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Artists You Should Know: Contemporary

Lists, facts, dates, links, and more, organized by period/movement

Notable Contemporary Artists (1970 - present)

If you wish to be generally familiar with art history, here is a short list of artists you should know from this period.

Name	Birth	Death	Nationality	Movement(s)	Primary Medium	Representative Works
Abakanowicz, Magdalena N7255 .P63	1930		Polish	Socialist Realism	Sculpture Fiber Art	Agora Abakans War Games
Basquiat, Jean-Michel N6537 .B233	1960	1988	American	Neo-expressionism Primitivism	Painting	Scull Profit I
Hirst, Damien	1965		British	Young British Artists	Painting Installation Art	The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living For the Love of God Spot Paintings
Koons, Jeff	1955		American	Neo-pop	Sculpture Installation Art	Balloon Dog (Orange) Puppy
Noble, Paul	1963		British	often labeled Young British Artists	Sculpture Drawing	Nobson Newtown The Doley Game
Noland, Kenneth ND237 .N594	1924	2010	American	Color Field	Painting	Beginnings Mysteries: Infanta
Price, Elizabeth	1966		British		Installation Art	The Woolworths Choir of 1979 The User Group Disco
Salle, David	1952		American	Neo-expressionism Postmodernism	Painting Printmaking	Muscular Paper Mingus in Mexico
Stella, Frank ND237 .S683	1936		American	Minimalism Modernism	Painting Printmaking	Harran II Scarlatti K Series
Weiwei, Ai	1957		Chinese	Conceptual Art Thinkism	Sculpture Installation Art	Sunflower Seeds S.A.C.R.E.D.

Contemporary Artists (1970 - present)

If you are a student of Art or Art History, here is a more detailed list of artists you should know from this period.

Name	Birth	Death	Nationality	Movement(s)	Primary Medium	Representative Works
Abakanowicz, Magdalena N7255 .P63	1930		Polish	Socialist Realism	Sculpture Fiber Art	Agora Abakans War Games
Abramovic, Marina N7253 .A25	1946		Serbian	Conceptual Art	Performance Art Body Art	Seven Easy Pieces Rhythm (series)
Basquiat, Jean-Michel N6537 .B233	1960	1988	American	Neo-expressionism Primitivism	Painting	Scull Profit I
Bucklow, Christopher	1957		British	Neo-romanticism	Painting Photography	Guest (series)
Hirst, Damien	1965		British	Young British Artists	Painting Installation Art	The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living For the Love of God Spot Paintings
Koons, Jeff	1955		American	Neo-pop	Sculpture Installation Art	Balloon Dog (Orange) Puppy
Noble, Paul	1963		British	often labeled Young British Artists	Sculpture Drawing	Nobson Newtown The Doley Game
Noland, Kenneth ND237 .N594	1924	2010	American	Color Field	Painting	Beginnings Mysteries: Infanta
Price, Elizabeth	1966		British		Installation Art	The Woolworths Choir of 1979 The User Group Disco
Prouvost, Laure	1978		French		Installation Art	It, Heat, Hit For Forgetting
Salle, David	1952		American	Neo-expressionism Postmodernism	Painting Printmaking	Muscular Paper Mingus in Mexico
Schnabel, Julian	1951		American	Neo-expressionism	Painting	Plate Paintings Sonanbul
Stella, Frank ND237 .S683	1936		American	Minimalism Modernism	Painting Printmaking	Harran II Scarlatti K Series
Weiwei, Ai	1957		Chinese	Conceptual Art Thinkism	Sculpture Installation Art	Sunflower Seeds S.A.C.R.E.D.
White, Wayne	1957		American	Surrealism Pop Art	Painting Sculpture Cinema	Nixon Sarge
Yamashita, Kumi	1968		Japanese		Installation Art Shadow Art	Light & Shadow (series) Constellation (series)