Subject
About Contemporary Art

‘Contemporary art’ is the operative but undefinable term that refers to the vast, heterogeneous realm of current artistic expressions, strongly influenced by the triumph of the new media, without that implying the extinction of classical media, especially since the modernist idea of ‘overcoming’ is no longer valid. The object of endless debate and controversy, contemporary art has been besieged by questions of value, aesthetic criteria, and autonomy in relation to institutions and the art market. Never before has art had so many institutions at its service: contemporary art centres, museums, fairs, biennales and galleries have created a ‘system’ with its own rules and codes and have multiplied and hierarchised spaces of celebration, but also new modes of legitimation. This dossier on contemporary art that we have prepared from an eclectic perspective, focusing on art criticism, sociology and economy, reflects not only on aesthetic issues and artistic forms, but also on the way the system works and its determinations. We have invited internationally renowned artists and theorists to write about the various aspects of contemporary art: Camille de Toledo, Yves Michaud, Paul Werner, Jovan Mrvaljevic and Gregory Sholette.