A snapshot of current contemporary art practice, 288 artworks from 51 representational and abstract artists in this anthology of new and emerging artists. This is the first book from The State of Art, #2. It brings together over 50 artists from all over the world and re-examines how contemporary artists are working within what could perhaps be considered the two main strands of artistic practice - the Representational and the Abstract. Both fields are by no means confined to painting and can take any form. Representational art is most often artwork which depicts a subject in an easily recognisable way. Since humanity first began painting on cave walls, humans have chosen to depict the objects, animals and people around them with as much clarity as they could create. Since the first images and objects were created most art around the world has been representational - either to serve as a record or to act as a tool of communication. Conversely, Abstract art deals with that which is not easily represented and relies on the composition and interaction of graphic elements, the action of light upon surfaces and how colours interact. Often Abstract art has been created by artists who are attempting to communicate ideas or emotions that are not expressible through conventional means. Perhaps the most notable artists to do this during the twentieth century were the Abstract Expressionists, whose expansive canvases covered in all manner of splashes, spills and washes attempted to go beyond the representational and into some other realm.