1. Contemporary art incorporates modern characteristics and pays close attention to detail in one's creations. 2. Contemporary artists draw from a variety of viewpoints and try to challenge traditional practices and norms. They use everyday materials and technologies in innovative ways. 3. Contemporary art reflects current social issues and represents diverse communities and identities. Artists work with found objects and public spaces to promote balance.

1. INCORPORATION &
ADDITIONAL
ARTISTS

2. INCORPORATES
CONTEMPORARY
CHARACTERISTICS TO ONE’S
CREATION WITH ATTENTION TO
DETAIL.

3. Below are choices of answers from questions 1-5. Identify
the meaning of each quote by matching it on the given
choices. Write the letter only on a separate sheet of paper.
A. Contemporary art transforms simple objects and brings
them to life.
B. Contemporary art bridges the gap of geography,
ethnicity, gender, and beliefs.
C. Contemporary art makes use of available technology in
the process of creating an artwork.
D. Contemporary art tries to challenge age-old practices
that hinder personal growth and development.
E. Contemporary art works with existing objects or
structures to maintain balance and harmony

4. 1. “Changes to accepted tradition and
taste”
2. “Understanding of a multiplicity of
viewpoints”
3. “Issues and ideas about the role of
objects in space and relationships between
objects”
4. “Use of everyday materials”
5. “Employment of contemporary

5. Activity 3.1
“Picture Analysis”
Study the pictures quietly for a few minutes.
Describe exactly what you see by answering the following
questions below. Write your answer on a sheet of paper.

6. Answer the following questions based on the
pictures shown above.
1. What can you say about the pictures A & B based
on what you have learned about contemporary art in the
previous lessons?
2. Describe the kind of artworks presented above?
3. What kind of materials do contemporary artists use
in their art?
4. Ho w does environment help contemporary artists
with their art?
5. How does this artwork reflect the people of today?

7. Contemporary Art:
Current Practices
The most prominent feature of contemporary
art is the fact that it has no distinct feature or a
single characteristic. It is defined by the artist’s
ability to innovate and bring out a modern
masterpiece. Contemporary art, unlike traditional
art, is an active part of society as it represents
and mediates social conditions with human
aspirations. According to Michelle Watts, an art
educator, the following are characteristics of

8. 1. Changes to Accepted
Tradition and Accepted Taste
Contemporary art tries to challenge
age-old practices that hinder personal
growth and development. For
contemporary artists, art should not be
bound by traditional approaches in the
creation of art. Many visual artists are
now expanding their expression by
using mixed media from unlikely
materials. Contemporary artists are
also not afraid to create art that goes
against personal beliefs and public
taste

9. 2. Understanding of a
Multiplicity
of Viewpoints
Contemporary art bridges the gap
of geography, ethnicity, gender,
and beliefs. Contemporary artists
are conscious of the diverse,
multicultural nature of today’s
global artworks that they create
are not anymore ignorant of the
complexities of history, politics,
and economics. Artists are
becoming
more exposed to the

10. 3. Issues and Ideas about the Role of
Objects in Space and Relationshipsbetween
Objects
Contemporary art works with existing
objects or structures to maintain balance and
harmony. Space has become an integral part
of the contemporary artworks limited to
museums and galleries. Public spaces are
now considered by contemporary artists in

11. 4. Use of Everyday Materials
Contemporary art transforms
simple objects and brings them to
life. Everyday objects such as
furniture, car
parts, electronics, and kitchen
appliances are being transformed
by
contemporary artists into beautiful
artworks. Recycle art has become
a trend for contemporary artists.
The mass array of materials from

12. 5. Employment of Contemporary
technology
Contemporary art makes use of available
technology in the process of creating an artwork.
Technology has revolutionized the way artists
produce art. The Process involved in some art
productions has become less tedious. An
independent filmmaker can now shoot a film
using powerful camera phones. Musicians can
now compose music using tablet, personal

14. Top Most Filipino Contemporary Artists
To Know and Its Art Work
1. Ronald Ventura is the most famous and
successful Filipino contemporary artist known
primarily for his multilayered works that stands for
the miscellaneous national, historical, cultural, and
religious identity of the Philippines. Featuring a
wide and complex diverse of styles, forms and
imagery, in his oeuvre one can find aspects of
graffiti, cartoons, hyperrealism, surrealism, pop art.

15. His practice is constantly evolving, and he manages to
employ his diverse creativity in his highly recognizable
work. Working in both painting and sculpture, his work
portrays scenes of chaotic disarray, incorporating
traditional Western and Asian mythologies with
contemporary cultural symbols like Mickey Mouse. In
2011, Ronald Ventura broke the record for highest-
grossing Southeast Asian painting at Sotheby’s Hong
Kong when his graphite, oil and acrylic work titled
Grayground sold for $1.1 million.

16. 2. Oscar Villamiel (1953-present)
Born in Caloocan City, Manila, Villamiel is a
multimedia artist known for his large-scale installations
consisting of objects found in local communities. His
art career may have started later in life, but his
installations have enthralled audiences for the past
decade. He initially worked as a set designer for
television, a leather bag craftsman, and a successful t-
shirt company entrepreneur before holding his first
solo exhibition in 2006.

17. He once filled a room with thousands of bullhorns in
his show Mga Damong Ligaw (‘Wild Weeds’) in 2014,
at the Light and Space Contemporary in Fairview,
Manila. The bullhorn installation was made to look like
a terrain of weeds when viewed at a certain angle.
Villamiel’s work reflects the current socio-political
situation in the country, highlighting elements of
poverty, consumerism, and religion. His massive
installation Payatas, which features thousands of doll
heads, was chosen to represent the Philippines in the
Singapore Biennale exhibition in 2013. It took him

19. 3. Leeroy New is a contemporary Filipino fine artist
whose works overlap with theatre, film, fashion, and
visual arts. He is a Visual Arts graduate of Philippine
High School for the Arts and a graduate of the
University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts.
Currently, he is known as one of the designers
alongside Kermit Tesoro for the muscle dress, a dress
worn by Lady Gaga in her music video, Marry The
Night. Initially trained as a sculptor, Leeroy’s work
blends theatre, fashion, film, production design, and
public art.

20. He graduated from the prestigious Philippine High
School for the Arts, before continuing his Fine Arts
degree at the University of the Philippines. He has
received artist residences in Singapore and Australia
and was awarded the 13 Artists Award by the Cultural
Center of the Philippines in 2014. His large-scale
public art uses common objects and materials found
in everyday environments. In the sand dunes of
Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Leeroy collaborated with the local
government to convert discarded water tanks and
cement fountains into a post-apocalyptic park filled

21. 4. José Santos III (1970 – present), born in Manila,
Philippines. He is a member ofartist group Salingpusa.
Working across media, José Santos III confronts the
manypotential permutations of objects and images,
especially those not immediatelyapparent. In his early work,
the artist manipulated oil paints into trompe l’oeil collages,
often including objects and figures that seemed to have a
Western origin. Turning away from what he has called the
“convincing veneer of naturalism,” he has broadened his
practice to include assemblage, collage, installation, and
photography, re-creating common objects.

22. “Through representation and representation, a
heightened awareness of everyday objects is
experienced, illuminating how our perception of these
objects is colored by the value (or lack thereof) we
imbue them with,” he has said. His work thus demands
that viewers account for the formal and logical reasons
that underpin objects that pervade all aspects of life,
especially the most perfunctory ones. He earned his
BFA from the University of the Philippines College of
Fine Arts where he also taught for several years. He
started his artistic career as a figurative painter
commenting on social and political issues often using
an allegorical style but, in recent years, his practice

23. 5. Mark Salvatus is an intermedia artist
at the forefront of critical discourse about
urbanization and the socio-economic
underpinnings that are made manifest in
densely populated areas. The urban
landscape serves as both repository and
stage for Salvatus’ works that deal with
familiar objects, chance encounters, and
everyday politics.

24. Significantly influenced by the Internet, advertising, and pop
culture, his oeuvre spans a varied range of media, from a
series of defaced city maps ("Codes", 2007- today),
sculptural installations ("Model Unit", 2012), to multi-
channel video work ("Notes from the New World", 2015).
Salvatus also conducts public participatory interventions,
i.e. "Wrapped: Traces" – a continuing artistic project that
has been conducted in several cities that he has visited
since 2007, engaging and collaborating with random
bystanders by asking them to trace the outlines of

25. Activity 3.2
Going back to the pictures shown on figure 7.1 – 7.5,
you may choose at least 3, and answer the following in
a separate sheet of paper.
1. How will you characterize the following works of art?
2. What kinds of materials do contemporary artists use in their
art?
3. How does technology help contemporary artists with their art?
4. Based on what you have learned, what do you think is the
most important
characteristic of contemporary art? Why?

26. Activity 3.3
Identify the kind of art artwork
that is shown below whether
installation, assemblage,
collage, painting, photography,
or performance art and choose
among the five characteristics of
contemporary art practices that
best described each of the
following artworks. Use a sheet
of paper for your answers.