As contemporary art, it is called the set of artistic manifestations that emerged from the 20th century.
As such, the concept of contemporary art is relative to each era. This means that the art produced in any historical period will always be contemporary for its contemporaries. Contemporaneous was the art of Leonardo da Vinci for those who lived in the sixteenth century. However, there are three criteria that are used to determine the moment from which we can call the artistic expressions of our time as contemporary:
Art and contemporary age.
One of the broadest criteria links the beginning of contemporary art with the beginning of the Contemporary Age, at the end of the 18th century with the French Revolution (1789-1799). In this sense, contemporary art begins with Romanticism that was characterized by emphasizing freedom, individuality, sentimentality and subjectivity.
Contemporary art and avant-garde.
Another criterion used to consider artistic productions as contemporary manifestations judges as contemporary that art emerged from the avant-garde emergence of the early twentieth century.
These artistic proposals were distinguished by presenting, both formally and conceptually, a series of ideas that revolutionized the institution of art, such as the break with traditional models or their critical and experimental nature. Some contemporary artistic movements of relevance, in this sense, would be Dadaism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Neoplasticism and Surrealism.
Contemporary art and postmodernity.
Finally, there is a third criterion that takes as starting point the beginning of Postmodernity (traditionally located between the end of the 60’s and the beginning of the 70’s) or the end of the Second World War, in 1945. This contemporary art it would reflect in the second avant-garde wave of the century, made up of movements such as pop art, new French realism, conceptual art, minimalism and abstract expressionism, as well as hyperrealism, neofiguration, installations, deconstruction and art. urban.