When it comes to contempoary, abstract, and modern art artists, Americans can be an ignorant bunch. One would be hard pressed to approach people randomly on the street and find more than five percent who can state the difference between a famous modern artists and famous comtemporary artists. The reasons for this are difficult to determine. However, a good bet might be due to the fact that art is not valued as highly in the United States as it is in other parts of the world; and that is a shame. Art of all kinds is what makes the world beautiful, interesting, and unique; and it is through art and literature that humans often have learned about the past.

Some claim that the old fashioned, no nonsense American spirit, which encourages citizens to be straight forward, hard working, if unrefined, individualists condones an attitute that modern art artists and aesthetics are useless, serve no legitimate purpose, and offer no tangible value. It would be interesting to know how many people who harbor such narrow minded opinions actually recognize how the work of modern art artists affects their lives. Although it would be difficult to make such a measurement, a good guess might be in the range of 90 percent or more. Unless one decides to adorn themselves in completely black attire with no style, and drive flat black automobiles that look like boxes on wheels, they need to reconsider the value of visual arts on their lives. Without the efforts of modern art artists, contemporary artists, and abstract artists, the world would be a dull place with tired ideas.

Everything from the way people dress, the homes in which they live, and the cars they drive are some how related to the work of modern art artists. But art does not only make life more interesting, unique, and colorful, but it provides world citizens with a sense of history and human accomplishment. After all, not too long after everyone is dead and buried, history will not remember the money they made today, yesterday, or at any time; nor will it make any notes about 99.99 percent of us. However, the great modern art artists will live on for centuries.

For those who exist outside the margins of the contemporary art world, when they think of famous modern artists and famous contemporary artists, they would likely be perplexed for a couple of different reasons. For one, it seems that the only famous artists that most people have heard of are dead and gone. Among these are, of course, the most famous artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Rembrandt, Michaelangelo, and even Andy Warhol. While the exact meaning of the term modern may confuse those who are ignorant about the world of art and its many overlapping periods and schools, they might consider Andy Warhol one of the famous modern artists, and they would be right to do so, as he was alive during most of their lifetimes. However, others would not consider Andy Warhol to be on of the famous modern artists, nor a famous contemporary artist, because his heyday occurred back in the late sixties and the early seventies, during the post beat generation. For whatever reason, most Americans are not well educated in the areas of visual arts or the history of modern visual arts. They may not even be able to identify an abstract artist from any period of history, probably do not know the difference between modern art and contemporary art, and certainly would not be able to name any famous comtemporary artists.

The reason that Americans are ignorant when it comes to famous modern artists and contemporary artists, is that in the United States, art is considered by many to be unimportant. Americans have always been known to be a practical bunch, and a large portion of them have little interest or time to waste learning about such a fluffy, irrelevant topic as art. Ironically, however, many Americans do like that they have traditions and will argue that traditions are necessary for any culture; but, at the same time, they display little interest in the very platform that is necessary for culture and tradition. The truth is, without art, any culture would be drab, bland, and just plain boring Famous modern artists pushed the envelope and helped to bring about changes in culture that influence the lifestyles of every citizen. The influence of famous modern artists can be identified rather easily in fashion, animation, film, music, books, architecture, and all of those so called irrelevant things that everyone enjoys.

There are plenty of modern artist out there now a days doing all sorts of unique, and stunning work. Contemporary artists from all over the world are involved in a plethora of styles. Some of these artists are concerned with there work making some sort of social commentary. Others just want visually stunning pieces. Whatever their motivation, the modern artist is more plentiful then any other time in history.

The abstract artist produces stunning works that often leave the eyes dancing in the viewer’s head. Different shapes will often swirl and interact in a pool of colors that leaves the viewer with the sense of being lost in a visual waterfall. There are many famous contemporary artists and famous modern artists who have achieved this effect.

Many a modern artist will use their artistic skills to point out what they take to be an important commentary on some social issue. Often times it will center around gender, race, or socio economic matters. The goal is to convince the viewer of the importance of the issue being portrayed, and hopefully compel them into action in the name of that issue. The modern art artists will use their artistic ability to try and seamlessly integrate their work with the real life around them. To truly make a piece of art that will speak to the viewer about, say the racism still felt by the African American today, the art must be representative of that racism in a way which the viewer will say to themselves “oh yeah, I have seen that.” Only then will the message of the art get across.

The modern artist operates in diverse mediums to get their point out there. Some use canvas and paint, some pencil and paper. Some will make 3D objects of one sort or another, and still some will use the medium of sound. The mediums available are almost as endless as the messages they are trying to get across. The modern artist is truly an animal of many masks.