Religious Themes

Contemporary Christian paintings incorporate a wide variety of themes. Some fine art adheres to the iconic imagery seen in religious art throughout the ages – what some might call literal Biblical interpretations. These iconic themes include the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Stations of the Cross, and the Virgin Mary. Saints are also popular iconic themes in contemporary God art.

Some artists go back to before Christ’s birth; indeed, to the creation of the universe. For example, contemporary fine artist Anthony Falbo’s Genesis Series depicts the first book of the Bible. Through Falbo’s paintings, the creation of the universe unfolds as though it was happening today. Through his abstract style, you can see light emerging, the separation of day from night, the firmament rising, the land appearing, the vegetation blooming, the living creatures coming forth, and the hand of God touching the hand of man.

But just as God created both light and darkness, contemporary Christian artists depict both good and evil. From the shame that Adam and Eve felt after disobeying God in the Garden of Eden to both overt images and subliminal messages of hell, artists depict the darker side of humanity.

A Variety of Styles

Today’s Christian artists employ styles and media as varied as devotion itself. For example, some artists may paint in an Impressionist style, using bold colors, loose strokes, and thick dabs of paint to bring a scene to life. Others express themselves through cubism, the art form that rearranges pieces of objects in such a way that the person seeing the painting gains new insight into the object represented. Still others paint in an abstractionist form, stretching, enlarging, or magnifying figure and form to shed new light on everyday subjects. Some artists, like Anthony Falbo, combine forms like cubism and abstractionism into what could be termed “cubestraction,” and produce remarkable pieces.

Exhibiting Our Devotion

Christians today are embracing contemporary artists by purchasing both original works and limited edition reproductions. Fine art with a spiritual theme – whether it’s the birth of Christ, the creation of the earth, or other “God art” – serves as a reminder of the Creator’s presence in our lives, as well as His importance to our safety and well-being. It also keeps us mindful of the need to express our devotion, to spread the Word of God, and to be thankful for the gifts He has bestowed upon us.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about God Art: Christian Themes in Art.

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In case you posses more than one item of contemporary are and you would like to hang them for show in your home, try grouping them in a way that will create an interesting look and maybe even a connection between them. Let’s say you have a smaller sized art piece you might want to just frame it and put it somewhere like a shelf or a small side table. Just to make sure you understand that not all art needs to be hung on a wall. You have many options, there is always the possibility of leaning it against a wall or maybe an easel you just have to make sure the piece of art doesn’t block the way. Also make sure that the art piece’s size matches the theme so it looks in place.

You can also tell a story with your art or even including helping accessories to convey your point across to the beholder.  While making the story you want the details to flow together and match with the surrounding decorations. While you do the above you will create a certain look and the look with contain the mix of the art and the decorations.

Make sure that once you have hung the piece of Contemporary Art on the wall make Lighting Enhance it to bring more of the people’s attention to it. There are endless ways to display Contemporary Art in your home.

I am a contemporary artist living in Naperville, IL. Painting is not only my profession, it is my passion! It is a tangible way that I am able to share with others a piece of my life and who I am. I paint with oil and acrylic and enjoy the contemporary, abstract and landscape but mostly enjoy the combination of these three. My work is a source of great pleasure for me and for those who have already purchased my art. I paint using only high quality fine art materials.
You can find me on:

http://www.dinasoker.net

http://www.dinasoker.blogspot.com

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The need for textiles, combined with our desire to embellish the world around us, has given rise to a huge range of fabric based art, everything from basic colored cloth to complex woven textiles. Tapestries and wall hangings have long been one of the most accomplished forms of this art, having a history dating back millennia, and artists from almost all cultures have contributed some form of textile wall art.

Recently tapestries and wall hangings have enjoyed a rise in interest, with many people looking beyond traditional options for wall decor. The tactile nature of tapestries, combined with their long history, has made them once again a choice for the discriminating home improver.

Contemporary tapestry design

Although there are a vast range of traditional designs available, a more recent development is the growth in contemporary art as a basis for modern tapestry designs. Because of the nature of the modern weaving process almost any design can be successfully incorporated into a tapestry, providing the weaver has the skill to do so. This has led many contemporary artists to consider wall tapestries as an alternative medium to framed canvases and prints.

The range of artists who now license their original work for tapestry wall hangings is impressive, and growing. Leading contemporary artists such as Malenda Trick, Elizabeth Brandon and Stewart Sherwood are now being introduced to a whole new group of art lovers.

Encompassing a vast range of subject matter, from modern cityscapes and impressionist inspired landscapes, to idyllic coastal scenes and fantasy art, these contemporary works of art are adding a new dimension to fabric design, marrying traditional weaving techniques with modern, vibrant images.

Although prints enjoy a unique position in home décor, paintings and designs from these popular artists are increasingly exploiting the unique qualities of woven textiles. The tactile nature of wall hangings adds depth and texture to these already impressive works and makes a distinctive alternative to framed art often bringing alive the designs in ways not originally planned by the artists.

Modern textile art

Additionally many textile artists who use fabric as their main medium are enjoying a renewed prominence in the art world. Rather than plying their art in paintings there are a growing number of artists using tapestries and other types of wall hanging as their primary medium for expression. Modern artists such as Ulrika Leander, Monique Lehman and Elda Abramson combine their artistic vision with the depth and range available through fabrics to create a new, modern twist on this ancient art.

Many of these textile works of art are abstract in nature, often employing bold colors and striking, modern designs that incorporate the weave of the fabric as an essential part of the design to create a depth not available with traditional materials like canvas. As a home décor option they can add a splash of color to brighten up a room, and often become a great focal point in almost any setting.

Like abstract art prints, contemporary tapestry designs often allow art lovers to take more of a chance with their wall décor choices. Unlike a traditional painting, where the subject matter can be too modern, old-fashioned, fussy or just plain wrong, contemporary art allows us to concentrate more on the hues and tones of a piece to match the ambience of a room. Because of this they often afford a great deal of flexibility when decorating, adding to the reasons so many are looking towards contemporary tapestry art for their wall décor choices.

An ancient appeal

Contemporary artists are increasingly attracted to tapestries and textiles primarily because the individuality of the weaving process makes each piece produced a unique work of art unlike any other. In a world driven by mass production art lovers are often drawn to the uniqueness of wall tapestries as an antidote to the monotony of many other options.

Now, despite their ancient origins, many people are again looking towards tapestries and wall hangings as an answer to their modern home decor aspirations. With an ever growing range of options the choice has never been better for art lovers.

Godfrey Bazalgette writes extensively on art, history and tapestries & textiles.

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Once you have bought your favorite art piece, explore unique ways of presenting it to your audience. If you have several pieces of art that you want to hang on the wall, try grouping them creatively to add a more interesting look. If the art piece is small enough, why not frame it and place it on a shelf or side table – it’s nice to be able to pick it up to have a closer look once in a while. Art doesn’t have to be hung on the wall. You can simply place it on the floor and lean it against a wall or a piece of furniture, perhaps against a cupboard or side table – just make sure that the art piece will not obstruct walkways, and that it isn’t too large or too small that would make it look out of place.

Just hanging a solitary piece of art on the wall may not be enough, why not tell a story by including accessories or other decorative ornaments to compliment the art work. For example, if you have a piece of Asian contemporary art on the wall, you can place a small coffee table below it and decorate it with Asian antiques – maybe include some stone carvings of Buddha, or perhaps a few candles or flowers to add more variety and complete the look. Make sure that the items you choose will suit the theme of the art piece and not steal attention away from it.

Once the art is hung on the wall, use creative lighting to bring attention to it and to give it a stunning look. This will certainly lend excitement and be a point for interesting conversation, especially in the evenings when you’re having a nice cocktail party with your guests – or perhaps enjoying some special time alone with a loved one.

There are many exciting ways you can display your art in your home. This article only highlights a few of them. Be daring and unique – let your hair down when it comes to creativity. There are no hard and fast rules in interior decorating. If you’re short on ideas, look through your favorite home decorating magazines and books to draw new inspiration. The creative possibilities are endless.

Copyright 2008 Edwin Mah

Edwin owns Abstract Prints, an online art gallery offering more than 20,000 contemporary wall art prints for home and office decorating. Decorate your home with contemporary art prints today!

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If you want to make money from investing in a contemporary artworks, it is vital to buy early in the career of an artist who is destined for success. It is usually necessary to wait for lengthy periods of time for the artist’s art paintings to gather momentum over time and increase in value. It is better to purchase when the economic climate has been weakened as prices are lower and sell when the market is strong. These are factors that all need to be considered when investing in contemporary art paintings.

Anyone can invest in contemporary art paintings. Of course it depends on your budget and what you are looking to invest in. The best way to go about investing is to do your due diligence and research first. The best places to research are the auction houses, such as Sothebys and Christies. There are others, however these have been the largest auction houses for a long time and they are worth checking. Other galleries that specialize in contemporary art are worth researching. These galleries are in every major city and most regional areas also have galleries. Local media sources are also good at identifying the galleries specializing in contemporary art. There may be a local arts section in your paper or a city publication outlining the galleries. It is well worth going to the opening nights of some of these galleries and talking to people. It will take some time to get a handle on the market, so don’t rush into anything, just enjoy contemplating the works and the right piece will come along.

When you are looking to collect contemporary art paintings that will give you significant returns, it usually involves a gamble on emerging or upcoming artists and it involves time. These artists can usually be found exhibiting themselves or are represented by cutting edge galleries in major cities or regional areas. Once again, this involves research and going to contemporary exhibitions. The dividends can be huge, however it usually takes decades for this to occur. It usually takes time for any artist to be recognized by their peers, the art scene/world, the media and to become the next big thing. For many artists, this never happens, therefore it pays to research first.

The broad scope of contemporary paintings are defined by their genre and the era in which they were created. Some consider them to commence from the 1960’s and 1970’s up until the time we live in now. They can also be defined as artwork that is currently contemporary to whichever age we are living in. Pop art paintings were most contemporary in the1960’s just as Abstract Expressionist paintings were in the decade before that.

Here is an example of how contemporary artworks increase in value, sometimes in a phenomenal way. The Financial Times recently reported that in 1986, an anonymous collector bought a 1962 Andy Warhol painting ‘200 One Dollar Bills’ for $385,000. This sounds like an expensive investment. In November 2009, it sold for $43.8m at New York’s Sotheby’s auction house. There are many such examples of amazing returns on investment. An outlay of $385 000 may not be possible for everyone, however there can still be significant returns over time if a new collector purchases for hundreds of dollars rather than hundreds of thousands.

The contemporary art market has been affected by the recent economic downturn. This has been evidenced in gallery closures, reported downturn of sales at auction houses and an overall decrease in sales. However, the Financial Times heralded a positive change in the contemporary art paintings market with this recent sale of the Warhol, 1962 Warhol painting for $43.8m.

It is an ideal time to invest when the market has undergone a downturn. There is much greater chance of investing with significant return if the market has been weakened by the economic climate. According to many speculators and analysts, this has been the case for contemporary art paintings for the last year. Savvy investors can become avid collectors in a market such as this, as the returns can yield much higher dividends in the future. As reported by the Financial Times, collectors are just starting to pay big dollars again for contemporary art paintings, so now could be considered a prime time to invest in your future.

About the Artist: Cathy Condon is an Australian artist based in the UK and Europe who works primarily in an abstract style. Her blog, http://www.catharticgallery.com chronicles her life as a traveling and working artist in the world and her day-to-day influences and impressions.

Cathy Condon

http://www.catharticgallery.com

Copyright 2009.

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Large appreciation of masses and easy understandability are the main reasons of success of modern art. The accessibility of these arts are easy as it is released in numerous copies and forms like disks, e-books etc. Original paintings, which were hard to get in the old days, are now easy accessible through art galleries, which eventually increased the number of admirers of modern art.

However, contemporary art critics raised an argument that some arts should be reserved for certain group of people. They argued that true appreciation of art can come from people who can understand modern art. In other words, only an artist can understand the value of an art. It is true in some cases, but an artist would like to get appreciation from as many people as possible. Contemporary art will continue to express publicly understood ideas so as to get the maximum appreciation from the public.

There are various ways of acquiring modern art today. Online auctions are one of the ways where by abstract arts, oil-based painting, and impression arts can be purchased. But before you make a purchase, it is important that you do some homework on what art you would like to collect. One way of collecting required information is to make extensive research work in the internet. Other sources include libraries, magazines etc. which can give you your desired information on art.

But you have to be careful when buying a contemporary art work as there are lots of fakes in the market. But you can appoint an appraiser for the art you want to purchase. Online art auctions generally keep a track record of the art seller’s sales history and can help you determine whether the seller is a reputable person.

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To find out more about contemporary art you can read articles on the topic in various places. I hope you will read some of them at Contemporary Art Gallery Magazine. CAG has several fine writers working on basic education of people to contemporary art, as well clearing up some of the more controversial questions on contemporary, and even some articles on esthetics and artists’ interviews.

Some of the better articles were written by Arthur Browning, Daniel Ferris, and Allan Swinson at CAG. These writers have taken on some topical assignments that should be of interest to you. Arthur Browning is focused on contemporary art collecting and art business. Daniel Ferris is concerned with the future of
art and artificial intelligence in esthetics. Allan Swinson has written on art history, art and technology, art and cultures. As far as types of contemporary art that they are interested in, each of these writers has focused on some media more than others. Allan Swinson is interested in prints, collage and constructions. Daniel Ferris is interested in sculpture and photography. Arthur Browning has interests in painting,
especially abstract and nonobjective.

Another newer writer of some note is Giselle Borzov. Specializing in art business and art criticism, Giselle Borzov also critiques artists’ works. In this way she could be considered an artist consultant or career coach. Giselle Borzov is a freelance writer, she has the Art Now blog and does public relations work for small and medium-sized gallery businesses – private and corporate.

Artists can be reviewed by these writers and receive some attention in the media, especially on the internet. For artists or collectors who want opinion on marketing, buying and selling art, you should talk to Giselle Borzov. For the contemporary art -interested public the articles of any of these four authors is of value. Daniel Ferris has a blog at “It’s Only Art?” in addition to his writing a t CAG, Arthur Browning and Allan Swinson write for CAG, Giselle writes for Art Now and under pen names for other art publications online and in print.
# Tia Marks, Executive-Editor, Contemporary Art Gallery Magazine Art Now
# It’s Only Art?
# Contemporary Art Gallery Magazine

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The Correlations
Many art forms are related to and identified with this era of artistic excellence. Marked by ‘Pluralism,’ in Contemporary Art, new forms kept originating and been added to the existing ones, through decades. Among the most popular art movements of painting identified with Contemporary Art are Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, Conceptual Art, Neo-Dadaism, Pop Art, Post-Minimalism, Body Art, Photorealism, Graffiti, Stuckism, Lyrical Abstraction, Nouveau Réalisme, Installation Art, Postmodern Art, Figurative Expressionism, and Hard-edge Painting.

The Details
Amidst the co-existence of different genres, some common characteristics mark the Contemporary Art scene. The underlying philosophy for most of these styles is unencumbered forms and expressions, as opposed to the rigid portrayals in the dimensions of space and time. The key sect of the modern day art is more expressional, such as Abstraction, Stuckism, and Color Field. Here, the painters put a heavy premium on the choice of individual colors as well as color harmony and themes. This is more so because such styles do not use a distinctive delineation of shapes as a tool for expression. The focus is on the thematic depiction of tides of sentiments associated with the subject under coverage. For instance, orange, in combination with red or yellow, is a color of optimism and vigor, whereas, it is a color of spiritualism, when mixed with earthy tones.

However, there is another school of thought, whose art is quiet representational in nature – for instance, Photorealism. Novice viewers and art-lovers often confuse Photorealist artworks with actual photographs. Photorealism is a form of painting, which is a step ahead of Realism, in that it employs a magnified photographic frame as a base work. The outcome is almost as real as a true picture. Its variant, Romantic Realism, involves a touch of paint and some manipulation of the elements in the frame to create a sync of Romanticism and Realism.

Global socio-political, economic, and cultural changes have been greatly influencing the Contemporary Art scene. From the point of view of subjects, this art form deals with the present day issues, including but not limited to societal structures, racism, global warming, human rights, supernatural, and spirituality. Therefore, rigid methodologies cease to be significant, giving way to the message and the emotional force behind the works. This Western Painting style leaves a lot of room for creativity, artistic imagination, and experimentation. Its freedom from the stereotypes makes Contemporary Art even more attractive, the world over.

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com

Annette has bonus offers on her work only. Buy 2 paintings of any size and receive 1 painting of your choice for free of equal size and value. SHIPPING IS FREE IN CANADA AND US ON SMALLER ITEMS.

Please feel free to subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com

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