Contemporary Painting

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Definition: What is Contemporary Painting?

For many, their first love when it comes to art starts with painting. In this article, we will discuss painting in its most recent form: contemporary painting.

Contemporary painting consists of the artistic practice of painting, in which paint or a different medium is applied onto a two-dimensional surface, from roughly 1960/1970 up to today.

In other words, all paintings produced today can be considered contemporary painting. However, discussing painting during the second half of the previous century becomes a bit more complex. In this case, the general rule is contemporary painting starts where modern painting ends. Modern painting consists of paintings during Modernism, including Realism, impressionism, post-impressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, expressionism, surrealism, and last but not least, abstract expressionism.

So, abstract expressionism is seen as the last movement and culmination point of modern painting, with its main historical period ranging from roughly 1945 to 1960. Afterward, think of Pop Art or Post-Painterly Abstraction; painting was influenced by postmodern tendencies and can be seen as contemporary.

Others would argue contemporary painting started in the 80s after the heyday of Conceptual Art when painting and figurative painting, in particular, was reinvigorated by Neo-Expressionism, a new wave of painters such as Jean-Michel Basquiat or Anselm Kiefer.

In any case, the distinction between Modern and Contemporary painting around the 1960s or 1970s is often unclear. With good reason. In art, one may not approach art movements as rigid or static. In fact, art movements are very dynamic as the development from art movement to art movement happens slowly but surely. As a result, it is impossible to determine the moment in recent art history where modern painting stops and contemporary painting starts. The truth is, they overlap and are strongly intertwined.

What Makes a Painting Contemporary?

Even though we have mentioned that all painting produced today can be considered contemporary painting, not all painting is equally ‘contemporary’.

For instance, for a hobby painter who aims to paint nudes in the tradition of the academic nudes of the 19th century, one can not say the subject matter and the aesthetics of the painting are contemporary. Hence, the painting not being contemporary. But what does make a painting contemporary?

A painting can be seen as contemporary when the esthetics of the painting are time bound to the contemporary era – or even more, innovative in the contemporary era – and its subject matter is relevant in a contemporary context.

Thus, a painting can become contemporary by addressing a relevant aspect. For instance, if a painting tackles a recent historical event, think of 9/11, for example, then the picture is relevant from a historical perspective. Or, if one tackles a social issue such as global warming or the famine crisis in certain regions, the painting makes a relevant statement. Please think of the numerous examples and case studies in our article on what makes contemporary art important.

However, a painting can also be relevant due to a renewed and exciting take on history and tradition. Or, from an art historiographical perspective, if the artist reinterprets a genre bound to the tradition of painting in a contemporary manner, then one can state the artwork is contemporary.

Painting is an age-old practice of smearing colored mud on wood or woven fabric. From a contemporary point of view, it has become and still is a valid medium for human exploration and expression, with persistently recurring themes such as beauty, tradition, desire, the body, and spirituality, to name a few. What makes painting unique in a fragmented and postmodern era is the ability to offer a sense of completeness and integrity. Some might even argue art replaces religion in a secularized world.[2]

What are the Characteristics of Contemporary Painting?

As with any medium in art, painting has multiple tendencies in which the characteristics vary from movement to movement. However, some key characteristics are ubiquitously present in contemporary painting.

The main characteristics of contemporary painting are abstraction versus figuration, mixed media versus traditional media, post-conceptualism, art history, postmodernity, identity politics, new technologies, collage, iconicity, simulacra, the digital, eclecticism, absurdism, and appropriation.

This recital of concepts and characteristics might seem vague or abstract. However, when analyzing contemporary painting, one immediately notices an ongoing tendency with some of these characteristics. For instance, the balance of abstraction versus figuration has been an ongoing debate since the 1980s. A new balance has been found, and figurative painting has become very present once more.

When it comes to the used media, we conclude that mixed media remain very popular in the aftermath of experimental painting incorporating industrial elements or readymades into the surface of the painting. Think of Anselm Kiefer including a chainsaw in his works or pouring metal onto the canvas. On the other hand, the traditional media have ascertained their place in contemporary painting with a noticeable rise of more traditional painters. Think of virtuoso artists such as Neo Rauch or Michaël Borremans creating contemporary oil paintings using a traditional technique.

The notion of post-conceptualism is yet again an essential characteristic of contemporary painting. Since the arrival of Conceptual Art in the 1960s, painting has had to reinvent itself in many different ways. The truth is, although it seemed as if Conceptual Art led to the so-called death of painting, it opened new doors for the traditional medium. As it was no longer necessary to paint esthetically and the idea became more important than the object, post-conceptual painting approached the age-old medium in a completely new manner. Think of our article on Post-Conceptualism and Figurative Painting.

Art history has always been an important characteristic when it comes to painting. However, whereas modern painting rejects its history, contemporary painting re-embraces it. Yet, at the same, contemporary painting incorporates new technologies as painting navigates the new possibilities of the digital era. In our trending article, Painting in a Digital Era, we have discussed the influence of software such as Photoshop, the World Wide Web, social media, the evolution of photography, and the use of projectors in the creative process of painting.

In a postmodern world of art, postmodernity is an inevitable characteristic of contemporary painting. Hereby, skepticism, a suspicion of reason, and a somewhat radical epistemological doubt are vital aspects. Postmodernity challenges the notion of universal truths and emphasizes the relativity of things. As a result, postmodern painting is occupied with the individual experience, irony, and the complexity of contradictory layers of meaning. Discover everything you need to know about postmodern art in our extensive article Explained: Modern Art vs Postmodern Art.

With postmodernity comes an array of other concepts and characteristics, such as absurdism, iconicity, simulacra, a flood of images, eclecticism, and appropriation. Think of the appropriation of consumer culture in pop art, such as Andy Warhol’s infamous soup cans.

What are the Genres in Contemporary Painting?

Back in the day, there were only five genres in painting: history painting, portrait painting, landscape painting, still life painting, and genre painting (which depicted everyday life, such as a scene in a pub, at a feast, or on the market). However, today, one can define several other genres.

The genres of contemporary painting are abstract painting, figure painting, interiors, landscape painting, portrait painting, photographic painting, history painting, installation painting, still life painting, and political painting.

Clearly, one or two genres have been added. Abstract painting seems to be one of the most apparent new genres. The 20th century’s journey towards abstraction brought us a genre of painting that could not be categorized before. With non-representative art, the abstract genre was brought to life. Furthermore, all of a sudden, traditional figure painting also becomes a notable genre.

Although interior painting has been around for some while – think of the mesmerizing interiors by Vermeer and the other fine painters in Holland – it has become a genre of its own with modern and contemporary painting. With the arrival of photography, photographic painting or photorealistic painting emerged.

Further, with Conceptual Art and the introduction of installation artworks, many painters have started to paint those installations, creating a genre of their own.