The Story of Contemporary Art

Kuspit’s question, albeit in a different form, is worth repeating: who do you believe in, Beuys or Warhol? Your answer will reveal much about how you view life and the world at large. Ask the same question of any two artists you find in the later chapters of this book. Who do you believe in?
As then, in the late 1980s, so it is now. Contemporary art, in all its many manifestations, echoes the problems we face in our daily lives: how to act, how to think, what to believe. Contemporary art can be entertaining, provocative, even irritating. Occasionally it is stunning, often it is difficult, but it is always alive. That is why it makes us think, why it puzzles and intrigues us – it is our world.
In the end, of course, we can never fully explain the most interesting and intriguing works of art. If we could, there would have been little point in making them. What is essential is that we experience them and think about them for ourselves. In writing this book, my aim has been to provide a context in which to better understand and experience the artworks of today by sharing my own experiences and thoughts.
Obviously, the world of art today is very different from the one that Gombrich wrote about, but much of what he said still rings true: ‘One never finishes learning about art. There are always new things to discover. Great works of art seem to look different every time one stands before them. They seem to be as inexhaustible and unpredictable as real human beings. It is an exciting world of its own with its own strange laws and its adventures. Nobody should think he knows about it all for nobody does. Nothing, perhaps, is more important than just this: that to enjoy these works we must have a fresh mind, one which is ready to catch every hint and to respond to every hidden harmony: a mind, most of all, not cluttered up with long high-sounding words and ready-made phrases.’