Art evolves, or so people say, at least. In the past couple of centuries, we have seen art go from something serious, portraits of people and sculptures of heroes, to something which can only be characterized as, very minimalist, not to mention all the wacky art of surrealism.
Today, people have access to lots of technology and that means everything is easier for everyone, including artists.
Artists have been the beneficiaries of the development of technology. With the addition of drawing tablets, using your hands to draw, instead of using an intermediary such as a mouse, is possible, meaning more accurate reproductions of your strokes. Artists were empowered and more and more have been active on the internet.
With that in mind, there are some amazing contemporary artists which you should know. Here is a list of them, in no particular order.
Takashi Murakami
He is well-known in the world of artists as someone who is definitely hard to pin down in a single art style. Most of his art is anime-style, inspired by Japanese animated movies, but also by post World War II culture in Japan. His art is beautiful, but more than that, it makes a person think, which is one of the best things about art in general.
Murakami is also known in the world of hip hop, believe it or not, because he made the cover for Kanye West’s album Graduation. Due to his partnership with Louis Vuitton, the world has come to know him as more than just an anime-style artist, as many have tried to label him, but as a force to be reckoned with.
Damien Hirst
He is a polarising personality in the world of art, mainly because he uses very gruesome methods to criticize art itself. His most famous piece, called The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, is a dead shark in formaldehyde, englassed so that everyone can see it.
Using carcasses is more or less his signature move, mostly to emphasize the emptiness of life, but more specifically, the life of modern art, or rather, the business of art. His more contemporary pieces have jewelry and pills, to emphasize the lack of emotion in modern art galleries. With such a polarising personality, Hirst is often either loved or hated, depending on who you are asking and whether they work in an art gallery.
Signe Pierce
With how we live in a modern world using technology all day, every day (at least most of us), a modern artist is needed to bring that to light, to show us how we are all dependent on the use of technology. This is what Signe Pierce does best, using all sorts of tools and multimedia to create modern, interactive performance art. She also tackles the important topics of women’s sexuality and desires. Some issues need a modern take to be brought back to the limelight.
These artists are some of the many contemporary artists who you should know. Add to this list artists like Cindy Sherman, Rashaad Newsome, Ai Weiwei and many, many more, and you have plenty of contemporary art to look at, as well as topics to think about.
Contemporary artists do some things differently but that is beyond necessary at this point. With some parts of art stagnating, we need creative people to keep art evolving and these artists do just that.
