Contemporary art is often described as ‘challenging’ or ‘interesting’ and viewers of works in this style will often be using different criteria to judge them, as opposed to when viewing more traditional work. As contemporary artists have a freedom to express themselves and use their work as social commentary in ways that artists of previous times were not able to, it is often the case that those who appreciate more ‘difficult’ contemporary work will remain relatively open minded when viewing a piece, and ask themselves how they feel about the idea that the artist is presenting, rather than whether they necessarily find the work aesthetically pleasing.
Contemporary art can be seen to cover a vast array of subject areas and stylistic content and is possibly one of the hardest genres of Western art to ‘pin down’ or ‘pigeonhole’. What can be said with certainty is that it is the genre that will continue to allow artists to break boundaries and barriers, and whilst it may sometimes struggle to receive mass acceptance in the general populace, without it we would be without the innovation that leads us to the new.
Current and/or notable practitioners of contemporary work would include; Damien Hurst, Jeff Koons, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucian Freud, Keith Haring, Marc Quinn, Elizabeth Peyton, Martin Creed, Robert Morris and Jeff Wall.
Some of our artists working in an Contemporary style would include; Samantha Ellis, Doug Hyde, Leigh Lambert, Mr Kuu, Duncan MacGregor, Paul Oz, Rayford, Scott Rohlfs, Jack Vettriano, Gary Walton and Todd White.
