Historical or contemporary art?

So, as a pairing to my post last week, I am going to write about contemporary art versus historical art. I want to touch on what makes each of these types good and bad, why some museums specialize in these different types of art and what motivates people to like certain types of art.

There are obvious differences between contemporary and historical art, such as, they look different and were created during different time periods, but the most important difference is that they were created with different goals. Every artist has a reason to create art and every viewer has a way of interpreting the art. This is often very different between contemporary and historical art.

Historically, art was designed for a specific purpose. And that was often a religious purpose. While discussing prehistoric art, I am going to use the word religion loosely. Here, the word religion is being used to describe any system of ideas that is used to rule the group. For example, pagan or polytheistic religions. Art, in its very beginnings, such as the work to the right, was used to communicate ideas that were of significant importance to the group.  The small stone idol below is called the Venus of Willendorf. This statue was used as a fertility idol. Notice that her stomach, genitals and breasts are accentuated. And that her face is non-descript. All of these characteristics show that she was believed to increase a woman’s fertility. During the time period when this was created, reproduction was incredibly important because the child mortality rate was high. It shows that reproduction and continuing the community was a focus for this society.

Another focus of historical art was learning how to represent the human form and perspective correctly in paintings. You can see in this painting, the artist had not quite mastered it yet. La Grande Odalisque by Ingres.  She looks as if she has too many vertebrae in her back. Perfection and representing what life really looked like was a focus of historical art.

Contemporary art has been used used to make a statement, usually one that it is political or a comment on societal values. For example as part of the NEW FRONTIERS series for contemporary art at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, they have invited Franco Mondini-Ruiz to present his show called Poodles & Pastries (and Other Important Matters.) http://www.okcmoa.com/see/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/poodles-and-pastries/ For this show, Mondini-Ruiz actually came out to the museum and created his art there. The artist spent a few days going around Norman to collect items and inspiration from antique stores. For one night at the museum, guests were invited and as Mondini-Ruiz furiously painted and shouted out names, the visitors curated the show. They hung the art on the wall, chose where it was going to be displayed and even helped to name some of the sculptures. Most of the sculptures are made with whimsical characters and snarky names. And then, on opening night of the show, visitors could take the paintings off the wall and buy them right there. This is the way of art in the future.

As a self-taught artist, part of the statement that Mondini-Ruiz is trying to make is that the art world should not be exclusive. It should include all types of people and works. By making his paintings (hundreds) in one night he shows that art does not have to be a work of time, it can be spontaneous and vibrant. Not just perfect.

In contrast to the historical art that aimed to represent life and be perfect, contemporary art tries to break boundaries and explore different interpretations of what life can look like. One of the earliest examples of this is Picasso. He and his contemporaries of the cubist movement were experimenting to see if they could represent a three-dimensional object in two dimensions, without making it seem flat. One of his most famous examples is Guernica, above. This is just one small example of how, after artists figured out how to do it perfectly, they started playing with perspective and dimensions.

In the art world, once the rules have been established and perfected, it is time to break them. Artists had achieved the perspective, vanishing points, color theory, lighting and shading, it was time to stretch their creative muscles. That is what the contemporary time-period of art has been about.

I think one of the most important similarities between contemporary and historical art is the artist’s goal. No matter the art, pre-historical to today, the artist creates that art with a goal in mind. He wants to speak his opinion and beliefs through his paintings or sculptures. The main difference between the two types of art is what the specific goal is. In my opinion, historical art is intended to inform, usually for a religious or political purpose, while much of contemporary art was intended to entertain and challenge formalized ideas.