Contemporary art is gaining popularity every year. More and more people, including art collectors, want to decorate the interiors of their homes and businesses with works by contemporary art masters. Although it arouses a lot of controversy, the beauty of contemporary art is that it can take many forms. And in addition, it can sometimes be unusual in form. Meet the extraordinary artists of contemporary art.
Contemporary art – what makes it different?
Contemporary art combines various artistic disciplines, such as painting, sculpture, computer graphics or art installation. It often means a combination of seemingly incompatible forms and materials. Works of contemporary art are those created since the mid-20th century. Art works of today are sometimes abstract and incomprehensible to many. It often surprises with the combination of forms, and is meant to shock and provoke the viewer. The role of the contemporary art artist is to comment on reality, to force questions and reflection.
Prominent artists of contemporary art
Andy Warhol – called the greatest artist of the 20th century
Andy Warhol is an American artist of Lemko origin. Representatives of pop art, he used serigraph techniques for simple compositions with high color contrast. He combined consumer culture with art, blurring the line between the two.
Marek Kotarba – kotarban creator, independent interdisciplinary artist
Marek Kotarba experiments in the area of form and color resulting in kotarbans.
Kotarbans elevate the image towards three-dimensional space, and reduce the sculpture to two-dimensional space. With the help of rich colors and pristine white porcelain, he comments in a non-obvious way on various forms of creative expression such as portrait, landscape or even musical pieces.
Kotarbanes provides a platform for polemics on the limits of perception, transformation and reception of art.
What gives power to Kotarba’s work is his sensitivity, energy and blunt visual language. It is not only an aesthetic language but also a way of thinking.
Kotarba’s works are of great interest to collectors from all over the world.
Yayoi Kusama – queen of dots
One of the intriguing artists of contemporary art is a Japanese avant-garde sculptor, painter and performer. Her work has been called obsessive art, and is distinguished by her characteristic flamboyant dots. She creates collages, drawings and paintings. She is counted among the most expensive artists in the world, as one of her works sold for $5.1 million. She is an icon of sculpture, painting, fashion and design.
Jeff Koons – the most expensive living artist.
Another contemporary art artist works in sculpture and painting. He creates works in which kitsch is intertwined with plastic. His most recognizable works are “inflatable” steel sculptures that resemble huge balloons in appearance. He draws inspiration from advertising, uses Dada and pop art, and uses toys as ready mades. The artist created the cover for Lady Gaga’s “Artpop” album. One of his “Rabbit” sculptures was sold in 2019 for more than $91 million.
Olafur Eliasson – sculpts in light, water and air
Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson is also an intriguing figure in the world of contemporary art. He creates sculptures and installations using water, light, fog, rainbows and air. In his view, art is a way of changing ideas into actions. Eiasson’s land art trend touches on real problems of humanity.
Daniel Buren – sculptor known for his distinctive stripes
Daniel Buren is considered one of the world’s most prominent contemporary art artists. For years he has been radically questioning the essence of art and the institution of the museum. In 1965, he abandoned traditional painting in favor of 8.7 cm wide white or colored stripes, which became the hallmark of his art. He created his emblem from tape, paint, paper and fabric, and placed them in urban spaces – in galleries, cafes, parks, museums, train cars or on staircases. He creates sculptures and architectural works in various scales and forms that combine geometric modernist forms, simplicity and incredible precision. Some of the most admirable are the spectacular works for the Louis Vuitton brand.
Georg Baselitz – a brilliant artist
Another representative of contemporary art artists is Georg Baselitz. He is considered the most important painter of the post-war period and the most expensive German artist. He is called the pioneer of Neo-Expressionism in Germany, because he dared to create in his own aesthetics. His works have had a huge impact on modern art because they shock and provoke. His works reverberate with spontaneity, sketchiness and brutalism, sometimes featuring footprints and fingerprints. He boldly sought his own path between GDR realism and expressionism. In addition to painting, he also created prints, drawings and roughly carved wood sculptures reminiscent of African art.
These are just a few representatives of contemporary art artists. As you can see, each of them boldly creates his own works, none is afraid to present a new approach to art. The list of the most prominent representatives of the world of modern art also includes a prominent Polish artist – Marek Kotarba, creator of the famous kotarban.
