Bikash Bhattacharya

Ashoke Mullick is considered one of the leading painters from the Bengal School of Art. Mullick combines a sense of satire with contemporary conditions. His paintings focus strongly on the ordinary man and the contradictions he faces. He uses colors like greens and blues to depict a largely urban India. His paintings also include a strong focus on the ordinary person – more specifically womankind and the contradictions it faces. Mullick likes to portray the contemporary age where people have lost the human touch and have become increasingly impersonal in their behaviour. As a painter, he touches on these facets where customs are not being followed and the link between now and the past is getting hazy. He's carved out a niche for himself with his juxtaposition of real and unreal imagery infusing his canvases with bold, vibrant imagination and certain energy, which is extremely appealing. Mullick has been painting for more than 30 years. He has participated at several art camps and the workshops, like the workshops of Found object and Metamorphosed object at the Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata in 1997, and International Artists Workshop by Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad in 2006 and 100 years of Cellular Jail, at Andaman & Nicobar Islands in 2006 and many more. His works are in the collection of several art connoisseurs in India and abroad.

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.