Contemporary Art in the Collection

“In these stressful times, there is an ongoing commitment to capture and express the beauty and the essence of culture through art. Contemporary art continues that conversation, that narrative.”

— Joe Baker

Artist, Curator, and Executive Director of the Lenape Center

Contemporary art is a medium of expression. It is shaped by the artist and the world around it. It redefines what constitutes art, challenging previous movements and notions. This collection highlights contemporary work in sculpture, painting, drawing, print, digital, ceramics, and mixed media from art created after 1970.

Through creating this collection during our Mellon Internship, we considered multiple definitions of Contemporary art — from art exclusively made by living artists to anything made after the 1970s. We found that geographic location also influenced how people define contemporary art. For example, many in Germany mark the beginning of contemporary art as after 1945 while scholars in the United States characterize it as art after 1970. In the context of the United States, social movements (civil rights, sexual revolution, gay rights, women’s liberation, and opposition to the Vietnam war) in the '60s and '70s pushed for a new social consciousness. We had many definitions to choose from and in the end, we decided that for our purposes and passions we would focus on the art in the FAC collection in which artists contend with contemporary social and political issues.

In our definition, contemporary artists explore their identities and backgrounds in their art. In our collection, Floyd D. Tunson is one such artist. When considering what inspires his work, Tunson writes, “The terror of chaos, man’s inhumanity to man, mortality, and the unknown. From another direction, the human condition seems like a magnificent, orderly evolution of extraordinary beauty.” This is particularly in conversation with his positionality in reference to social and political themes. What might his art say about the world he is interacting with as a Black artist?

Another artist in our collection, Margaret Kasahara, creates art that “is an exploration of identity. [She] interweaves memories, personal history, and observations to create visual expressions of everyday life,” according to her artist statement . In Americanese: 180 Degrees, she incorporates American and Japanese themes, reflecting on her positionality as an Asian-American woman. What experiences might she be expressing through this piece?

Artists like Tunson and Kasahara reflect their own world in their art. Some do so through examining identity, while others do so through observation of their environment. Some do both. In this way, Contemporary Art consists of complex, varying themes and mediums. With our definition, it is important for us to also highlight artists who come from traditionally underrepresented groups in the art world (Indigenous, Black, women, etc.), as they are able to speak on issues that their communities face in ways others simply cannot. We hope, by analyzing the art and empathizing with the artists, viewers leave the collection having grappled with their own self-reflection and positionalities within the art world and beyond. How does your positionality affect how you interact with art?

Lydia Hussain, Colorado College '24 and Nicole Berlanga, Colorado College '22

Mellon Museum Interns 2021-2022