Contemporary Art - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

Contemporary literature is literature written after World War II through the current day. Products of contemporary literature mirror and reflect a society's social and/or political perspectives, which the authors show through pragmatic characters and life-like connections to current events. When we talk about contemporary literature and think back to the beginning of it, we have to acknowledge the time period in which it began in, World War II and the neighboring events. The dismay of the war, including bombs, genocide…

Humans have been creating art since the beginning of time. Sometimes they knew they were being artistic; other times they were just creating things they liked, recording information using drawings, or creating pottery and tools to make work easier. Art has been created on cave walls and canvases, from the ground beneath our feet, and from materials made by mankind. Artworks that have certain features in common are considered to have the same style. Sometimes this means that they are…

When photography was first brought into use, it was largely thought as an objective device of reproducing reality. This belief, however, has soon been challenged by the emerging realization of how powerful camera manipulation could be. In Benjamin’s article on mechanical reproduction, he discusses the process as a “shattering of tradition which is the obverse of the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind” (Benjamin, 228). The decline of aura that follows this reproducibility is not being viewed negatively but rather,…

I have come across many who believe in an implied, unspoken agreement between an artist and the viewer in relation to photographs intended as art or any other form of expressionism. This belief that what they are viewing must be "real" to be of any photographic value, and it is to be the audience who should dictate on what the artist must conform too. But if an artist of any medium was to tailor there work to the audience's expectations,…

With the development of technologies and society, the methods of media and arts have big changes in the current worlds. From opera to street music, from concerts to televisions, no matter the contexts of arts or platform, they changed a lot in the past years. In this changing process, it may be sorted to high arts and low arts, but I think there are no distinctions between arts, and all distinctions are based on personal views. Also, the art is…

A curator’s primary responsibility generally includes the acquisition, care, presentation, and interpretation of works of art in a museum’s collection. But curators also play a vital and essential role in our understanding of the art and culture of both past and present times. They challenge existing perceptions and also shape the discourse around art that is to come in the future. Through the selection of artwork and the juxtaposition and interpretation that follows, curators are able to generate dialogue between…

The modern representation of the garbage that comes in and out of humans mouths. In Philip Guston's painting “Painters Forms II” laid out with oil on canvas (75 X 108 inches) with images of a big open mouth and teeth, what looks like soles of shoes, and cartoonish cigarettes spilling out. It basically looks like a whole bunch of poles piling out of a mouth, but these “poles” would be considered as legs and shoes. The legs terminate in oval-shapes…

Over thousands of years, many disciplines have utilized ancient to contemporary art in several different ways to benefit people in their everyday life and circumstances. One place contemporary art can benefit an individual in the very reality of their life in the here and now, is in medicine and healthcare institutions. Art may benefit an individual by putting them into a calmer state and making them feel more settled. When staying in a hospital, an individual may seem very anxious…

Art history essays contain plenty of topic examples to write about. However, for this paper the topic of women role in art history was chosen. Throughout centuries, women were systematically excluded from most social domains, among which is history of art. They were totally involved in making art, whether as creators or sources of inspiration, made significant contributions to the world of art. However, even though women were and continue to be an integral part of the institution of art,…

Art is a way of exploring underneath the ‘skin’ of life, and the body has always been the place to look at for me. Since I was diagnosed with scoliosis from a young age, I learned to live with this ‘disability’ and the pain that it caused. Researching more into medical literature I decided to broaden my knowledge by exploring all types of disability in relation to the art world. Using Dr Ann Millett-Gallants book; ‘The Disabled Body in Contemporary…

There was always this one question I dreaded the most when asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I was asked this question since I was young and even now. This one question would bring so much anxiety to me; people would never be satisfied with my answer. Since I was young I have always been indecisive of what I wanted to do in the future. I was told to become a lawyer or a doctor,…

In this essay I will be discussing a variety of topics all regards to two specific pieces of art. The two pieces of art I will be writing about were created by two different artists. The first painting is named Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi’s, Annunciation, this piece was created by an Italian artist; the next painting is called Jean Pucelle’s, The Kiss od Judas and the Annunciation which was created by a French artist. Both works of art were…

Photorealism which can also be identified as Superrealism, Hyperrealism, New Realism, or Sharp Focus Realism, is a type of art that incorporates graphic media, drawing, and paintings in which the artist replicates a photograph onto a canvas to make it as realistically as possible. The word was coined by the author and art dealer Louis K. Meisel in 1969 when it showed up in catalogue for the show “Twenty-two Realists. The name came about as a way of describing artists…

Designs are always containing the ideologies, briefs or values of designers and if people happen to share the similar thinking ways with the designers, the public will find the resonance in his works. The Red and Blue Chair (as shown in Figure 1) is exactly the media or trigger, which makes me strike a chord with the designer Gerrit Rietveld because I think it symbolizes the way I think. The chair, designed in 1918, is a masterpiece of the representative…

Intoduction Graffiti, is simple terms is any form of writing or drawing made on a wall or some sort of surface, usually as a form of artistic expression, without permission and within public view. It ranges from the simplest words painted in walls to detailed intricate pieces of art or sculptures. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. However, graffiti as a modern form of street art was…

In Modern art, the experience within American development is expressed, felt and experienced in various ways. The American experience shows the way art replicates the aesthetics, national events and reflections, trends, and theories. In many exhibits, American visual art is one of the only remaining permanent art concept that remains. It demonstrates the role of American artists and hence shapes the overall development of art in America. The different forms of exhibits contain different modes such as paintings, sculpures, art…

Ars Nova is a musical style that flourished in France and Burgundian Low Countries in the Middle ages between the period 1310s till about 1400. It is translated “New Art”. During this time, the mode, time and pronation of music began to shift. Time signatures were born and there was a new structure to music and how it is made and performed. Different styles were developing, and the people of this time began to hear new sounds they have never…

Contemporary art is meant to allow us to reflect on society and the issues that we face as an individual and the world around us. In the Infinity Mirrored Room: The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away by Yayoi Kusama the viewers have described as being entranced. This room is a paradox. This is due to the nature of the room, it is closed room but once inside it the viewers see an infinite expanse unfold right before their…

It’s undeniable that dance is one of the oldest and most popular forms of art. In every part of the world, from the streets to the stage, we can easily find people dancing. Regardless of age, race, gender, and social-economic status, everyone can learn and practice this art form. Though having little experience with dancing, I personally have always had a special love for it. Dancing is meaningful to me in a great number of ways. There have been many…

Art in the past has been a symbol of our collective aspirations and desires. The emphasis on beauty and the perfection of form and technique stood for the values that were held in high regard then. Times have changed, however, and rather than fix our gazes on our manufactured ideals, we have learned to peer into the mundane and highlight everything from small observations of our day to day life to the ills of society.No longer does the collective determine…

Definition of cartoon by David Low is: “A cartoon is a drawing, representational/symbolic, that makes a satirical, witty or humorous point,” (Muliyadi: 2008). Lat has been known for his contribution to Malaysia's art scene and social impact through his cartoons, autobiography comics like The Kampung Boy which are sold all over the world. In this forum, we will see the importance of Lat character and the Malay culture which he bring along in his cartoons. Presented by Dr. Muliyadi Mahamood,…

Courbet was one of the most influential artists and leader of the XIX century realist movement whose paintings challenged and shocked contemporary art critics and French society. Although widely considered as the founder of Realism, Courbet accepted this title only partly as some of his paintings are a mixture of various genres and styles and reflect elements of realistic, abstract, modern, or postmodern painting (Smith). Gustave Courbet and Realism Jean Desire Gustave Courbet was born June 10, 1819, in a…

The Netherlands-based De Stijl motion welcomed an abstract, pared-down visual centred in standard visual components such as geometric forms and main colours. Partly a response versus the ornamental excesses of Art Deco, the minimized quality of De Stijl art was visualized by its creators as a universal visual language appropriate to the modern period, a time of a new, spiritualized world order. Led by the painters Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian - its main and celebrated figures - De…

Lucian Freud was born in 1922, in Berlin Germany. He was a British Painter and a grandson to Sigmund Freud. He studied In London at the central school of art and also at Morris's East Anglican school, where he studied painting and drawing. He later attended the University of London (Goldsmiths College), and later worked with Seaman in 1941, as a merchant. The painters room was first to feature in 1944, in his first exhibitions of painting. The essay is…

Dead animals, elephant dung, unmade beds and rice all seem like everyday objects but should we be calling them art? When we were growing up we were taught that art was a beautiful painting - like Van Gogh's Sunflowers, or a perfect sculpture of a human - like Michelangelo's David, but we were never really taught that conceptual and contemporary art were 'proper' forms of art, even though it was established in the sixties. It made us think and challenge…