You just need to embrace the power of art to move you.
I think that the best approach to understanding contemporary art is to come at it with an open mind. The truly wonderful thing about art being produced today and over the past few decades is the extreme breadth of styles, subjects, movements and techniques, and artists are continually developing new practices that are changing the way we look at art and ourselves. There are certainly artists and styles that won’t resonate well with everyone, and that’s ok, you don’t have to love everything to be a supporter or collector of contemporary art, you just need to embrace the power of art to move you.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/-07e6L93pF4?wmode=opaque
Jessica Backus, Director of the Art Genome Project at Artsy, about understanding of art
To understand contemporary art you need to start by looking. Look at everything! Go to all the galleries, the museums and institutions, follow artists on their social media channels, and start making lists in your head or on paper of what and who you like or don’t like. Start thinking about why it is that you feel the way you do about their work. You can’t possibly read everything written today about current artists and their practices but identify some key artists or styles that really resonate with you either positively or negatively and start reading up on them.
If there is one thing in common with all art dealers, advisors, curators and auction house experts, it’s that we all love to talk about art, and even more so when we can engage with someone who is truly interested in understanding what it’s all about, so don’t be afraid, get out there and come talk to us!
Yayoi Kusama, All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, 2016