Contemporary art can perhaps only be defined as being the art of our time, produced by the most immediate generations of artists. The tremendous range of styles and movements that proliferated in the past several decades are too numerous to summarize, and an increasingly globalized society has largely undone the notion that art can be effectively categorized by its place of origin. Traditional forms of art have been reimagined, and artists create work that blurs the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and craft. Newer techniques for making art arose, such as assemblage (sculpting with found objects), performance, conceptual, and digital art. As such, the contemporary artwork in the Currier Museum’s collection ranges from more familiar artforms like painting and sculpture to found objects and computer software.

Following the Second World War, the dominant mode of abstract painting persisted, spawning many forms. The legacy of action painting and expressionist abstraction was solidified and continued by collection artists such as Americans Elaine de Kooning and Norman Lewis, and Canadian artists Paul-Émile Borduas and Jean-Paul Riopelle. In the 1960s and onward, artists such as Sam Gilliam transformed abstract painting by removing the canvas from the stretcher, while minimalist painter Frank Stella skirted the traditionally rectangular painting frame in favor of shaped canvases. Artists like Marisol embraced found objects as the materials for their mixed media sculptures. Other artists reacted to the dominance of abstraction by producing representational work, such as the Pop artists (including Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Robert Indiana) and the Photorealists (such as Richard Estes and James Aponovich).

Contemporary artists have responded to the countless global movements seeking to establish equal rights for groups marginalized for their race, religion, socioeconomic status, indigeneity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and other reasons. Some have created work that responds in a personal, intimate way, while others comment on the broader political context. A few of these many artists included in the museum’s collection include Ana Mendieta, Glenn Ligon, Fred Wilson, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and Carrie Mae Weems.

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Please note that only a small fraction of the collection is on view at a given time, and the galleries are rotated often. If you want to know if a specific work is currently on view, please write or call ahead.