Contemporary art is more than a style or movement; it is an ever-evolving reproduction of our complex contemporary world. It asks the questions that most are afraid of. It challenges the comfort zones. It deconstructs the illusion of stability to be experimental. If you have ever thought, "What is contemporary art?" you are not alone. Even the most experienced collector has to stop and redefine it because contemporary art refuses to be delineated. Rather, it lives on fluidity, individual interpretation, and cultural applicability. From incendiary installations within metropolitan areas to engaging digital involvement through screens, the genre reinvents itself continually in order to stay grounded in the immediate.

In its most general sense, modern art is the art produced from the late 20th century to the present. But that's merely the tip of the iceberg. Unlike traditional art eras commonly extolling beauty, harmony, and tradition, contemporary art is based on an imperative to seize now - now-the technologies, conflicts, contradictions, and hopes of our day.

“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” - Banksy

Though modern art is too diverse to fit neatly into categories, some traits tend to emerge across disciplines and styles:

Artists often take methods from architecture, video, film, and computer technology. A sculpture could use video projections. A painting could become a three-dimensional installation.

In contrast to art intended exclusively for beauty, we'd be better off by way of living in a world full of gaiety and beauty, contemporary art frequently tackles the messier issues of unfairness, migration, the climate emergency, inequity, with regard to inclusion strategies, and mass surveillance. The art serves a purpose of dissent or awareness.

You don't see the old, not that I don't love, but the paradigms of simply oil on canvas are gone. Today's world will see recycled materials, parts that are 3D printed, and living plants.

If any movement is defined by the eccentricities of the artist, it is modern art. Personal experience and subjective vision become part of the work itself.

There has been a revolutionary period for modern art over the past several decades, and the proliferation of social media, virtual experience technologies, and artificial intelligence has changed not only how we create art, but how it spreads and how many people it reaches. A digital artwork posted on Instagram may be visible to millions of users within hours (or even in minutes). The dissemination of art has become more democratic, more accessible, and (also arguably) more ephemeral.

Museums and galleries have a similar commodification process; they are producing online exhibitions or digital interactive installations, which mostly require only a smartphone. People are finally not just passive viewers. Art becomes less an object and more an encounter, an active relationship between the artist's perspective and the viewer's perspective.

When one thinks of the great living artists, a few names inevitably pop up - each a pioneer in redefining our understanding of creativity. Yayoi Kusama, for example, is famous for her unlimited mirror rooms and dot-inspired installations that usher visitors into a hallucinatory environment; she uses her art to place one last emphasis on erasure, identity, and the limits of our perception. Ai Weiwei is an artist and public intellectual who uses art to enact a strong political argument, which can also sidestep censorship and human rights abuses in China. To help make his statement, Ai Weiwei uses mass-produced found objects - backpacks, sunflower seeds, bicycles - to stage collective memory and protest. Jeff Koons is synonymous with the slick oversized balloon dog sculptures that mock consumerism and mass desire. Whether you love or hate it, his work will always provoke controversy about what art is. These are merely a few names that sit among thousands of practitioners. Contemporary art is a global phenomenon. Artists come, both collectively and from various continents, to contribute to a never-ending evolving conversation.

At first glance, modern art can be intimidating. You may find yourself standing next to a neon sign or a heap of smashed glass, wondering if you are missing the point. But this tension - this questioning and confusion, which means that modern art still matters. Modern art asks us to engage. It asks us to bring our histories, questions, and biases into the interaction. What makes modern artwork different than more traditional artwork is that while with traditional artwork one can appreciate from a politically distant place, much of the modern work requires one to jump into a more curious and open world.

Because modern art reflects our fear, our hope, and our tension-both locally and globally, it can serve as an act of empathy and a tool for change. It can remind and shape us to think outside of our bubbles and create new ways to connect, as a community, and connect to the planet.