Chevron Left
Back to What Is Contemporary Art?

Learner Reviews & Feedback for What Is Contemporary Art? by The Museum of Modern Art

4.7
stars
1,800 ratings

About the Course

What is contemporary art? In this course, you’ll consider this question through works of art made since 1980. Hear directly from artists, architects, and designers from around the globe about their creative processes, materials, and inspiration. You’ll look at 3D–printed glass and fiber sculptures, performances in a factory and a museum, portraits (including those made with artificial intelligence) and interventions into television and video games. Not only will you develop a deeper understanding of how artists work today, you’ll also explore some of their approaches to the pressing issues and questions of our time. By taking this course, you’ll build skills for looking at contemporary art wherever you encounter it and make connections to your own life or creative practice....

Top reviews

CS

Jun 26, 2020

Excellent, informative course, with much diversity. I laughed and smiled, felt awe and inspiration, cried and felt the pain and the beautiful defiance of pieces I might have never appreciated before.

GH

May 3, 2020

Very interesting and easily consumable resources, lots of video, audio, and short text so it was very fun and accessible. They have a good diversity of artists across ethnicity, sex, and country.

Filter by:

1 - 25 of 400 Reviews for What Is Contemporary Art?

By Emily B

•

Feb 20, 2020

Very narrow view of what art is. Political positions front and center a central requirement for inclusion. Most examples require a back-story or long explanation of the artist's intentions to begin to appreciate, as the work does not stand on it's own merits. Most examples are descendants of Duchamp, so you need to be excited by his nihilism to appreciate these selections. The Architectural examples are the strongest work.

By Adriana S

•

Mar 18, 2020

Todo está perfecto. Excepto mi certificado. Quién lo firma? es una burla? pone "signature", por qué no o firma nadie del MOMA? por qué nisiquiera lo firma uno de los profesores? es un curso real del MOMA? quiero saber quién firmó mi certificado y exio sea corregido y sea real. Yo hice mi curso con consciencia y dedique tiempo y pagué mi certificado. quiero respuestas. Gracias

By Alessandra M R

•

Apr 18, 2020

It's not exactly a course that discusses what is contemporary art but mostly a parade of artists and artworks grouped by themes. The good part is that we can discover some artists and their artworks and working processes. The bad part is that there's no reflexion besides it. For an institution as MoMA with a curator's team of such a great quality, it's surprisingly poor and deceiving. Instructors / curators do not "explain", they don't establish bridges between artists, times and historic contextes. They don't do their basic work that is to conceive and present an exhibition (and this course can be considered as one because contemporary art is explained from a certain point of view and not from another) . So if you want to visit an art exhibition without many intellectual and reflexion work being handle to you to improve your thinking, it can be a very nice and interesting parade. If you expect more than that, you risk to be disappointed.

By Carla E

•

Apr 21, 2020

Whether a fan of modern art or not, this course is really interesting and educational on how art is created, the story behind the piece, the materials, etc. Really well done by MOMA, thank you.

By Brenda R C

•

Mar 13, 2020

Este curso fue muy importante para mi, lo tome para conocer mas acerca del arte contemporaneo ya que en lo personal no me. gusta, y descubri muchos artistas muy buenos y obras muy interesantes, que definitivamente cambiaron mi manera de pensar

By Chisco V

•

Jan 23, 2020

Amazing experience totally helps you have a better understanding of the contemporary art

By Danny V

•

Jan 20, 2020

Es una forma increíble de entender las piezas de arte en las galerías, las motivaciones, el contexto, las piezas mostradas son de gran inspiración.

By J-Man

•

Jan 23, 2020

Another quick and well curated collection of works that are discussed in greater detail from MOMA

By Dario P

•

Apr 13, 2020

I'm a sicilian artist, working hard to find a simple and effective artistic language that can be understood by the most.

My goal in the path of art is trying to communicate feelings that led people to join and not to divide.

In order to do that,my ideas grows with the help of other's ideas, in a loving interconnection between medium's and vehiculation of ideas themselves.

What I feel about art is an inner connection to the best part of myself: the soul.

In order to feel art in an ethic way thoughts,art and feelings does't belongs to me,in a sense of possession, but they belongs to humanity as an interdependence bewteen who am I today thanks to others that has been before me.

So sharing is more important than possessing.

After years of studying, drawing , painting and writing , ina private inner space, I'm trying to find a path to the exposition of my point of counsciousness and works.

I had the abitude to retain closed in the drawer, ideas , drawings and paintings, feeling insicure on what I was doing, having the idea of keep them hidden , because weren't satisfying as artworks.

Now I'm still insicure, and probably I will be like that till the end of my days, but with the peace of having the will to let others see what's inside that drawers. And try to understand if they have an artistic meaning and relevance.

To make this step I was helped by those who has encouraged me to let them out, to take the risk, and especially than's th whom said to me that art I was creating has a strenght expressive of human feelings and fears .

This course was a very inspiring path through ideas and expressions.

It helped me a lot on my reaserch of my artistic Language with a confrontation with other international artistic languages.

Hoping that this message could be inspiring others to join communities and dialogue.

By Natalie C

•

Jun 16, 2020

Whether you're interested in art, have always been intimidated by it or are an artist, this is a fantastic course that I recommend to anyone. It's fairly comprehensive and easy to understand, and introduces you to the work of several artists that span across different mediums. You can also take it at your own pace, which I found made it easy to follow and there are also Zoom sessions with the curators, which is amazing because you could divulge further into topics and actively engage with them. For me, I definitely gained a deeper appreciation for contemporary art and loved the wide variety of artwork this course presented.

By Gavin H

•

May 4, 2020

Very interesting and easily consumable resources, lots of video, audio, and short text so it was very fun and accessible. They have a good diversity of artists across ethnicity, sex, and country.

By Gabby P

•

Jun 16, 2020

I discovered a lot of unfamiliar artists and topic such as border. It was worth taking this. I'm glad that I was able to absorb at this online class because it's my first time online course.

By Foteinh D

•

Nov 23, 2021

This is an interesting course. It presents a plethora of artists, both renowned and less famous, to see. The thing is that you only get a peek of many themes and artists, without delving deeper into anything. The historical context given for the works is brief, but enough. Also, there are some external links for further studying. There are no specific methodologies or theoritical tools behind the course, so it feels more like a museum tour with a very good guide explaining to you, rather than a real study on contemporary art.

So, I guess it depends on your expectations and background. If you're a curious person wanting to get a general picture of contemporary art, it is perfectly good for you. Also it might be good if you're an art student looking to broaden your horizons. But if you are someone who is studying or working in art theory, it probably won't cut it.

By Dr. O K

•

Jun 7, 2020

Missing information about important artists in contemporary art especially paintings !

By Miguel I O J

•

Apr 29, 2020

It has been a very educational and easy course to take and I highly recommend it. I must confess that before doing this course he saw Contemporary Art with more distance. I believed that there were thousands of nuances that escaped when it came to understanding certain artists and works of art and this made me somewhat reluctant to face him. This course shows countless artists and works of art and helps you understand their meaning and the intention with which their authors carried out the work. It is a course that I recommend to everyone who wants to understand the world of contemporary art a little more or who simply enjoys art.

By Jaime F G

•

Apr 1, 2020

EXTRAORDINARIO, CONOCER ARTISTA Y OBRAS DE DIFERENTES TÉCNICAS Y DIFERENTES ESTATUS Y TAMBIÉN CREACIONES DIVERSAS ATRAVEZ DE CRACIO0NES Y DE DIFERENTE INDOLE, LA COMUNICACION CON FOROS DE DIFERENTES CREADORES, ESTUDIOSOS DEL ARTE...

By Marta R

•

Mar 25, 2020

Great selections of artists . The course is full of videos, texts and interviews with the artists to delve into a beautiful journey of discovery of Contemporary Art.

By Odalys

•

Mar 12, 2020

El curso enseña acerca de obras de artes que de verdad son muy buenas, y vale totalmente la pena tomar el curos porque aprender de cultura y arte

By Celina C

•

Apr 13, 2020

I felt that it was very complete and not over complicated. I took more than what I was expecting from it. Thank you!

By Paccelli Z

•

Jan 21, 2020

O curso apresenta uma excelente visão da arte contemporânea.

By Jenny P

•

May 31, 2020

My only regret is that my busy schedule did not allow me to interact with other students and educators/artists featured more! The content seemed so timely in regard to the current events America is facing today. Although I've always loved art history it was powerful to see how recent and current events are features by all of these wonderful artists globally. MoMa is one of my favorite places in NYC and as a New Yorker the pandemic has made it impossible for me and others to visit MoMa and other art institutions so it felt beautiful to have a connection to the art world and the unity that comes with it.

By Guadalupe R

•

Apr 14, 2020

I really enjoyed this course. It aproaches themes in a light and clear way, making it easy to comprehend. Personally, it introduced me to artists and art work i did not know. It opend my mind as to different ways of making art and getting involved in matters tha affect me as an individual but also affects society. It has always troubled me the situations in life that exced me and make me feel powerless. By researching more on certain artists and their work i learned that i can too contribute to help on those issues.

By Cinthia S

•

Jun 26, 2020

Excellent, informative course, with much diversity. I laughed and smiled, felt awe and inspiration, cried and felt the pain and the beautiful defiance of pieces I might have never appreciated before.

By Carolina M F

•

Mar 27, 2020

muy completo e interesante!

By Monica A

•

Jun 21, 2020

I much enjoyed the learning offered by this class. The topics are interesting and relevant. I felt a little less guided by the curators, so I could not form a clear frame in which the lessons would follow each other. I could only make connections to my own references, not to the historical flow of Art, and I would have liked that. Maybe it's because it's a free class, but hey.