Contemporary art and modern art are two terms often interchanged with each other. It is important to know that although they are completely separate movements in themselves, to some extent, contemporary art can be considered a continuation of modern art. Whilst modern and postmodern art took place from the mid 1800’s to the 1960’s, contemporary art followed swiftly after with pop art appearing around the 1970’s. the lack of overlap and vast difference in ideology separates the them as two of the most important movements within art today.
Modern art, known for the works of Van Gogh, the impressionists and Kandinski, showed art embrace itself and push the boundaries of painting and mark-making. This can be seen in the thick brushes of paint in Van Gogh’s famous ‘starry night, as he transformed the dark night sky into a dream-like swirl of light and colour. Kandinsky similarly dempstrated bright, childlike use of colour and line in his famous ‘Cossacks’. Pieces like this caused chaos and meant artists were heavily criticised and struggled in their time. Contemporary art faces a similar reaction as it further pushes the boundaries of art today, focusing on process rather than final product, as well as the incorporation of todays technology, it has formed art such as installation, digital and conceptualism. All which ask the question of what really is art? Both movements share criticism and struggle to bring attention to their work, but differ in their means of working and drive for a final work of art.
Firstly, Modern art came first, beginning around mid 19th century and lasting till the 1940’s, it was derived as a rebellion against traditional means of art, that was influenced by the ever-changing, society of the industrial revolution. Modern art questioned itself and pushed the boundaries of art. N o longer did artists have to painting a realistic portrait. Impressionism pioneered modern art, with their creative use of brush strokes and mark-making that created an expressive representation of the subject, rather than an exact replica. An example of this is the famous Vincent Van Gogh. A struggling artist who’s work meant very little at the time. He painted as an outlet and used bright colours and mark-making to create the dream like paintings we admire today. Much like contemporary art he was criticised like many of the modernists but it was his unusual style of painting that gained popularity in the art world. As such artist such as Monet with his painting ‘sunset’ as well as degas and many other artists pushed this idea creating some of the most famous works of colour today.
Furthermore, Postmodern art overlapped with the modernist movement, displaying a widening popularity as more and more artists were painting in bright colours and no longer subdued by painting reality; they were free to distort and change what was in front of them on canvas. With this, cubism raised from artists Picasso and Braque, who simplified shapes in flattened tones in a child like manner. A perfect example of this is Picasso’s ‘weeping woman’. The intense reds and clean blocks of white paired with thick black outlines make the painting look as if a child had done it. Using block colour and simplifying the woman’s face into bold shapes makes the portrait seem distorted. This appearance created insults to his work, as it was not a realistic representation many didn’t understand it as art. This can be demonstrated through the famous quote;
‘It took me four years to paint like Raphael but a lifetime to draw like a child.’ (Pablo Picasso)
This philosophy became highly recognised and this late postmodern ideology and abstraction became the leading forefront of the contemporary era decades in the future.
Following this thought; as modernism develops representation gets less and less important. This sets up the ideology for contemporary art which works around the development process of idea within art, rather that the final product. Contemporary art can be very hard to understand, as there is little representation, the required effort to enjoy it is often lost with the public; without knowledge of the artist and the process, most contemporary art is completely under-appreciated and looked over after the first disapproving glance.
Andy Warhol gives example of this as one of the first contemporary artists to surface. Amougst other things, a pioneer of pop art. He displayed repetitive prints of common, and apparent meaningless objects, an example being the visual display of Campbell’s soup canvases; 32 prints of different Campbell’s soup cans which were displayed causing general confusion to the public. Many became upset, the exhibition setting up these plain, unpainterly prints in a row as if they were being sold at the supermarket, demeaning the name of art and the person who views it – disclaiming that its as menial as running your daily errands. Although this was one of the strong public opinions of this time its not to say this was Warhol’s intention. All that we know is he was told by an acquaintance to ‘paint something everyone will recognise’, and it was something that simple that begun pop art and indefinitely was one of the first major art works in contemporary art.
Continuing on from pop art, which was in full swing in the 70’s, it is important to emphasise contemporary art as the art of today, therefore some more recent, and therefore lesser known works of art are very important examples of the development of work in the present century. They are in complete contrast and should not be mistaken for modern art. For instance, Yayoi Kusama, a contemporary installation artist turns her exhibition space into immense atmospheres using light and sculpture. This can be seen in her beautiful exhibition view of ‘Gleaming Lights of the souls’ (2008). This piece was built in the Louisiana museum of modern art. Using this type of space and material was unheard of within modern art and singles out installation as well as the other contemporary movement into an era of their own.
One of the most controversial forms of art that have appeared in the last decade is street art. This contemporary work brings art into real life, into the street and on buildings widening the viewing audience as well as capturing and spreading the art on social media. Motivated by societal issues, this form of art often gets tagged as graffiti and linked to criminals. Due to this reputation, a sense of rebellion follows street art, pushing artists to break the rules, and in turn exposing the general public to some beautiful, and often thought provoking work. It normally consists of murals, stencils, stickers and installations, many artists both illegal and legal use of buildings walls public property and pavements. Street art like the rest of the movement is less about the art itself and more about the process – the message. The likes of Banksy and Shepard Fairey have become very well know for this. Banksy especially, with titles such as balloon girl and bomb hugger, his simple yet thought provoking stencil prints and internationally renowned due to the powerful political messages they raise. The idea of street art being confused with vandalism labels art as a crime, and again, forces society to ask the same question since the end of the 19th century – what is art?
In conclusion, to some extent the contemporary art movement is a continuation of the modern art movement. On one hand, the modernist era quickly developed into the contemporary art movement, following with it the misunderstanding and criticism that artists of the 20th century struggled a great deal with. Not only this, it also continued the innovating creativity that developed profoundly into the contemporary art movement. On the other hand, the each movement has a clear line drawn between them using different materials, space and technology. Despite they clear separation between each era of art, contemporary art relied on the basis of modern art to fuel the creativity that it explores today.