Joanna Mae Padilla ABM-LEVINE 10/25/17

Themes of Contemporary Art

Theme is an overall idea that carries through a work or a series of works. It can

also be the goal of the artist in producing the work. In other cases, themes emerge as

the artist pursues other ideas or ambitions. These are often supported by motifs which

mean repeated elements that can have both symbolic and structural value. There are

some most common themes used in contemporary art.

1. Cultural Connections. We can see people from different cultures and

communities into contact. These convergences brought about the exchange of

knowledge and ideas. In the visual arts, they have led to innovative forms and

the reinterpretation of traditional signs and symbols.

2. Dreams and Visions. Art is about ways of seeing. It can also allow us to see

with more than our eyes. Art has been used as a tool to inspire and guide

dreams and visions, both secular and spiritual.

3. History and Memory. The artists wrestle with complex topics. Art has been a

medium through which people have not only documented, but also shaped

history—both past and future.

4. Ceremony and Society. Through practices and their arts people across cultures

define identity, build communities, express beliefs, negotiate power, and attend

to the physical and spiritual well-being of both individuals and societies.

5. Cosmology and Belief. Art can be an instrument for not only recording spiritual

beliefs, but also for creating myths, defining the realms of the mortal and
 immortal, communing with ancestors, channelling forces of good, and repelling

those of evil.

6. Power. Power pervades daily life. Artists explore personal and cultural histories,

re-imagine social space, and challenge authority, oppression, and control.

7. Death. It is one of the few experiences common to all people and all societies.

Through art, people have expressed attitudes toward death that are in some

respects universal. Moreover, they have used a wide range of objects, images,

and structures to negotiate the processes of aging and dying, grieving, and

commemorating.

8. Domestic Life. Within the space of the home aesthetically and culturally

significant objects have fulfilled purposes both mundane and transcendent.

9. Writing. Images and words are symbols that both denote actual things, like

people, objects, and places, and connote more abstract ideas.

10. Portraits and Identity. Throughout history and across cultures, people have

shown a fascination with faces and in turn, with portrait representation. The

depiction of an individual’s likeness is about identification and a record of

interaction between an artist and a sitter.

11. The Natural World. From representations of animal and vegetable life to

landscapes and earthworks, art has been a means by which humans have

expressed their awe of communication with nature. Art is never a mere

transcription of reality.

12. The Urban Experience. The creative visions of planners, painters, architects,

and sculptors have shaped the development of cities around the world.
13. Conflict and Resistance. Visual art has played an important role in

documenting such conflict and resistance. It also has served as a means for

expressing personal views on politics, war, social inequities, and the human

condition.

14. The Body. Through art, the body becomes a site for defining individual identity,

constructing sex and gender ideals, negotiating power, and experimenting with

the nature of representation itself.

15. Place and Location. Place is important as a theme because it makes up a large

part of a person’s identity. Many contemporary artists use the theme of place in

response to their memory of places or specific scenes in their view.

16. Humor. This theme explores the ways in which contemporary artists use irony,

goofiness, satire, sarcasm, and the spirit of playfulness. The artists have been

influenced by the history of humor and comedy.

The human impulse to create art is universal. Contemporary art is driven by the

desire to communicate ideas and emotion through images. Form and technique may

change through time but the subject matter and themes make art relevant in shaping

reality and making sense of the human experience.