This is a list of contemporary artists, i.e. whose peak of activity can be situated somewhere between the 1970s (the advent of postmodernism) and the present day. Artists in this list have proven their importance because their work has been shown in contemporary art exhibitions of worldwide importance, such as the documenta or the Venice Biennale, the Sao Paulo Art Biennial or exhibited in major modern or contemporary art museums and institutes.

There may be some overlap with the list of modern artists, since it is difficult to define the boundaries between modern and contemporary art.

See also: Art, List of painters, List of modern artists

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• Gruppo A12
• Marina Abramovic, (born 1946), performance artist
• Vito Acconci, (born 1940)
• Eija-Lisa Ahtila, (born 1959), video artist
• Chantal Akerman, (born 1950), filmmaker
• Carl Andre, (born 1935), sculptor
• Ran Andrews, (born 1956), expressionist painter
• Marjut Anttonen , (born 1970), painter, installation artist
• Nobuyoshi Araki
• Asymptote, architect office
• Laurie Anderson
• Art & Language
• Ismail Acar, (born 1971)
• Carla Accardi , (born 1924)

B

• John Baldessari
• Matthew Barney, (born 1967), filmmaker
• Vanessa Beecroft , (born 1969)
• Dennis Bellone, painter and video artist
• ijosé benin, (born 1973), video artist and painter
• Guillaume Bijl , (born 1946), installation artist
• Alighiero Boetti , (Torino 1954 - Roma 1994)
• Louise Bourgeois, (born 1911), sculptor
• Montien Boonma , (1953 - 2000), installation artist
• Stuart Brisley, performance artist
• Troy Brauntuch , (born 1954)
• Chris Burden, (born 1946)
• Elena Bajo , (born 1972 Madrid, Spain) installation, performance, New York, London

C

• Vija Celmins
• Christo
• Chuck Close
• Claude Closky
• Tony Cragg
• Mr. California
• Martin Creed

D

• Hanne Darboven
• Richard Deacon
• Stan Douglas , (born 1960), video artist
• Jimmie Durham
• Dr. Hugo Heyrman, painter, multimedia artist

E

• Olafur Eliasson
• Tracey Emin
• Cerith Wyn Evans
• Marco Evaristti

F

• Jan Fabre
• Dan Flavin, (1993-1996)
• Camille Frazier
• Tom Friedman
• Lucien Freud
• Judith Frost
• Eric Fischl

G

• Carla Gannis
• Isa Genzken
• H.R. Giger
• Gilbert and George
• Jack Goldstein (born 1945, died 2003)
• Andy Goldsworthy
• Anthony Gormley
• Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster
• Felix Gonzales-Torres (born 1957, died 1996)
• Dan Graham , (born 1942)
• Robert Graham (born 1938)
• Johannes Grenzfurthner (born 1975)
• Grey, Alex
• Johan Grimonprez , video artist
• Marie-Ange Guilleminot

H

• Hans Haacke, (born 1936)
• Richard Hamilton, (born 1922)
• Mona Hatoum
• Gary Hill, (born 1951), video artist
• Tatu Hiltunen , (born 1977), photographer
• Damien Hirst, (born 1965), installation artist
• Roy Hopiavuori , painter
• Pierre Huyghe, (born 1962), media artist

I

• IRWIN

J

• Jodi, internet artists
• Isaac Julien, (born 1960), filmmaker
• Donald Judd, (1928-1994), sculptor

K

• Ilya Kabakov , (born 1933), installation artist
• Hanns-Christian Kaiser, (born 1969), painter
• Anish Kapoor
• Lena Karpinsky, (born 1961), painter
• On Kawara
• Solomon Keal, (born 1977), composer
• Mike Kelley, (born 1954)
• Anselm Kiefer, (born 1945), painter
• Martin Kippenberger , (1953-1997)
• Jeff Koons

L

• Tero Laaksonen , (born 1953), painter
• Mauricio Lasansky, (born 1914), printmaker
• Sol LeWitt, (born 1928),installation artist
• Atelier van Lieshout
• Richard Long
• Robert Longo

M

• Miltos Manetas
• Javier Marchán, (born 1967), media/installation artist
• Brice Marden
• Melek Mazici
• monochrom, art group
• Annette Messager , (born 1943)
• Stani Michiels, (born 1973)
• Ricardo Miranda Zuniga
• Jonathan Monk , (born 1969), installation, film, post-conceptual artist
• Juan Muñoz , (1953-2001)
• Antoni Muntadas, (born 1942)
• Takashi Murakami, (born 1962), sculptor/painter
• Linda Mears, (born 1949), painter

N

• Yoshimoto Nara
• Bruce Nauman
• Alexander Ney

O

• Arthur OMAR , (born 1948), brazilian contemporary artist -video artist, photographer, filmmaker, installation artist
• Gabriel Orozco , (born 1962)
• Tony Oursler , (born 1957), video artist
• Yoko Ono, (born 1933), musician, artist

P

• Stefano Pasquini, (born 1969), sculpture, video and installation artist.
• Simon Patterson
• Grayson Perry
• Paul Pfeiffer , (born 1966), video and installation artist.
• Richard Piegza
• Philip Pocock
• Sigmar Polke
• Fuller Potter, 1910-1990, US Abstract expressionist

Q

R

• Gerhard Richter, (born 1932), painter
• Pipilotti Rist , (born 1962), video artist
• Edward Ruscha

S

• Giorgio Sadotti, (born 1955)
• David Salle , (born 1952), painter.
• Richard Serra, (born 1939), sculptor
• Paula Sigley, (born 1970), painter and sculptor
• Mitchell Sipus
• Erik-Christopher Seidenglanz , (born 1980) conceptual artist
• Cary Smith
• Jessica Stockholder
• Ross Straight, painter and sculptor
• Meg Stuart , (born 1965), choreographer
• Frank Stella, (born 1936), painter and sculptor
• George Sutherland, painter

T

• Tomoko Takahashi (born 1966), installation artist
• Fiona Tan
• Sam Taylor Wood
• Wolfgang Tillmans (born 1968), photographer
• Rirkrit Tiravanija (born 1961)
• Luc Tuymans
• Keith Tyson

U

• UEK

V

• Steina Vasulka
• Woody Vasulka
• Bill Viola
• John Virtue

W

• Jeff Wall, (born 1946)
• Andy Warhol
• Lawrence Weiner
• Franz West , (born 1947)
• Rachel Whiteread
• Jane & Louise Wilson , (born 1967), video installation artists
• Wela Elisabeth Wierzbicka , (born 1964), installations

X

Y

• Carey Young, (born 1970)

Z

• Italo Zuffi (born 1969), installation artist, photographer
• Andrea Zittel (born 1965), installation artist