Contemporary art is in a constant state of flux, which means it encompasses a diverse range of visual languages. Some works, for instance, might serve as responses to the world around us, while others might answer questions, challenge ideas, or help the viewer gain new perspectives.
Galleries and museums aren’t the only places where you can discover contemporary art. In fact, it’s all around us — from abstract statues in office lobbies to conceptual illustrations in advertisements and pop art paintings in trendy restaurants. Frequent exposure helps fuel an interest in contemporary art, turning mere admirers into burgeoning collectors.
Keep in mind, contemporary art is a complex subject. This article aims to make it easier to understand.
What is contemporary art?
The official contemporary art definition is anything created by living artists or those active from the late 20th century to today, although the term is often shorthand for pieces that feel fresh, culturally aware, and statement driven. What makes artworks contemporary is not only timing, but also their diversity and fluidity, and how they reflect the zeitgeist1.
Contemporary art often invites you to use your own perspective to decipher it. The piece might be an abstract painting with no obvious meaning aside from a mood or an object that toys with symbolism. While some works are confident and expressive, others are subtle and contemplative.
Our Dropshop offerings make the world of contemporary art accessible to new and experienced collectors. Our extensive list of drops includes Mickalene Thomas, Din avec la main dans le miroir et jupe rouge. Thomas uses her work to express her perspective on the world.
“The mirror is a powerful tool because it forces you to deal with yourself on a deeper level,” Thomas says. “Conceptually, paintings are like mirrors. They’re a form of creative expression by the artist.” She urges viewers to explore the reflections engaging with her work might evoke.
Her limited-edition print doesn’t adhere to one medium; instead, it utilizes different printing techniques and unconventional materials.
Contemporary art vs. Modern art
“Contemporary” and “modern” might seem interchangeable because they convey the idea of newness, but they refer to distinct historical categories. Modern art describes the period between the 1860s and the 1970s.
Modernism emerged alongside the Industrial Revolution and its rapid modernization of how people lived and worked. Modern art was the artists’ response to the massive cultural shift.
Le Courbusier (born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) was a pioneer of Purism, a modern art movement. Reflecting the machine age, his work depicts objects in their basic, geometric forms. A previous drop, in partnership with the Fondation Le Corbusier and LITO Masters, featured three prints created from three paintings in the Fondation Le Corbusier’s collection.
Contemporary art picks up where the modernist movement left off in the late 20th century, embracing an even wider range of materials, voices, and possibilities2.
Where modern art was about reimagining form, contemporary work focuses on rethinking meaning. That's what makes it so exciting: it's voicey and part of current conversations.
Origins and timeline
Many historians place the beginnings of the Postmodern and Contemporary Art movements around the end of World War II. While Modernist movements, like Cubism and Dada, dominated the early 1900s, many mid-century artists began to play with art as a political tool that conveyed messages3.
By the latter part of the 20th century, artists were finding inspiration in major cultural shifts, such as civil rights movements, feminism, globalization, and, eventually, digitization. Each historical moment brought new voices and mediums to the spotlight. For example, Pop Art in the 1960s had Andy Warhol turning soup cans and celebrities into high art while also exploring themes of commodification and reproduction, while Conceptual Art declared that ideas themselves could be the work.
In the 1980s, bold, expressive painters, like Jean-Michel Basquiat, and street-art-influenced movements brought raw energy into galleries. By the 1990s and early 2000s, Contemporary Art had become truly global, with artists from all backgrounds exploring issues ranging from identity to migration, technology, climate, and more through their artwork.
Key characteristics of contemporary art
Social themes
What makes contemporary art so interesting is how it responds to the world around it. The movement often includes themes of identity, including race, gender, and heritage. It may also tackle politics, mainly as a means of questioning power, visibility, and whose narratives are prioritized. Popular and internet cultures are also distilled into eye-catching pieces.
Kent Monkman’s work, featured in a previous drop, examines social themes of gender fluidity and sexual diversity present among Indigenous societies on Turtle Island since a time so long ago it’s beyond memory. Monkman, of Cree descent, channels these themes through his alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle.
Uses and explorations of technology
More recently, the art world has engaged with digital technology as artists experiment with using artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and NFTs to pose questions on everything from constant surveillance to what it means to be human. The movement is a living, breathing ecosystem of ideas that are still unfolding.
Contemporary artists’ use of cutting-edge technologies and new media dates back decades. For instance, Nam June Paik, known as the “father of video art,” created works that employed emerging technologies as early as the ‘60s. The duo JODI created their net art during the rapid internet growth of the ‘90s.
Media
The mediums themselves can be as varied as their messages. Contemporary artists aren’t limited to paint or marble, jumping from everything from textiles to recyclables to live performance. Digital art is flourishing, with creators using prints and motion graphics to tap into the collective consciousness.
Installations and street art transform indoor and outdoor spaces into art we can walk through, touch, or even participate in. Artistic mixed media can come through handmade fiber arts, found objects, and sound.
What connects the wide variety of media is a sense of experimentation and dimension, pushing us to question what we’re looking at and why it matters.
Why contemporary art appeals to collectors
Contemporary art’s relevance makes each work feel expressive, alive, and multidimensional. Having a piece isn't only about investment or ownership, but about joining a conversation. Whether the work is playful or radical, it reflects a creative’s lived experience and cultural commentary, helping make sense of a reality we all share.
Its style diversity also makes art more accessible than ever. Whether you’re more drawn to form or message, there’s certainly a contemporary artist creating pieces that speak to you.
Contemporary art in Dropshop by Phillips
Dropshop by Phillips brings collectors fresh, limited-edition pieces from contemporary artists who are shaping culture today. Past drops have featured:
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KYNE, the Japanese street artist who rose to fame for his illustrations of fearless women with striking gazes.
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Thierry Noir, known for painting the Berlin Wall during the Cold War, turned his playful signature characters into a new series in Gold.
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Peter Halley, a central figure of the 1980s’ Neo-Conceptualist movement, transformed his iconic Cell Grid paintings into hand-painted textured surfaces digitally reproduced nine times.
Every Dropshop release is carefully curated. From the cinematic portraiture of Emmanuel Taku to the conceptual screenprints of Gongkan, each drop builds an intentional snapshot of the present moment. Drops are a collaboration with artists from conception to execution, empowering makers and ensuring that the release feels authentic and true to the message.
Whether you’re a seasoned collector, a designer looking for a meaningful addition, or simply an art connoisseur who likes living with conversation starters, Dropshop by Phillips offers the rare chance to own works by today’s most inspiring artists without needing to visit an art gallery or wait for an invite. It gives you art that reflects not just what you like, but who you are.