Fountain, Marcel Duchamp, 1917 (photo by Alfred Stieglitz)

Within the field of art history, the term contemporary art generally refers to art produced since 1945. The date should be no mystery – with the end of WWII , the western world had endured its second shock (in thirty years) concerning the almost unimaginable destruction (and barbarity) that arose from the underbelly of its so-called ‘enlightened’ civilization. This date also marks the beginning of a new, American-led era in which consumerism and advanced marketing techniques would come to drive much, if not all, of the western world's cultural production.

In this context, late modernism, as a multi-disciplinary philosophy of social and technological progress, did not seem to hold the keys to a better world. Moreover, with a growing art market increasingly geared toward investment (and corporate sponsorship of art museums), modernist philosophies could be seen as moving hand in hand with the rise of multi-national corporations and post-WWII capital interests. In other words, ‘progress’ might be construed as being reduced to the progressive domination of an economic structure in which all cultural production either succeeds or fails according to market forces.

More specifically, late modernist principals in the field of art were becoming increasingly precise and restrictive. Institutional strictures limited the legitimate horizons of creative production (and, ironically, experimentation) while giving the critical stamp of approval to accredited artists who met and furthered the proper aesthetic criteria. Modern art, which had earlier overthrown traditional styles and philosophies of art in favor of experimentation, had become the new institution.

Medium-specificity, abstraction, and the autonomous existence of high art, separate from daily social concerns and practices (i.e. high culture, as opposed low culture), gave rise to brilliant art, but other movements began to actively pursue directions which not only defied modernist aesthetic criteria (as developed by notable critics such as Clement Greenberg), but also created new mediums and hybrids that routinely borrowed images, materials, and practices from outside accepted artistic practice –producing an art that was sometimes overtly political, and oftentimes engaged in (and critical of) the broader social reality in which the artist lived.

Postmodernism can be considered a reaction both to the institutional strangleholds that determine what art can be, as well as a reaction to the economic conditions that seem to actively reduce cultural production to a function of market demand. Regarding art specifically, postmodernism is less an issue of style and more a theoretical engagement with the ideological structures of norms, language, and institutions that give rise to the socio-political phenomena of class, gender, race, nationalism, and postcolonial capitalist expansion.

Ideally, postmodern art explores subjective, daily life (in all its forms) by whatever criteria, material, or method the artist deems effective. Frequently, the material might not exist entirely within the art work itself, but instead be composed of the social forces from which the work takes its context, including the role of the viewer, the museum or gallery, the means of production, or the specific site of display.

In an extreme case, the actual material of the art object (as in conceptual art) might serve only as a conduit to a work composed entirely of concepts and social contexts which reflexively examine the mechanisms by which both meaning and institutions are produced. Not incidentally, this type of work might frequently engage issues specific to the art world itself.

Briefly stated, a postmodern work of art can oftentimes confound a viewer who might have neither the education nor the inclination to contemplate the full impact of its conceptual (and sometimes political) composition. Further, postmodernism has given rise to different mediums, such as performance art and site-specific installations, which are ephemeral, cannot be collected, and don’t tailor themselves for a market economy.

On the other hand, this present article is a highly idealized conception of the distinction between modern and postmodern art – one which conveniently reflects my own subjective biases in writing it.  Still, Frederic Jameson sums it all up rather neatly when he says, "Postmodernism is what you have when the modernization process is complete and nature is gone for good." In this sense, postmodernity is nothing more than the rather detached social condition in which we are currently presumed to live – consisting of a closed reality which reproduces itself within its own structure of ideological practices as an increasingly vapid series of copies.

Art which cynically reflects this theoretical condition (intentionally or unintentionally) can, for better or worse, fall under the term 'postmodern'. Art which arose within the idealist era of modernism (ending around 1970) will routinely fall under the term 'modern'.

In some respects, we can say that these are only terms, useful primarily in discourse. For now, however, let's agree to avoid using a subsequent term:  post postmodern.  Future historians and theorists will undoubtedly come up with something more applicable.

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The following list (heavily idebted to Professor Jane Blocker at the University of Minnesota) juxtaposes some of the critical differences between modernism and postmodernism.

Newness – Modernism valorizes new and original styles of art.  Postmodernism has lost faith in originality and is more inclined to view 'newness' as a commodity tactic (e.g. NEW and IMPROVED laundry detergent.)

Progress – Modernism believes in teleologic progress toward a utopian goal.  Postmodernism can be said to have lost this belief, considering the artist trapped within a self-sustaining structure of market and ideological controls which can only be addressed from within.

Medium-specific purity – Modernism promotes the separation of medium-specific techniques and materials (e.g. painting occurs on a two-dimensional surface with techniques and materials specific only to painting).  Postmodernism freely integrates mediums, creating hybrids that make use of whatever material and processes the artist finds relevant to the art work.

Autonomy of art – Modernism elevates art as a separate sphere from daily social life, and sees the art work as containing meaning which is determined solely within that sphere.  Postmodernism believes that the meaning of art is continually re-created via its relationship with the viewer – who interprets the work according to an unpredictable array of social influences that change with the era.

High/low distinction – Modernism distinguishes between high and low culture, rejecting the use of low culture objects and images within serious art.  Postmodernism makes no distinction between high and low culture, considering any object, image, or concept as being valid material for use within an art work.

Hermeneutic model of depth – Modernism considers meaning (even intimations of ‘truth’) to be fully contained within the depths of the art work, waiting to be interpreted.  Postmodernism is anti-hermeneutical in the sense that meaning cannot be contained within an artwork, but arises out its context in relation to specific location, era, and viewer. In this sense, meaning cannot be precisely determined, nor contained, by any given work of art.

Expression – Modernism emphasizes the expressive nature of the art work as a truthful form of human experience which potentially affects the viewer in a significant, meaningful way. Postmodernism increasingly distrusts expression as a product of shallow simulation employed by product marketing and consumerist ideology. (See Frederic Jameson on "the waning of affect.")

Authorial status of the artist – Modernism celebrates the ability of the artist to create profound, timeless meanings via the art work.  Postmodernism works with meanings which arise not only from the artist but also from the milieu of cultural influences embodied within the viewer, through whom meaning is in a continual process of re-creation.

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For further information on the development of postmodern art:

dada
Marcel Duchamp
Avant-garde
Situationist International
Jasper Johns
Nouveau Réalisme
Pop Art
Andy Warhol
Allan Kaprow
Fluxus