Duchamp, Wassily Kandinsky, Andy

Contemporar Warhol, Henry Moore, and Henri Matisse

were identified with contemporary art
because their styles and ways of art-
y Philippine making are very different from the
traditional ways.

Arts from the

Regions 12 Filipino Pioneers of Contemporary Art
Victorio Edades
Week 1-2
Firm up Victorio Edades
Art has gone along way. Art today is so Style: Usage of bold strokes and bright
different from the traditional art where colors
Contemporary Art or “the art of today”
artists perfected their art by practicing is made from a variety of media and
“mimesis” or copying the model exactly materials to convey an artist’s interests
as it is. The new style of art that emerged or expression of self. It usually reflects
after World War II is called his or her culture, political views as
Contemporary Art. Contemporary artist well as the current popular trends.
did not feel obliged to apply perspective,
color combination, naturalism, and other
guidelines that were carefully observed in
traditional art. They deliberately broke the Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Galo
rules of traditional art. Ocampo
Style: Abstraction, expressionism,
Since the 1950’s, artists have surrealism
experimented on a variety of techniques
and different ways of expressing their
emotions, convictions, ideas, ideology,
and other things that could be expressed
through art. If you check the art timeline,
you will realize that from the 1950’s to
2000’s, there are more than 100 art styles
and movements. Some of the more
famous ones are abstract expressionism,
kinetic art, op art, performance art,
environmental art, feminist art, post Hernando Ocampo
minimalism, video art, graffiti art, Style: Usage of geometric forms in strong
postmodern art, body art, and digital art. color
Art like Jackson Pollock, Marcel

Vicente Manansala
Style: Human forms in abstract cubism
Cesar Legaspi
Style: Transparent cubism with flowing
lines
Look for their artworks on the internet.
Observe how their paintings are different
from the artworks of the traditional
Filipino artists like Fernando Amorsolo
and Juan Luna, among others.
Fernando Amorsolo
Juan Luna
Today hundreds of contemporary artists
are found in the 18 regions of the
Philippines. Their art can be group as
visual and performing arts.
Characteristics of
Contemporary Art
1. Contemporary art is not confined to
museum but can also be found in
galleries, art school, side streets, and
public places
2. Selling of contemporary artworks
becomes more accessible since artists post
their works online, but some only intend
to display their works on a particular
setting and for a given span of time.
3. Many contemporary artists are self-
taught and did not have formal education.
They are more flexible in using different
kinds of materials.
4. Some contemporary artist employ the
help of fabricators, carpenters,
electricians, or welders in “constructing”
their works.
5. Originality is not an issue in
contemporary art. An artist can get
another artist’s work and add to it,
redesign, or interpret it using other
materials.
6. What is essential to contemporary
artists is the process of art-making. It is
the experience.
Given these characteristics, it can be said
that contemporary art is a statement that
an artist makes about conditions,
thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and many other
things that define human life through the
use of various mediums and materials.