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 About Contemporary Art

Note: Words in bold below are defined in the glossary for this curriculum (see"For the Classroom" links).

Strictly speaking, the term "contemporary  art" refers to art made andproduced by artists living today. Today's artists work in and respond to aglobal environment that is culturally diverse, technologically advancing, andmultifaceted. Working in a wide range of mediums, contemporary artistsoften reflect and comment on modern-day society. When engaging withcontemporary art, viewers are challenged to set aside questions such as, "Isa work of art good?" or "Is the work aesthetically pleasing?" Instead, viewersconsider whether art is "challenging" or "interesting." Contemporary artistsmay question traditional ideas of how art is defined, what constitutes art, andhow art is made, while creating a dialogue with—and in some cases rejecting—the styles and movements that came before them.

Since the early 20th century, some artists have turned away from realisticrepresentation and the depiction of the human figure, and have movedincreasingly towards abstraction. In New York City after World War II, the artworld coined the term "abstract expressionism" to characterize an artmovement that was neither completely abstract, nor expressionistic.Nevertheless, the movement challenged artists to place more emphasis onthe process of making art rather than the final product. Artists like JacksonPollock brought art-making to choreographic heights by dripping paint ingrand yet spontaneous gestures. As one critic noted, the canvas was anarena in which to act—"what was going on in the canvas was not a picture

but an event." This notion of art as an event emerged out of the movementcalled abstract expressionism, which greatly influenced the art movementsthat followed, and continues to inspire artists living today.

Contemporary artists working within the postmodern  movement reject theconcept of mainstream art and embrace the notion of "artistic pluralism," theacceptance of a variety of artistic intentions and styles. Whether influencedby or grounded in performance art, pop art, Minimalism, conceptualart, or video, contemporary artists pull from an infinite variety of materials,sources, and styles to create art. For this reason, it is difficult to brieflysummarize and accurately reflect the complexity of concepts and materials

used by contemporary artists. This overview highlights a few of thecontemporary artists whose work is on view at the Getty Museum and theconcepts they explore in their work.

Appropriation

Contemporary artists, like many artists thatpreceded them, may acknowledge and findinspiration in art works from previous timeperiods in both subject matter and formalelements. Sometimes this inspiration takes the

The J. Paul Getty Museum

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Specimen (After Dürer), John

Baldessari, 2000

© 2000 John Baldessari

This work was commissioned

for Departures: 11 Artists at 

the Getty , February 29–May 7,

2000, by the J. Paul GettyMuseum, Los Angeles

Visitors interact with Nicole

Cohen's installation at the

Getty Center.

Learn more about Please Be

Seated   by Nicole Cohen.

form of appropriation. Artist John Baldessari"borrowed" an image from 1505 of a stagbeetle by the German artist Albrecht Dürer andmade it his own. Using modern-day materials(ink-jet printing mounted on a fiberglasspanel), Baldessari juxtaposed the originalimage with a piece of sculpture in the form of agiant steel pin. By inserting the steel pin intothe canvas, Baldessari combines mediums in avery modern way.

Video Art

In the 1960s, artists began to turn to themedium of video to redefine fine art. Throughvideo art, many artists have challengedpreconceived notions of art as high priced,high-brow, and only decipherable by elitemembers of society. Video art is notnecessarily a type of art that individuals would

want to own, but rather an experience.Continuing the trend of redefining earlier ideasand ideals about art, some contemporary videoartists are seeking to do away with the notion of art as a commodity. Artiststurning to video have used the art form as a tool for change, a medium forideas. Some video art openly acknowledges the power of the medium of television and the Internet, thus opening the doors of the art world to themasses.

Such artists seek to elevate the process of 

creating art and move beyond the notion thatart should only be valued as an aestheticallypleasing product. Video art exemplifies this, forthe viewer watches the work as it is actuallybeing made; they watch as the processunfolds. Video installation pieces combinevideo with sound, music, and/or otherinteractive components. In Nicole Cohen'sPlease Be Seated , viewers are asked to beactive participants. Using innovative videotechnologies, participants can sit on replicas of 

18th-century French chairs and watchtelevision screens in which they are virtuallyinserted in historic recreations of 18th-centuryFrench spaces. While traditional works of artare in galleries with signs that say "Do nottouch," Cohen invites you to physicallyparticipate. In this way, the viewer becomespart of the work of art.

Site-Specific Art

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/nicole_cohen/http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/nicole_cohen/

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The Getty Center's Central Garden

designed by Robert Irwin

Learn more about the Central

Garden.

Robert Irwin is another artist who soughtto involve the viewer, as seen in hisgarden at the Getty Center. In the CentralGarden, which Irwin has playfully termed"a sculpture in the form of a gardenaspiring to be art," viewers canexperience a maze-like configuration of plants, stones, and water. Here visitors

get completely immersed in the sensationof being within the work of art. The senseof smell, touch, and sound are juxtaposedwith the colors and textures of thegarden. All of the foliage and materials of the garden were selected to accentuatethe interplay of light, color, andreflection. A statement by Irwin, "Always changing, never twice the same," iscarved into the plaza floor, reminding visitors of the ever-changing nature of this living work of art. In this way, Irwin subverts the idea that a work of artshould be paint on a canvas. Rather, nature can be art.

By creating a garden specifically designed for the Getty Center, Irwinengages in site-specific  art. Many contemporary artists who create site-specific works move art out of museums and galleries and into communitiesto address socially significant issues and/or raise social consciousness. In thecase of Irwin's garden and Martin Puryear's That Profile  (also on view at theGetty Center), works of art are commissioned by museums to enhance andincorporate their surrounding environments. That Profile, stationed on theplaza at the foot of the stairs leading to the Museum, mimics the grid-likepatterns of the Getty Center building itself. Weighing 7,500 pounds, That Profile  is massive. However the work's graceful and curving lines have a"light and airy" quality that capitalizes on the surrounding mountains andocean views visible from the Getty's plaza.

Questions such as "What is art?" and "What is the function of art?" arerelatively new. Creating art that defies viewers' expectations and artisticconventions is a distinctly modern concept. However, artists of all eras areproducts of their relative cultures and time periods. Contemporary artists arein a position to express themselves and respond to social issues in a way thatartists of the past were not able to. When experiencing contemporary art atthe Getty Center, viewers use different criteria for judging works of art thancriteria used in the past. Instead of asking, "Do I like how this looks?"viewers might ask, "Do I like the idea this artist presents?" Having an open

mind goes a long way towards understanding, and even appreciating, the artof our own era.

http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=136160http://www.getty.edu/visit/see_do/gardens.html