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Contemporary Paintings

CONTEMPORARY STYLE

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Contemporary
Item Ships From: Canada
This Week's Listings Only
So Long
Located in Montreal, Quebec
I made these paintings in response to a prediction for a change in the colour of the sky and oceans as a consequence of man-made climate change. This idea described by Peter Ward in his book Under a Pale Green Sky is based on his study of the great mass extinction events of the past. For many of these extinction events the earth’s chemistry changed the sky to green and the oceans purple. My personal memories are often tied to colour – my first recollection is of an orange cup...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Great Expectations
Located in Montreal, Quebec
I made these paintings in response to a prediction for a change in the colour of the sky and oceans as a consequence of man-made climate change. This idea described by Peter Ward in his book Under a Pale Green Sky is based on his study of the great mass extinction events of the past. For many of these extinction events the earth’s chemistry changed the sky to green and the oceans purple. My personal memories are often tied to colour – my first recollection is of an orange cup being handed to me, and I can vividly remember the very first time I was able to wield colour with a red crayon. As a painter, I acutely feel the significance of this change in colour of the world’s landscapes...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Regretté de Tous
Located in Montreal, Quebec
I made these paintings in response to a prediction for a change in the colour of the sky and oceans as a consequence of man-made climate change. This idea described by Peter Ward in his book Under a Pale Green Sky is based on his study of the great mass extinction events of the past. For many of these extinction events the earth’s chemistry changed the sky to green and the oceans purple. My personal memories are often tied to colour – my first recollection is of an orange cup...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Suez
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Building on a series of exhibitions titled Panorama of the Anthropocene which examined the ecological impact of human activity through an array of paintings, digital prints and video...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Varnish

Cheminées / Chimneys
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Building on a series of exhibitions titled Panorama of the Anthropocene which examined the ecological impact of human activity through an array of paintings, digital prints and video...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Storm / Tempête
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Building on a series of exhibitions titled Panorama of the Anthropocene which examined the ecological impact of human activity through an array of paintings, digital prints and video...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Shopping
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Building on a series of exhibitions titled Panorama of the Anthropocene which examined the ecological impact of human activity through an array of paintings, digital prints and video...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Produit chimiques / Chemicals
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Building on a series of exhibitions titled Panorama of the Anthropocene which examined the ecological impact of human activity through an array of paintings, digital prints and video...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel, Canvas

On the Road
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Sorenson consistently disrupts institutional expectations of the visual artist as a producer of proprietary images. His work exposes the contradictions between limited copyright and ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Venus&Venus
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Hédy Gobaa combines photography and painting in his production. In 2018, he defended a doctoral thesis at UQAM where he questioned the role of digital devices in the artistical creat...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Archival Paper

Venus&Venus
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Hédy Gobaa combines photography and painting in his production. In 2018, he defended a doctoral thesis at UQAM where he questioned the role of digital devices in the artistical creat...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Archival Paper

Double sous le soleil
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Hédy Gobaa combines photography and painting in his production. In 2018, he defended a doctoral thesis at UQAM where he questioned the role of digital devices in the artistical creat...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

La Renne
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Hédy Gobaa combines photography and painting in his production. In 2018, he defended a doctoral thesis at UQAM where he questioned the role of digital devic...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ruin value (second version)
Located in Montreal, Quebec
In his book Now or Never naturalist Tim Flannery describes a vision of a world with a dead purple ocean and a poisonous green sky. This is a world where warming has melted the ice caps and slowed down the circulation of the oceans so that they have become like a gigantic stagnant pond. This still oxygen depleted water will allow the proliferation of anoxygenic bacteria that will change the chemistry of the ocean making it poisonous to oxygen dependant life. These bacteria will also release hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere causing a mass extinction of animal and plant life on land. This stark yet colourful world will be sublimely beautiful, but there will be no one around to see it. This series of paintings depicts an imagining of our world after the catastrophic consequences of climate change through a reinterpretation of well-known images with a romantic sensibility towards nature. Romanticism was in part a reaction to the industrial revolution marked by a nostalgia for an untouched natural world and a reverence for its overwhelming power. Ironically the spread and continuation of that industrialism is predicted to set in motion a new version of nature that will completely overpower the human world as we know it. With these thoughts in mind, I’ve sourced some paintings associated with the romantic movement and removed the human figures from them – the only evidence of people are the decaying ruins left behind in this uncanny green and purple landscape. I’ve also referenced some photographs from the Apollo moon missions that are thought to have influenced the beginning of modern environmental awareness. The starting point for this series of paintings was Arnold Böcklin’s Isle of the Dead...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Borneo Burning
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Holly King was born in Montreal and has a BFA from Laval and an MFA in visual art from York University. She currently teaches at Concordia University. Her photographs have been shown...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Blindspots
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Holly King was born in Montreal and has a BFA from Laval and an MFA in visual art from York University. She currently teaches at Concordia University. Her photographs have been shown...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Water Vessel
Located in Montreal, Quebec
King’s interpretation of nature’s struggle takes the shape of small-format oil paintings, which depict landscapes merged with vessels that work to destroy or protect the environment ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Barbed Paradise
Located in Montreal, Quebec
King’s interpretation of nature’s struggle takes the shape of small-format oil paintings, which depict landscapes merged with vessels that work to destroy or protect the environment ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Delicate Balance
Located in Montreal, Quebec
King’s interpretation of nature’s struggle takes the shape of small-format oil paintings, which depict landscapes merged with vessels that work to destroy or protect the environment ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Tendril Promise
Located in Montreal, Quebec
King’s interpretation of nature’s struggle takes the shape of small-format oil paintings, which depict landscapes merged with vessels that work to destroy or protect the environment ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Rising Levels
Located in Montreal, Quebec
King’s interpretation of nature’s struggle takes the shape of small-format oil paintings, which depict landscapes merged with vessels that work to destroy or protect the environment ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Melting Shard
Located in Montreal, Quebec
King’s interpretation of nature’s struggle takes the shape of small-format oil paintings, which depict landscapes merged with vessels that work to destroy or protect the environment ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Abery in the Ocean
Located in Montreal, Quebec
In his book Now or Never naturalist Tim Flannery describes a vision of a world with a dead purple ocean and a poisonous green sky. This is a world where warming has melted the ice ca...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Ruckenfigur
Located in Montreal, Quebec
In his book Now or Never naturalist Tim Flannery describes a vision of a world with a dead purple ocean and a poisonous green sky. This is a world where warming has melted the ice ca...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Nothing but Blue Skies
Located in Montreal, Quebec
In his book Now or Never naturalist Tim Flannery describes a vision of a world with a dead purple ocean and a poisonous green sky. This is a world where warming has melted the ice ca...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Counterintuitive
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting practice began with subverting the idea of a still life to create an absurd experience where the presence of carefully observed and exaggerated absurd forms painted from ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Bottle Garden
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting practice began with subverting the idea of a still life to create an absurd experience where the presence of carefully observed and exaggerated absurd forms painted from ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Clair de lune déchirant
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Lamontagne has an interest for the conflicting relationship that exists between the end of the landscape and its contemplation, as well as for the so-called death of painting. The pa...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

La belle époque
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Interaction with one of Lamontagne’s works is, simply put, a surreal experience. By using one of several points of entrance, viewers are permitted to experience multiple views of com...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Oil

Still Life with Shrapnel (Study III)
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Still Life with Shrapnel (Study I)
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Cartesian Doubt
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Museum Piece
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Bison Bookshelf
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Empathetic Conformation
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Trinity
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Trinity
Price Upon Request
The Source of Suffering
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The European Academy recognized still-life painting as the lowest form in its hierarchy. Being the depiction of the things of everyday life, it was considered a poor container for th...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Vita
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Fabian Jean graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University. He has had solo exhibitions in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax and has been included in several group exhi...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Panel

Vita
Price Upon Request
Still Life with Mushrooms
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Fabian Jean graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University. He has had solo exhibitions in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax and has been included in several group exhi...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Panel

Still Life with Strawberry Cake
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Fabian Jean graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University. He has had solo exhibitions in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax and has been included in several group exhi...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Panel

Horse, Ocean, Boat
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Fabian Jean graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University. He has had solo exhibitions in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax and has been included in several group exhi...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Panel

Security Team
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Michael Harrington is a Canadian painter living in Ottawa, ON. He creates narrative-based paintings, creating scenes that are dark, cinematic and op...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Consultant
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Michael Harrington is a Canadian painter living in Ottawa, ON. He creates narrative-based paintings, creating scenes that are dark, cinematic and op...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Umi III
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens when I am outside in large open spaces. Painted images act as a tool. I respond to the spaces my art suggests. That response is usually non-verbal. I am interested in the experience of non-duality that “getting lost” in big spaces can sometimes produce for me. The paintings have gone through a range of artistic treatments with the recent years seeing a focus on space, light, textures, atmosphere and distance. My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove non-essential visual elements. When a work is successful, it must have a sense of poetry. There is nothing “new...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Trachili
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens wh...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Panel

Tolani
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens when I am outside in large open spaces. Painted images act as a tool. I respond to the spaces my art suggests. That response is usually non-verbal. I am interested in the experience of non-duality that “getting lost” in big spaces can sometimes produce for me. The paintings have gone through a range of artistic treatments with the recent years seeing a focus on space, light, textures, atmosphere and distance. My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove non-essential visual elements. When a work is successful, it must have a sense of poetry. There is nothing “new...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Panel

Salix
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens when I am outside in large open spaces. Painted images act as a tool. I respond to the spaces my art suggests. That response is usually non-verbal. I am interested in the experience of non-duality that “getting lost” in big spaces can sometimes produce for me. The paintings have gone through a range of artistic treatments with the recent years seeing a focus on space, light, textures, atmosphere and distance. My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove non-essential visual elements. When a work is successful, it must have a sense of poetry. There is nothing “new...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Canvas

Muskokan
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens when I am outside in large open spaces. Painted images act as a tool. I respond to the spaces my art suggests. That response is usually non-verbal. I am interested in the experience of non-duality that “getting lost” in big spaces can sometimes produce for me. The paintings have gone through a range of artistic treatments with the recent years seeing a focus on space, light, textures, atmosphere and distance. My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove non-essential visual elements. When a work is successful, it must have a sense of poetry. There is nothing “new...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Kaian
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens when I am outside in large open spaces. Painted images act as a tool. I respond to the spaces my art suggests. That response is usually non-verbal. I am interested in the experience of non-duality that “getting lost” in big spaces can sometimes produce for me. The paintings have gone through a range of artistic treatments with the recent years seeing a focus on space, light, textures, atmosphere and distance. My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove non-essential visual elements. When a work is successful, it must have a sense of poetry. There is nothing “new...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Cloud Indigo
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens wh...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Arbre Al Mar
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens wh...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Mangrove II
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens wh...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Yerba
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens wh...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Windjam II
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens wh...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Fjord du Saguenay
Located in Montreal, Quebec
My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens wh...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Venetian Red
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Jennifer Hornyak was born in England, where she studied at the Grimsby School of Art before coming to Canada. For more than forty years, her work has been exhibited in prestigious ga...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil

Sand Green
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Jennifer Hornyak was born in England, where she studied at the Grimsby School of Art before coming to Canada. For more than forty years, her work has been exhibited in prestigious ga...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil

Tandra (CSR0981)
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Hunt Slonem was born in Kittery, Maine in 1951. His fascination with exotica imprinted during his childhood in Hawaii and experience as a foreign exchange student in Managua, Nicarag...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

Bayou Teche (CSR2353)
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Hunt Slonem was born in Kittery, Maine in 1951. His fascination with exotica imprinted during his childhood in Hawaii and experience as a foreign exchange student in Managua, Nicarag...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

Underground
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Michael Harrington is a Canadian painter living in Ottawa, ON. He creates narrative-based paintings, creating scenes that are dark, cinematic and op...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Contemporary paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Contemporary Paintings>paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, red, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Hunt Slonem, Steven Miller, Howard Tangye, and Irena Orlov. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Fabric and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Contemporary paintings, so small editions measuring 0.75 inches across are also available.

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