What Do We Mean by “Contemporary Art”?

The term contemporary art is widely used, yet often unclear. It appears in museum labels, university programs, funding calls, and artist biographies, but its meaning is rarely explained. For many people entering the art world — or navigating it from within — this lack of clarity can be disorienting.

This text offers a short orientation. It does not aim to define contemporary art exhaustively, but to clarify when, why, and how the term is commonly used today.

When Does Contemporary Art Begin?

In art history, contemporary art does not simply mean “art made now.” It refers to a period and condition that emerges after modernism and after the post-war avant-gardes.

While there is no single, universally agreed-upon date, contemporary art is most commonly situated from the late 1960s to the 1970s onward.

This period is marked by several fundamental shifts:

• the exhaustion of modernist progress narratives
• the collapse of medium-specific hierarchies
• the rise of conceptual practices
• the increasing role of institutions, theory, and discourse
• the questioning of authorship, originality, and representation

At this point, art no longer advances primarily through formal innovation within a medium, but through context, concept, and critical positioning.

This shift marks the transition from modern and post-war art to what is now referred to as contemporary art.

Why Picasso Is Not a Contemporary Artist

Pablo Picasso is often perceived as “modern” or even “timeless,” and his influence extends well into the present. However, he is not considered a contemporary artist because his work belongs to the modernist paradigm.

Modernism is characterised by:

• belief in artistic progress
• innovation through form and style
• medium-specific mastery
• the idea of the autonomous artwork

Picasso’s work, despite its radicality, operates within this framework. It advances painting and sculpture as disciplines and contributes to the modernist project rather than questioning it from the outside.

Even though Picasso lived into the 1970s, his artistic logic remains modernist — not contemporary.

This illustrates an important point: historical categories are not determined by an artist’s lifespan, but by the conditions in which their work operates.

Why Cindy Sherman Is a Contemporary Artist

Cindy Sherman’s work emerges directly from the conditions that define contemporary art.

Her practice:

• questions authorship and identity
• treats images as cultural constructs
• operates through appropriation and performance
• relies on photographic reproduction rather than unique objects
• exists within institutional, feminist, and theoretical discourse

Sherman’s work does not aim to advance a medium formally. Instead, it examines how images function socially, culturally, and ideologically.

This difference — not medium, not technique, not date alone — explains why Sherman is considered a contemporary artist, while Picasso is not.

Contemporary Art Is a Condition, Not a Style

Contemporary art is defined less by appearance and more by conditions of production and reception.

It operates within:

• institutional networks such as museums, kunsthalles, and biennials
• curatorial and discursive frameworks
• global circulation and reproduction
• social, political, and technological contexts

A work becomes contemporary not because it is new, but because it consciously engages with these conditions.

Media and Practices

Because contemporary art is not medium-bound, it includes a wide range of practices:

• painting and sculpture
• photography and video
• installation and performance
• research-based, archival, and digital practices

No medium is inherently contemporary or non-contemporary. The same medium can function inside or outside the contemporary art field depending on context and intent.

What Is Not Contemporary Art — Even If Made Today

Not all art produced today belongs to the contemporary art field.

Practices that may exist outside it include:

• decorative or purely commercial art
• traditional or revivalist forms
• hobby-based or private artistic production

This distinction is not a judgment of quality. It reflects different systems, audiences, and values.

Understanding this difference helps clarify why certain opportunities, institutions, and discourses are accessible to some practices and not to others.

Orientation Rather Than Definition

Contemporary art is not a fixed category. It continues to shift as social, institutional, and artistic conditions change.

This text offers orientation rather than authority — a way to understand why certain artists, practices, and institutions are grouped together under the term contemporary art, and why others are not.

Orientation, in this sense, is not a final answer, but an ongoing process.