Art: Books: Contemporary Art

This survey of great contemporary artists is the perfect introduction to the exciting world of art today. Artists working after the Second World War faced a confounding array of challenges, as stylistic barriers were broken, technology advanced, and issues of sexuality and race came to the forefront. From painters and photographers to sculptors and performance artists, fifty of the most influential contemporary artists are profiled in this colorful and engaging book that traces the various artistic movements and radical changes of the second half of the twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries. Presented chronologically, each artist is featured in 2 or 4-page spreads that include brilliant reproductions of their most important works, an illuminating biography, key dates in their career, and informative background on major developments in the art world. Throughout the volume a timeline places each artist within the context of contemporary art. As diverse and inspiring as the artists themselves, this book is a voyage of discovery into art's cutting edge.

A Companion to Contemporary Art is a major survey covering the major works and movements, the most important theoretical developments, and the historical, social, political, and aesthetic issues in contemporary art since 1945, primarily in the Euro-American context. Collects 27 original essays by expert scholars describing the current state of scholarship in art history and visual studies, and pointing to future directions in the field. Contains dual chronological and thematic coverage of the major themes in the art of our time: politics, culture wars, public space, diaspora, the artist, identity politics, the body, and visual culture. Offers synthetic analysis, as well as new approaches to, debates central to the visual arts since 1945 such as those addressing formalism, the avant-garde, the role of the artist, technology and art, and the society of the spectacle.

The Concise Dictionary of Art Terms is an accessible and useful A-Z covering a wide range of terms from the visual art world, including materials, techniques, and important styles and periods. In this new edition, the text has been fully revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in the field. It has also been expanded with more than 100 brand new entries, focusing primarily on modern and contemporary art materials and techniques.The Dictionary has also been enhanced with the addition of over 100 weblinks to selected entries, which are accessed and kept up-to-date via a companion website. These links will add another dimension to the print book by visually illustrating various materials and techniques, whilst also providing easy access to important collections that are freely available online.From abstract art to woodcuts, and the Baroque Revival to ziggurats, this highly browsable dictionary is the ideal reference source for students of Art and all related subjects, for gallery visitors, and for all people interested in the visual arts.

In a series of newly commissioned essays by both established and emerging scholars, Globalization and Contemporary Art probes the effects of internationalist culture and politics on art across a variety of media. Globalization and Contemporary Art is the first anthology to consider the role and impact of art and artist in an increasingly borderless world. First major anthology of essays concerned with the impact of globalization on contemporary art Extensive bibliography and a full index designed to enable the reader to broaden knowledge of art and its relationship to globalization Unique analysis of the contemporary art market and its operation in a globalized economy

The fifth edition reflects the latest developments in a wide-ranging introduction and nine new chapters that deal with the radical transformations that have taken place in contemporary art. Among the topics covered are the increasing dominance of photography, film, and video, and the emergence of a new post-Post-Expressionist group of "Abject" artists whose work stresses feelings of alienation in Western industrial societies, often through the reintroduction of narrative. The emergence of an opposing trend of idealizing classicism, particularly in Italy and Russia, is discussed, and there is increased coverage of the burgeoning practice of art "on the periphery" in Third World countries, where artists have absorbed Western modernism and then created new terms of reference for artistic expression adapted to their own cultures. Numerous additional reproductions illustrate all the recent developments in this completely redesigned edition, and there are a full bibliography and comprehensive chronologies of key events. No other account of the art of the last fifty-five years provides as much up-to-date information about art issues, developments, and players.

First published in 1996, this irreplaceable resource has now been updated, revised, and expanded by Kristine Stiles to represent thirty countries and more than one hundred new artists. Stiles has added forty images and a diverse roster of artists, including many who have emerged since the 1980s, such as Julie Mehretu, Carrie Mae Weems, Damien Hirst, Shirin Neshat, Cai Guo-Qian, Olafur Eliasson, Matthew Barney, and Takashi Murakami. The writings, which as before take the form of artists' statements, interviews, and essays, make vivid each artist's aesthetic approach and capture the flavor and intent of his or her work. The internationalism evident in this revised edition reflects the growing interest in the vitality of contemporary art throughout the world from the U.S. and Europe to the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Australia.

This book reminds us that an artist's own statements about his or her art are important primary documents for students of modern art, and it provides a way to locate this valuable material. Robertson writes, "Frequently, an artist will speak and write about not only his art, but also about his life and training, his influences and associates, his tastes and aesthetic theories, and technical procedures in such a way that things otherwise unknown and unknowable are revealed."

An anthology of essays on women artists in the 20th century. The volume is introduced by an examination of the developments and methodologies within feminist art history and an outline of the broader connections between the issues raised by the individual essays. The contributors take a woman artist or group of women as a case study and, using examples from their lives and work, explore and question the interpretations of women and modernism and modernity.