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. Contemporary
artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and
technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination
of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that challenge
traditional boundaries and defy easy definition. Diverse and eclectic,
contemporary art as a whole is distinguished by the very lack of a
uniform, organizing principle, ideology, or ism. Contemporary art is
part of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger contextual
frameworks such as personal and cultural identity, family,
community, and nationality.
In vernacular English, "modern" and "contemporary" are synonyms,
resulting in some conflation of the terms "modern art" and
"contemporary art" by non-specialists.[

Philippine Contemporary Art

LEO BENESA

Modern or contemporary art, although a by-word for decades in

the Western world, is a phenomenon of the post-war period in the
Philippines. This is not meant to detract from the yeoman efforts of
Victorio Edades, Carlos Francisco and Galo Ocampo, who were
known as the Triumvirate in progressive art circles of the pre-war
period. The art of these three men was indeed contemporary in
intention and direction, but their role was more needed historical and
transitional rather than iconoclastic. A new group was needed
negotiate the actual aesthetic breakaway from the established canon
to the abstract, expressionist, symbolist and other modes of creative
expression characteristic of the art of the modern world.

For a while the Thirteen Moderns, a loose grouping which included

the three men, appeared to effect the desired seachange, but
somehow they did not have die necessary collective anima. This could
probably be attributed to the enervating traumas of World War II. The
iconoclastic role, instead, was assumed by a more dynamic group of
six artists whose names are closely associated with the early years of
the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG) in Ermita, Manila: Romeo Tabuena,
Hernando Ocampo, Vicente Manansala, Victor Oteyza, Ramon Estella
and Cesar Legaspi.

Three of the Neo-Realists, as critic Aguilar Cruz called them, namely,

Oteyza, Estella and Ocampo, were self-taught artists. But they were
no mere Sunday painters. Ocampos paintings, in particular, showed
an almost scientific preoccupation with color and design that
nevertheless seemed to spring from a feeling for organic form. A
synthesis work entitled Ancestors was shown at one of the annual
exhibitions of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), a national
organization of artists and art lovers which was founded in 1947-48.

In addition to Hernando Ocampo and his group, the PAG in its early
years also started to attract other painters like Anita Magsaysay Ho,
Nena Saguil, Mario and Helen Roces, and Manuel Rodriguez.
Rodriguez subsequently moved away to found his own Contemporary
Artist Gallery and workshop. Although diverse in style and
temperament, the Neo-Realists and their companions shared a
common dissatisfaction with what they considered as the static art of
the Establishment, as exemplified by the painters belonging to the
rural-pastoral school of Fernando Amorsolo.

Modern art is a term that signifies the philosophy and style of the
artworks produced during the 1890-1960 era.
The main objective of Modern art was to set aside the traditions of
the past and put more emphasis on experimentation with new
perspective of seeing the world. People often get confused with the
word modern, as a term to describe something new and
fashionable, but rather it refers to the artworks produced during the
time period mentioned above
The Modernism movement introduced many fresh concepts in the
world of art. All of a sudden many artists started exploring dreams,
symbolism and personal iconography as their signature. Modern
artists also experimented with the expressive use of color, non-
traditional materials and mediums.
This is indeed a disruption during early 20th century
Now, A Burial at Ornans by Gustav Courbet, was a revolutionary
painting, which opened the doors for the concept Modernism.
This story is very important to understand the concept of "Modern
Art".
Lastly, Contemporary art is the art produced by living artists,
who produce the most up-to-date artworks. By definition,
Contemporary Art refers to work of arts made since the aftermath of
World War II and is used to describe the works of artists still living
and creating art works.
It made art as a whole to reflect the current issues that hound our
world today, such as racism, globalization, third-world country
oppression, feminism among many others. Over the last 30 years,
we have seen a growing list of artworks that brings awareness
towards the most perplexing and important matters. Guided by the
emerging mediums such as art salons, video art, object design,
graphical arts and social media, Contemporary Art has broken down
walls and looks headed to a limitless future
Contemporary Artist in Paintings
Sol LeWitt
Period: Contemporary art
Created: 1996
Medium: Paint

Richard Diebenkorn
Created: 19631963
Media: Canvas, Paint, Oil paint
Periods: Contemporary art, Expressionism

Contemporary Artist in sculpture

Louise Bourgeois
American-French artist

Dan Flavin
American artist

Contemporary Artist in
Architecture

Zaha Hadid
British-Iraqi architect

Oscar Niemeyer
Brazilian architect