“Modern” versus “Contemporary”

CEBU, Philippines – Unlike a layman’s assumption, in the lexicon of creative terms and jargons “modern” and “contemporary” are not synonyms.

“Modern,” in the visual arts, refers to works that are crafted in the dominant decorative themes of the 1890s to the 1960s – a.k.a. the “Modernist Period.” Some experts of the field argue that the period runs up to the late 1980s, but that’s another story altogether.

“Contemporary” alludes to artworks that are made “in the now” – works that amalgamate the creative tenors of the past, present and – in certain cases – what’s yet to come.

A simple definition of contemporary art is “artworks that are made within the past couple of decades” – influenced by the popular creative themes and dichotomies of the past.

While Ernie Claud’s ongoing exhibit can be described as contemporary (since the works that are part of the show were made within the past couple of years), its overall tone is very much modernist, as most of its presented pieces are tinged with “cubism” blended with hints of “surrealism” – two of the main “isms” that characterize the Modernist Period in the arts.