DEFINING

CONTEMPORARY ART
PREPARED BY:
MIGUEL C. CIERVA JR., ABPHILO, STB, LPT, MAELM
 OBJECTIVE

At the end of
the lesson, the
students will be able
to discuss the nature
of contemporary art
 Introduction
• Contemporary Art has been viewed as an
“anything and everything goes” period in the
general discussion of art by people outside the art
world.
• In the Philippines, contemporary art has been
discussed on a deeper level only within the circles
of art practitioners and critics, while the public
only gets to talk about art on the level of “is it
pretty?” or what do you feel when viewing the art
pieces?” or what is the piece saying to you?”
 Discussion
• ART is everywhere – from the simplest designed
objects we use, to the spaces and structures we
inhabit/ live.
 Discussion
• Art enriches our lives with meanings that we often
overlook.
 Discussion
• Art responds to our human desire to experience
beauty and explore the unknown. We shape art. Art
shapes our being. Art makes us human.
 Discussion
• Several modern developments
have brought greater focus on
contemporary art in our
present time. The most
significant of these is the
rejection of traditional canons,
or the rules, standards, or
principles which define what is
valid and fundamental in art.
 Discussion

• These canons are

primarily comes from
the Western perspective
and applying these to
Philippine cultural
expressions, one is
confronted with the
reality that certain
artworks do not merit
recognitions as
masterpieces.
 Discussion
• But let us considered our
own Philippine art,
particularly those from the
non-urban regions of our
country, using the lens of
these canons. Why is a
potter from Tiwi is not
considered an artist? Why
is reading a comics or
watching telenovelas
looked down upon as low
from of entertainment?
 Discussion
• These questions
highlights the power
of the canons to give
value to art,
suggesting a kind of
belief system held by
the elite. At this
present, some
institutions of art and
artists have rejected
these canons.
 Discussion
• With these developments highlights the open and
encompassing character of today’s art. Art must be
pluralistic – all artistic expressions must be given
equal importance regardless of whether they are
produced in an urban or regional context.
 Discussion
• The art of today, or what is regarded as
“contemporary art” is therefore democratic,
encompassing and new.
 Discussion
What is contemporary art?
• Contemporary art generally refers to being created
now. Contemporary is derived from the Latin prefix
“con” which means “together” or “with”, plus
“tempus” which means time.
 Discussion

• It is difficult to
make a formal
definition of
contemporary
art since
critics, curators
, and historians
define it in
varying ways.
Discussion
Discussion
 Discussion

What is certain that contemporary art is

constantly changing and continuously
reinventing itself. Experimentation with
new media and novel methodology of
creation is an obsession of contemporary
art to remain current.
 Discussion

Contemporary are
feeds on new
technologies,
which often
different and new
ways of
conceptualizing,
producing, and
displaying art.
 Discussion

The expression, “contemporary art”

has gained much currency in recent
decades. Since the 1990s, there are
two min applications of this term in
the discourse of art.
 Discussion

The Chronological view defines contemporary art as art

related to this current period in art history, and refers to
art that is new, recent, modern, or pertains to the present
moment. This usage defines contemporary art as “art
produced in our era or lifetime”.
 Discussion
• The historical usage regards contemporary art as a
specific episode or stage in the story of the evolution
of art, referring to a specific location in space and
time
 Discussion

• Contemporary art is often considered to be

synonymous to “postmodern art”.
Postmodernism is more of an attitude and
style preventing during the contemporary
period and is considered a form of
contemporary art.
 Discussion
Art produced after 1945

The key turning point

was in Euro-American
history, when after
WWII there was a shift
of political, cultural, and
economic power from
Europe to the US which
marked the end of
European colonialism.
 Discussion
Art produced since the 1960s
This is the most commonly
used by the art critics due
to the emergence at this
time of a new generation of
artists who were
overturning the modernist
practice. Some art
historians extended the
threshold as far as the
1980s or 1990s.
 Discussion

Listening session…
What is the legacy of modern art in
our present context ?
 Discussion
Contemporary art in the Philippines
Contemporary art emerge in the Philippines
in reaction to social and cultural realities during
the 1970s. This era was the period of repression/
suppression and censorship of artistic expression.
F. Marcus sought to justify his one – man
rule by anchoring his vision of cultural and artistic
renewal to the images of the pre-colonial Phil.
society. To do this, Marcus controlled print media,
radio, television, schools and arts through
presidential decrees.
 Discussion

• Philippine arts at this point was defined by a

system. This system oriented many young artists to
Western artistic traditions, to the detriment/ loss of
local artists. Art became a means to oppose the
regime and the political social realism.
• Social realism is an art movement which sought to
expose the real condition of the Philippine society
and used art to transform it. Thus, progressive art
as a whole developed a culture that would convey
authentic aspirations of the Filipino people.
Discussion
 Discussion

Contemporary Art as a Breaking of Norms

• Contemporary art can be seen as a
transgression of established norm and roles,
in other words, it does not fall prey to the
authority of established institutions nor
strictly adhere to a long – standing tradition
and history.
Classical Art vs
Contemporary
Art
 Discussion

• Contemporary art is ruled by cult of new,

endeavoring to create works of art that are
“radical” and “interdisciplinary.” So,
contemporary art sets itself apart from the
past and of the late. To be new is to be
modern; the new is progressive.
 Discussion

• Works of contemporary artists provide not

only new art and ideas but also new strategies
and tactics for producing art and engaging
artistic processes. Artists utilize their
accumulated experiences and their interest in
a myriad or numberless of issues in the
society, drawing inspirations and themes from
an expanding range of practices and
disciplines.
Discussion
 Discussion
• This example illustrate the ability of
contemporary art to harness he power of
human curiosity. This contemporary art
embraces themes and subjects that
employ a process of inquiry, and
statements of political, ethical, racial
economic, gender-based, and sexual
nature through image making.
 Discussion
• The work contemporary art is not only celebrates
in the manipulation of the medium, but also
focuses on how the work is infused with meaning
by engaging viewers with timely social issues.
• Appropriation is an important preoccupation in
the world of contemporary art. It is the practice of
creating a new work by talking a pre-existing image
or work from another context – art history, media,
advertising – and combining the barrowed image
with new ones.
 Discussion

• Contemporary artist generate forms or anti-forms or

even non-forms that challenge conventional ideas
and norms of what art ought to do or is capable of
doing.
 Discussion
• Contemporary art also engages artifacts of
the past, revives ancient techniques or
materials, and invests in outmoded images,
ideas and methods. That is to say,
contemporary art may be of the present but
can newly mobilize the past.
• Contemporary can revisit the past and
resonate it in works that trigger questions
addressed to the present as well as the
future.
 Discussion

Contemporary Art as a Critique of Society

 Discussion
Group activity 1
• Identify a creative work in your
municipality or other provinces which
can be considered an example of
contemporary art.
• How this or their arts relevant in their
life?
• Do you see your self as an artist?
 GENERALIZATION

• Choose only one of the works of art discussed.

Why this work part of the contemporary art?