Altermodern

Altermodern

‘Altermodern’ was coined by Nicolas Bourriaud, seeking to place contemporary art within today's context as a response to commercialisation.

The term Altermodern was coined by Nicolas Bourriaud during the Tate Triennial in 2009. It opposes cultural standardisation, massification, nationalism, and cultural relativism. Instead, it positions artists within global cultural gaps. Key principles of Altermodern art include cultural translation, mental exploration, and crossing different formats.

In Altermodern, time is seen as a multiplicity, not a linear progression. Artists navigate various historical periods and global time zones, creating connections between distant signs. Altermodern is "docufiction," blending elements of fiction and documentary to explore the past and present, forming new paths.


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Parra's studio, with Parra at the centre, his back to the camera as he works on the large painting takes centre stage, showing a faceless blue woman in a striped dress, painted in red, purple, blue and teal. The studio is full of brightly coloured paints, with a large window on the right and a patterned rug across the floor under the painting.