, along with an active use of space.

Baroque architecture was designed to create spectate and illusion. Thus the straight lines of the Renaissance were replaced with flowing curves, while domes/roofs were enlarged, and interiors carefully constructed to produce spectacular effects of light and shade. It was an emotional style, which, wherever possible, exploited the theatrical potential of the urban landscape - as illustrated by St. Peter's Square (1656-67) in Rome, leading up to St. Peter's Basilica. Its designer, Bernini, one of the greatest Baroque architectures, ringed the square with colonnades, to convey the impression to visitors that they are being embraced by the arms of the Catholic Church.