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Huge List of Contemporary Artists

Are you looking for some new contemporary artists to teach your students about?  On the Facebook Art Teachers group, members suggested LOTS of contemporary artists that they teach their students.  These are now all compiled into ONE HUGE LIST on Google Docs!  I added websites and short descriptions to most of the artists so it is easier to use.  Thanks to all the teachers who collaborated to share their ideas and add artists.  This huge list has about 130 artists on it and the list is growing.  Do you have any favorite contemporary artists that should be on the list?

***  Important:  Do not use the list “as is” with students.  I have not thoroughly investigated every image on the websites and cannot guarantee they are all age appropriate.  Some of them may be not be suitable for children.  If you are a student, please get parental permission and guidance while using the internet. ***

Huge List of Contemporary ArtistsAll of the artists can be introduced to children, but the content definitely needs to be previewed and selected by the teacher.

That being said, there are so many wonderful, amazing artists on this list.  Here are some of my favorites.

contemporary artists

1.  Chor Boogie:  spray paint artist in California

2.  Betsy Bowen:  woodblock prints

3.  Riley Bramblitt:  this artist is BLIND!  remarkable!

contemporary artists24.  Justin BUA:  commercial artist influenced by urban street life

5.  Jon Burgerman:  fun doodled illustrations

6.  Romero Britto:  modern Pop art

contemporary art3

7.  Bruce Gray:  mobiles and colorful sculptures

8.  James Gurney:  author and illustrator of Dinotopia

9.  Timothy Horn:  California landscape painting

contemporary artists4 10.  Karin Jurick:  I love her paintings of museum patrons looking at masterpieces.

11.  Wolf Kahn:  realism and color field painting

12.  Michel Keck: vintage industrial assemblages, colorful abstracts, colorful animal paintings.. wide range!

contemporary artists 5

13.  Yayoi Kusama:  polka dots!!

14.  Teesha Moore:  visual art journalist

15.  Olek:  yarn bomber

contemporary art 6

16.  Jesse Reno:  I’ve loved this artist’s raw paintings for a long time now!

17.  Aurora Robson:  installations and really cool junk mail collages

18.  Sandy Skoglund:  she makes awesome surreal installations and photographs them

contemporary art 7

19.  Crystal Wagner:  really cool, colorful installations, sculptures, “tangled” drawings & prints

20.  Jason deCaires Taylor:  underwater sculptures!

21.  Justin Vining:  gorgeous paintings of rural landscapes (some are realistic and others are topsy-turvy whimsical landscapes)

There are so many amazing contemporary artists working right now!  My goal for this year is to teach my students about more contemporary artists.  I don’t think I do that enough now.

Take a look at the HUGE LIST OF ARTISTS and then let me know if you have any more you’d like to see on the list.

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About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

36 Responses to Huge List of Contemporary Artists

  1. faigekobre says:

    This is awesome Marcia. Thanks so much for putting in all this work, I will definitely be using this resource

  2. Thanks for a great list! I like to introduce my middle school students to contemporary artists along with the great ones from the past so that they can see how art can be relevant in today’s world. Check out Bing Davis, an African American artist and arts educator living in my home town of Dayton, Ohio. His personal story is inspiring and his work, especially the Ancestral Spirit Dance series, is stunning.

  3. brittany h says:

    I love your blog! This is my first year teaching k-8 art and your blog is SO helpful!! Go Art Teachers 🙂

  4. grantthomasonline says:

    I recommend Kahinde Wiley and Cindy Sherman

  5. TTamura says:

    THANK YOU for this amazing, amazing list! Can’t wait to research some new contemporary artists to add to the arts integration arsenal! Also, I recommend Brazilian contemporary artist Helio Oiticica. Brilliant artist who died very young. Love his geometric works to use in conjunction with artful arrays and multiplication 🙂

  6. Thanks for including me on this list! I used to be an elementary art teacher myself and could have benefitted from a resource like this. If I can ever be of help to your classroom or anyone else’s please just let me know.

    Happy Creating!

    justin

  7. Tracy H says:

    Best. List. Ever.
    Thanks so much for putting this together.

  8. Betsy says:

    Great list. Will reference often. Ted Harrison? He just passed away, sadly.

  9. I was just looking for works of contemporary artists for my Modern mARTch lessons. This post is a blessing. Thank you 🙂

  10. Sidney Bales says:

    Will you put Ed Mell on your list? He is a southwest art painter. He has a modern take on the southwest. http://www.medicinemangallery.com/bio/edmell.lasso

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  12. Barbara Hausman says:

    I didn’t see Mariam Pare on your list. She’s an amazing mouth painter in the Chicago area. http://www.mariampare.com/#!gallery/c1pm

  13. Alright, I’m adding a few artists that my students LOVE. I do something called ‘Artist Friday’. At the beginning of class we look at slides/videos of an artist they haven’t heard of and discuss their work. No grading. Just to help build our repertoire of artists and art styles 😉 Carne Griffiths (paints with tea and ink), Chris Uminga (great graphic artworks of pop culture icons), Josh Keyes (interesting comments on the environment- realistic work), Audrey Kawasaki (AMAZING paintings on wood- truly stunning… not great for younger classes), Nanami Cowdroy (Ink drawings), Ron Mueck (hyper-realistic sculptures), Samantha French (paintings of the light reflecting in the water while swimming) AND The Little People Project – Slinkachu. You don’t have Mark Ryden or Camille Rose Garcia either!

    Hope that helps! (PS. Art history major with a focus on contemporary ;))

  14. Lindsay says:

    This is amazing! Thank you so much !

  15. Lindsay says:

    Just thought of someone I didn’t see on the list…Mel Chin

  16. Jill says:

    Thank you so much for such a wonderful resource! It has been one of my goals to add more contemporary artists to my repertoire. I would suggest Sandra Silberzweig.

  17. Jill says:

    Thank you for this list! I would add Bekah Ash.

  18. Lindsay Bonaldo says:

    Florian Maier-Aichen…German, digitally alters photographs, featured in “fantasy” on Art 21

  19. Lindsay Bonaldo says:

    Shirin Neshat…also a photographer who focuses on woman especially the contrast between Islam and the West.

  20. Odilon says:

    I would suggest Jérémie Iordanoff, an abstract painter.

    http://iordanoff.com

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  22. Julie says:

    Michael Velliqutte – paper sculpture. Amazing pieces of work. Used to inspire 3D cultural masks. http://www.velliquette.com/

    Julie- art teacher Australia!

  23. Barbara Weinstein says:

    Great list! I’d add Nate Williams (very witty illustrations), Michael Albert (“Cerealism”), and Reggie Laurent (incredibly detailed shape and pattern).

  24. jhon says:

    this is amazing thanks for sharing article

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