Arts

What is contemporary art?

In its most basic sense, the term contemporary art ref ers to art - namely, painting, sculpture, photography, installation, perf ormance, and video art - produced today. Though seemingly simple, the details surrounding this def inition are of ten a bit f uzzy, as dif f erent individuals' interpretations of

“today” may widely and wildly vary. Theref ore, the exact starting point of the genre is still debated; however, many art historians consider the late 1960s (the end of modern art, or modernism) to be an adequate estimate. Contemporary art includes the following art movements: Follow the links to view work from each artist.

POP ART Intended as a reaction to preceding modern art movements, contemporary art is thought to have

begun on the heels of Pop Art. Pop Art was pioneered by artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and was def ined by an interest in portraying mass culture. It lasted roughly f rom the 1950s through the 1970s. And thanks to artists like Jeff Koons, it was reborn as Neo-Pop Art in the

1980s. PHOTOREALISM Much like artists working in the Pop Art style sought to artistically reproduce objects, those involved with Photorealism aimed to create hyperrealistic drawings and paintings. Photorealists of ten

worked f rom photographs, which enabled them to accurately reproduce portraits, landscapes, and other iconography. Chuck Close, Kehinde Wiley and Gerhard Richter of ten worked in this style. CONCEPTUALISM In turn, Pop Art also art helped shape Conceptualism, which f ought against the idea of art as a

commodity. Though this experimental movement is rooted in art of the early 21st century, it emerged as a f ormal movement in the 1960s and remains a major contemporary art movement today. In conceptual art, the idea behind a work of art takes precedence. Major conceptual artists include Damien Hirst, Ai Weiwei, and Jenny Holzer. MINIMALISM Like Conceptualism, Minimalism materialized in the 1960s and is still prevalent today. According to the Tate, both movements “challenged the existing structures f or making, disseminating and

viewing art.” What sets Minimalism apart, however, is that its simple, abstract aesthetic invite s viewers to respond to what they see—not what they think a given work of art represents. Agnes Martin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Dan Flavin are some key Minimalist artists. See Dan Flavin's installation here in Houston at the Menil.

Above are all the artist names that was talked about in the PACK and one of them can be

used as the artist if choice in the assignment.