Contemporary art, an exploration at the heart of life!
If you ask a person in the street what contemporary art is, they will be hard-pressed to give you a precise definition. She will certainly end up telling you that contemporary art is current art, recognized by the most prominent critics and collectors.
The impact of the official vision, carried by most of the media, promotes a stereotypical vision of art. The words of art specialists and institutional decision-makers favor a dominant class of artists.
The death of art has been proclaimed on several occasions, and modern art has been opposed to contemporary art.
Would contemporary art consist of artistic proposals in place of more traditional works?
But art itself is not easily divided into slices. It remains a precious asset that helps us live.
How to define contemporary art?
Art historians define contemporary art as the movements that have appeared since 1945 and up to the present day. It succeeded modern art from 1850 to the end of World War II.
Some critics claim that contemporary art only began in the 1960s with the conceptual upheaval, launched years earlier by Marcel Duchamp.
In fact, the concept of contemporary art appeared at the end of the 19th century, at a time when many people began to question the so-called eternal virtues of art.
Gradually, artists are turning away from the mythical past. They are interested in the lives of ordinary people, here and now.
The taste of the elites is gradually moving away from major historical and religious motifs, to favor a human dimension.
But it is not enough to tell a story, the way of painting matters just as much. The brushstroke reveals the style.
Modernity has given rise to numerous artistic movements.
Thus, the cubism of Pablo Picasso would not have existed without cinema, futurism without newspapers, magazines and posters.
A vision of contemporary art
Contemporary art is an art of living
Contemporary art, broadly defined as the art of today, dates from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is characterized by its global nature, the diversity of cultures it explores and the influence of technology, particularly with the advent of the digital age.
It is increasingly present in home interiors. It supports our leisure society. And, far beyond, we discover its benefits.
From art therapy to self-knowledge through personal development, artistic practice and proximity to contemporary artists help to open us up to the world. By acting positively on our psychological and physiological state, art contributes to a true art of living . Because living surrounded by works of art and artists immerses us in the world of creation, brings us undeniable well-being and puts us back in tune with the great mystery of creation.
Art4You Gallery wants to be part of this positive movement through its selection of high quality works. The creative force and imagination of a contemporary artist are indeed part of our selection criteria. Close to art lovers and collectors, the gallery is rich in original contemporary works that never cease to move us.
Art at the origin of the world?
We share an original language that comes from the depths of the ages. Intuitively, everyone can experience an indescribable emotion perceived in front of a painting. This feeling responds to codes that emerge from a primitive collective unconscious.
Art is presented in the present and is constantly renewed. It is a primordial element of life. What we define as art is not the imitation of nature, but a permanent necessity to justify our existence in our universe.
Art and creation are undoubtedly part of the heritage of the living world.
The online art gallery and contemporary art
Artistic movements follow the evolution of societies and through all the mechanisms of diffusion. Art dealers appeared during the Renaissance. It was only before the war that they became “galleries” in Europe.
Quickly, art galleries became essential structures for the promotion of art in general and particularly for contemporary art. They build and break the careers of artists. They have become essential in the value chain of works of art with the pre-eminence of digital marketing and the development of networks and the Internet.
The online art gallery is disrupting the market. By allowing artists to be visible around the world, and art lovers to be able to choose works quietly from their computer or mobile phone, art sales websites also have a role to play in popularizing art. 'contemporary art.
Art4You Gallery is an online gallery that has chosen to place the contemporary artist at the heart of its ecosystem. The objective is twofold:
- Give a chance to new artists who deserve to be known by a wider audience.
- Popularize access to contemporary art for a new audience of amateurs and collectors, by offering a selection of artists engaged in a real artistic and spiritual approach. This objective must respond to a trend of searching for values in societies in the midst of upheaval.
Living from your art: the profession of contemporary artist
Contemporary artists are no longer in the spirit of “cursed artists” of the Romantic movement. Today, the artist is keen to make a living from his art. This legitimate demand often crashes against the wall of economic realities.
Each artist becomes a small entrepreneur who must bring his creations to life and market them. The gap between international stars, like Jeff Koons or David Hockney , and most artists is immense. However, contemporary art is also built with anonymous people who increasingly intervene in the art market.
In the section living from his art , we will see that the contemporary artist must learn to:
- Create a strong identity,
- Identify your target audience,
- Communicate using various media,
- Managing your artistic career
- Managing your business
- Keep up to date with your legal and tax rights and obligations.
Deepen your artistic culture
In this world of frenetic communication, we are overwhelmed by a lot of information. Paradoxically, the influx of stimulation leaves us in a quandary when it comes to getting to know an artist better. Artistic culture is not only acquired on networks, but also in exhibitions and through abundant literature on the subject. This is the only guarantee of true cultural quality.
The death of art
The end of art has been announced on several occasions. The first time with Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), at the beginning of the 19th century, with the new concept of freedom in the modern State.
« For us, art no longer counts as the highest form through which truth expresses an existence for its own sake. » (…) We can hope that art will go ever higher and reach higher degrees of perfection, but the form of art has ceased to be the highest expression of the spirit. »
Art was declared dead a second time with this famous Society of Independent Artists of New York ( SIA ) exhibition on April 9, 1917.
The American Society allowed members to exhibit a work for six dollars.
Marcel Duchamp decides to use the pseudonym “ R. Mutt ” to present a porcelain urinal as a sculpture. He pretends to be an unknown artist. The daily object of life, placed in such a way, makes its use value disappear for a new artistic perspective which questions the existence of art.
With Dadaism, nihilism entered the artistic space as a fundamental questioning of faith in art. This radical questioning, initiated by the appearance of Marcel Duchamp 's readymade , can be understood as the birth of contemporary art, because it becomes a new state of consciousness through which a work is perceived. It can be defined as conceptualism.
Marcel Duchamp opened a space of thought to understand contemporary art today.
Its teaching lies in a double revelation: the artist's ability to call anything contemporary art, and the power of context to establish meaning.
It is a frankly intellectual conception of art.
Contemporary art versus modern art.
Contemporary art collections have developed on the experiments of modern art, crystallizing the crises of society. This is the historical consequence of postmodernism's attack on modern art.
From Mark Rothko Four Darks in Red in 1958 to Alan Kaprow considered from 1962 as one of the fathers of the Happening, there is a world of difference.
On the one hand, there is the contemporary perception of the work by the viewer, and on the other a context which places the art in a societal discourse.
Contemporary art becomes museum art for institutions. He enters the art market.
The paradigm shift did not happen all at once. It has been a slow but steady movement toward the contemporary art space as we know it today, and it has not been without friction.
Postmodern art has been adopted by politics as an elitist niche, propelled by powerful financial investments. It draws its strength from a fundamentally nihilistic view of the world, which ultimately leads to the dissolution of the Western artistic world.
He is nihilistic because he questions all the conventions of aesthetics to cling only to the message which becomes a pretext for mediocrity.
It was a questioning of the definition of beauty for the benefit of the sole message of the work. Particularly for pop culture, which created Pop'art behind the scenes of consumer society, by diverting objects and advertising images.
Historical art from before the avant-garde revolution is still present in museums and collections, but with a different sense of tradition and a clear demarcation between genres.
Art or artistic proposition?
If context creates contemporary art, then everything can be art and aesthetic quality would have nothing to do with it.
However, in this conception, we forget the amateur's gaze or quite simply the pleasure of the spectator.
The artistic proposal, whether in painting, sculpture or photography, uses art as a medium and not as a goal.
Without calling into question its interest, it should make a split with aesthetic movements which are part of an artistic continuity.
Would the time for simple contemplation of beauty be called into question?
Appearances point in this direction, because on closer inspection, the arts are clearly becoming intellectualized. They become a materialist issue, on the one hand, through excessive consumerism, and, on the other hand, as justifying political ideas, even ideologies.
The discourse around the works becomes the essential. And, regardless of the quality, I would even say that mediocrity is easily put at the service of concepts. What gives value is no longer aesthetic evidence, but belonging to a model disconnected from our senses by a self-proclaimed elite. What is beautiful and which touches us would be vulgar.
According to the high priests of the movement, to appreciate this contemporary art, one must know its codes, which are obviously only distilled by an intellectual elite.
The writer Witold Gombrowicz spoke in an interview with Jean Dubuffet in these terms: “Our admiration for painting is the consequence of a long process of adaptation which took place over centuries, and for reasons which very often have nothing to do with art or spirit. » Painting has created its receiver. It's basically a conventional relationship. »
Witold Grombrowicz did not think he was saying that well. The largest contemporary art fairs have become receptacles for “anything goes” where a minority of very wealthy collectors dictate trends for private investors, but also for public authorities. Money imposes models while a multitude of artists are relegated to the margins of fashionable art.
Franz Kafka was right in making a scathing diagnosis of our society in the novels “ The Trial and The Castle ”. “We live in a constant illusion where the authentic and natural are replaced by copies that only serve a few interests. »
Let us remain lucid, art must not be diverted by a utilitarian . Let us not confuse the political function of art in our societies and its individual impact. A work of art is above all a human creation which confronts the common sense of aesthetics. It constantly acts as a catalyst for good and beauty.
Knowledge of technique is certainly important, but it should not replace the artist's intuition. The purpose of a work is self-defined and its power operates only in the mind of the beholder. It is happy to see that the major exhibition that is the Venice Biennale is moving away a little from conceptual art to return to fundamentals.
Large cultural centers like the Georges Pompidou Museum in France in Paris and the MAC in Lyon do the same.
The different contemporary art movements
Conceptual Art
It can be defined as an avant-garde movement that spread around the world in the 1960s and 1970s.
Contemporary art, as a whole, can be considered conceptual art because it challenges conventional values such as the beauty of the work and technique.
A tree, a picture of a tree and the dictionary definition of a tree represent the concept of a chair that can be used in art.
The installations
It was in the 1970s that this movement began. This consists of placing works to transform the space of a place.
Unlike paintings and sculptures, where spectators look at each work, it is the entire space that becomes a work.
There is a wide variety of techniques that use video, sound, computers, sensors, even artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
Relational art
French art critic Nicolas Briaud outlined his concept of relational art in his 1998 book “Relational Aesthetics.”
It refers to art that includes the public through collaborative work.
Media art
It is an artistic expression that uses technologies like heat sound sensors, etc. The sensors create or distort the work live.
Performance art
Here, the human body is the medium.
The Happening and Fluxus events proposed by Alan Kaprow in the 1960s are said to be the pioneers of performance art.
Performances take place in various locations such as streets, galleries and museums.
The approach is intended to be anti-institutional by refusing to allow the work to be captured. It is intended to be ephemeral.
Art in situ
That is to say in relation to a specific place. The work is constituted by the artistically worked environment. For example, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, who packed the Pont-Neuf in Paris.
NFT art
It uses Blockchain technology. NFT art is produced by converting digital content into a non-fungible token (NFT).
The characteristic of NFTs is that ownership can be proven with blockchain crypto assets.
By turning a work of art into an NFT, it gains legitimate proof of ownership, with a traceable history.
The NFT market is expected to grow in the future.
Critics and art historians divide time and artistic trends. They categorize systematically. Considering the terms modern art, art nouveau and contemporary art, the question arises as to how the new artistic practices will be defined.
Nothing in this world is static. Everything is moving and art seems more than ever agitated by frenetic impulses. In all areas, art appears and tries to shake up minds.
Contemporary art is at the center of sometimes violent controversies. Between adoration and detestation, some praise it to the skies, considering that the artistic avant-garde, through its intellectual deconstruction, is the only way to understand the impasse towards which the world is heading.
The decadence and refusal of aesthetic norms, which have accompanied art until now, must lead us towards a new consciousness. The artist denounces, and insidiously, dictates to us the behaviors that we should adopt or reject.
But shouldn't we see, behind these organized provocations, an old nihilistic and contemptuous reflex whose effect is to define and protect a caste of art intellectuals?
For this elite, the only goal would be to preserve the enormous advantages of the financialization of a certain contemporary art. Some even talk about the monetization of art, like the artist Aude de Kerros .
More and more voices are being raised to denounce this deception. The reality of current art cannot be understood through a stereotype based on money and buzz.
A multitude of sincere and highly talented artists work in the shadow of these media “hits”.
They produce a wide diversity of works which move away from the traditional conception of art, or refer to a historical continuity of artistic movements.
To summarize, the term “contemporary art” fails to define a precise artistic movement. It designates art produced in the present with the influences that cross living artists in each era. If the term is so often overused, it is because it is used for other intentions.
Pierre Desenfant – Art4You
- Art4You
- 142 rue de Rivoli 75001 PARIS
- France
Are you an artist? Click the button below to learn more.
Join the Art4You club
To stay informed of our news and benefit from privileges and discounts, subscribe to our newsletter. And don’t worry, we hate SPAM too!