As a high school student, it is more than likely that your schedule is packed with activities the majority of the day. The first thing you want to do when you go home is relax. You have your set schedule of relaxation activities, and from watching TV to working out, you know exactly what brings you into your happy place.

But…have you ever considered the idea that art could be…relaxing? That the bright colors popping out all over or the cut out photos pasted seemingly haphazardly across a page might have more to them then meets the eye?

Modern art is a complex topic. Though it is defined as simply an “art form that emphasized individuality”, it means so much more than that. The variety modern art offers is beyond collages, paintings, sketches, or even sculpting. It goes to all ends of the spectrum, to writing or jewelry, or even song and dance. If you haven’t looked into modern art as a form of relaxation and thought, you may be mistaken in doing so. Meaning can be found in every piece of art, and if analysis isn’t your thing, there’s still some feeling of satisfaction when you find a piece of art that you feel perfectly describes your mood.

If you’re worried about beginning the search for meaningful modern art, have no fear; I’ve compiled a list of 5 of my favorite artists for you to enjoy.

Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger, an American artist, is well known for her black and white pictures with a bold red text over them, usually in the form of a satirical message. A lot of her notable work began in 1970’s and 80’s, and has stayed in the public eye ever since. I personally love Kruger’s work because of the bold colors combined with an important social statement in the center of the picture. She follows a rigid pattern of black, white, red and sepia, and every single one of her works manages to tell a story or convey an opinion.

Kemi Mai

A digital print artist from the UK, Kemi Mai focuses primarily on creating human faces or celebrities. She uses pastel and jewel tones to create soft images that look extremely life like. While she may not be “big” in the context of most artists, her work is definitely unique and special. You can see some of her works on her tumblr page: http://drawinds.tumblr.com/.

Sandra Chevrier

Sandra Chevrier is a single mother who lives in Montreal, Quebec. She is well known for her textured paintings and the messages they send to modern day women, breaking barriers of what women “should or should not be”. She works primarily with the faces of women and making other messages appear throughout their faces which are open for interpretation by the viewer.

Henri Matisse

A French artist, Henri Matisse focuses on bright colors on abstract shapes. While he is known for portraits, he does not exclusively focus on the human body or face. Though he dabbled in sculpting and other various art forms, he focused primarily on painting. Matisse’s legacy will live on as one of the best modern artists of all time.

Roy Lichtenstein

Easily recognized as a pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein focuses on parody based artwork, with vivid coloring and cartoon characters. His works may strongly resemble comic book art.

Photo #1: Flickr, Creative Commons. https://www.flickr.com/photos/callejero/774807650

Photo #2: Tumblr, Drawinds. http://drawinds.tumblr.com/,

Photo #3: Sandra Chevrier.com, Papier. http://www.sandrachevrier.com/. 

Photo #4: Flickr, Creative Commons. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocor/8752674958

Photo #5: Flickr, Creative Commons. https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/8039169750/in

Article photo: Flickr, Creative Commons. https://www.flickr.com/photos/brightblightcafe/5048019980