Contemporary Art has its fair share of controversy.

For those who don't quite understand, contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time. Often the work will have content that challenges current social, political, or cultural states of a particular location. Early 1990s British contemporary art was much different than 1990s French contemporary art, yet each contributed a world-wide awareness of what was important. In many cases, the changes brought on by life are re-presented by artists, and the changes in art are re-presented by life.

Oscar Wilde once said, "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life."

It truly is the epitome of contemporary painting: challenging not only to the eye, but to the brain; material that opens ones' eyes to greater issues than simply technical skill alone (however, technical skills that are challenging in contemporary art can be regarded as the content itself).

Here is a collection of some of the most challenging paintings on deviantART - works that could easily fit into a Contemporary category, if it were available. But, as wikipedia states: "Contemporary art can sometimes seem at odds with a public that does not feel that art and its institutions share its values."

See if you can understand the work on visual content alone. If not, ask the artist. It's likely they'll have something of value to share.
Expand your visual vocabulary.

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Contemporary Painting