When I talk to people who aren’t artists, a lot exclaim “I love art… but not any of that modern stuff!” By “modern stuff”, most people mean contemporary art – art that has been made in the last few decades.
We might think of bananas taped to walls and gallery cleaning staff throwing away art they thought was rubbish. Art that is often confusing, that does not fit neatly into historical or aesthetic categories and can be intimidating to engage with. Art that we might worry about is neglecting beauty, goodness and truth. I get it.
While these concerns have some merit, I fear that if this is our posture towards all contemporary art, then we are at risk of ignoring a group of people – image bearers – who are trying to say something meaningful about their experience in the world. But also impoverishing ourselves from profound encounters with others and with God.
