Overview of Contemporary Art Forms

Contemporary Art Forms

• Contemporary art encompasses works produced by living artists.
• It has evolved significantly throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
• This type of art includes various forms: music, literature, theatre, film, dance, architecture, and visual arts.

Defining Art

• Art can be defined as the expression of creativity and imagination using diverse techniques and mediums.
• Artists create art with a range of purposes.
• Artists are individuals who create art (in any form).

Modern vs. Contemporary Art

• Defining "modern" is complex; it encompasses the present moment and past epochs.
• Modern art values things appreciated by Western society (openness, vitality, and sensitivity).
• Contemporary art is the most recent form of modern art and builds upon modern art's principles using non-traditional materials and media.

Modern Art (1860-1970)

• Modern art lacks a precise definition.
• It doesn't have a single style.
• Generally associated with art produced between 1860 and 1970.
• Artists of this period often rejected traditional Renaissance styles in favor of innovation.
• They experimented with materials, subjects, techniques, and new theoretical approaches shaping art's role in modern society.

Contemporary Art (Post-1940)

• Contemporary art is defined as art made after 1940.
• It utilizes non-traditional materials and diverse media forms (installation, video, land art).
• Contemporary art pieces aren't always displayed in galleries.
• The idea behind a piece often holds equal, if not greater, importance than the physical artwork itself.

Seven Major Contemporary Art Forms

• Music: Art appealing to the sense of hearing through the harmony of combined notes.
• Literature: Art comprising language used to create meaning and experience through words.
• Theater: Performance art where dramatic text is depicted on stage by actors; supported by props, lighting, and sound to convey artistic expression.
• Film: Technological adaptation of theater, with special effects to heighten the storytelling experience.
• Dance: Art form focusing on the human body's movement (choreography) over time and space.
• Architecture, Designs and Allied Arts: Structures designed for shelter, wherein artistic expression is a product of the structure's design and purpose.
• Visual Arts: Artforms like painting, photography, and sculpture, appealing to the visual sense and typically existing in a permanent form.