"How many times have you read the caption next to a work of art or a review of a contemporary art exhibition and found yourself none the wiser? For many, the language in which modern art is described can be as mystifying as the art itself. This comprehensive, pocket-sized guide holds the answers. Each term, from the dawn of Impressionism to the latest digital development, is defined with clarity and precision, putting themes, movements, media and art practices at the reader's fingertips."--BOOK JACKET.
"How many times have you read the caption next to a work of art in a gallery, or a review of a contemporary art exhibition in a magazine and found yourself none the wiser? For many, the language in which modern art is described can be even more mystifying than the art itself. Now, a fully updated and expanded edition of the bestselling Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms offers a clear and reliable guide through the confusing terrain, with more than 450 pithy entries on the full range of modern and contemporary art. Drawing on the expertise of the most visited modern art gallery in the world, the book provides a comprehensive, authoritative and completely up-to-date resource for gallery-goers, art students and general readers alike, comprehensive in scope but small enough to fit into a bag or pocket. From Abstract Expressionism and Body Art through to Young British Artists (YBAs) and Group Zero, the book ranges in time from the dawn of Impressionism through to the digital age. Every term -- whether a theme, movement, medium or practice -- is defined with clarity and precision, with new entries on a broad range of subjects including Aesthetics, Afrofuturism, Chance, Ethnography, Identity Politics, Taller Gráfica Popular and the Uncanny. International in scope, and now with more than 60 illustrations, this is the perfect companion for all those wanting to increase their understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary art." -- Publisher's description.
A guide to modern art that describes different styles of modern art, profiling major works and artists, and offers tips for how to look at modern art, where to see it, and how to understand it.
This unique and authoritative reference work contains more than 2,000 clear and concise entries on all aspects of modern and contemporary art. Its impressive range of terms includes movements, styles, techniques, artists, critics, dealers, schools, and galleries. There are biographical entries for artists worldwide from the beginning of the 20th century through to the beginning of the 21st, from the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto to the French sculptor Jacques Zwobada. With international coverage, indications of public collections and publicly sited works, and in-depth entries for key topics (for example, Cubism and abstract art), this dictionary is a fascinating and thorough guide for anyone with an interest in modern and contemporary culture, amateur or professional. Formerly the Dictionary of 20th Century Art, the text has been completely revised and updated for this major new edition. 300 entries have been added and it now contains entries on photography in modern art. With emphasis on recent art and artists, for example Damien Hirst, it has an exceptionally strong coverage of art from the 1960s, which makes it particularly ideal for contemporary art enthusiasts. Further reading is provided at entry level to assist those wishing to know more about a particular subject. In addition, this edition features recommended web links for many entries, which are accessed and kept up to date via the Dictionary of Modern Art companion website. The perfect companion for the desk, bedside table, or gallery visits, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art is an essential A-Z reference work for art students, artists, and art lovers.
An essential handbook for students and professionals on writing eloquently, accurately, and originally about contemporary art How to Write About Contemporary Art is the definitive guide to writing engagingly about the art of our time. Invaluable for students, arts professionals and other aspiring writers, the book first navigates readers through the key elements of style and content, from the aims and structure of a piece to its tone and language. Brimming with practical tips that range across the complete spectrum of art-writing, the second part of the book is organized around its specific forms, including academic essays; press releases and news articles; texts for auction and exhibition catalogues, gallery guides and wall labels; op-ed journalism and exhibition reviews; and writing for websites and blogs. In counseling the reader against common pitfalls—such as jargon and poor structure—Gilda Williams points instead to the power of close looking and research, showing how to deploy language effectively; how to develop new ideas; and how to construct compelling texts. More than 30 illustrations throughout support closely analysed case studies of the best writing, in Source Texts by 64 authors, including Claire Bishop, Thomas Crow, T.J. Demos, Okwui Enwezor, Dave Hickey, John Kelsey, Chris Kraus, Rosalind Krauss, Stuart Morgan, Hito Steyerl, and Adam Szymczyk. Supplemented by a general bibliography, advice on the use and misuse of grammar, and tips on how to construct your own contemporary art library, How to Write About Contemporary Art is the essential handbook for all those interested in communicating about the art of today.
What is contemporary art, and how did art come to be what it is today? How can we understand what a work of art means; and can't just about anything be called art these days? Contemporary Art Decoded takes ten key questions about contemporary art and uses them to what you're looking at, how it works, and why it matters. Steering clear of jargon, this book digs deep into the core ideas and concepts behind the art. It features some work you'll recognise, and some you won't, from some of the most exciting artists working today, such as Olafur Eliasson, Anish Kapoor, Yayoi Kusama and Zanele Muholi. This book is guaranteed to make your next trip to a gallery more rewarding. Chapters include: - What is contemporary art? - Where did it come from? - Where do you draw the line? - Does it matter who makes it? - Does it have to mean something? - Can anything be art? - What about art for art's sake? - Has it all been done before? - Does it have to be so serious? - What's next?
A compact, introductory guide to modern art that explains styles, schools, and movements from Impressionism to the present day The first in a new series of essential introductions to art, Modern Art guides the reader through individual movements from Impressionism to Conceptual Art, situated within five broader chronological eras. Starting with Impressionism in 1860, art historian Amy Dempsey explains the essentials of Modernism, the postwar New Disorder, and beyond. Carefully arranged material explores seventy essential topics of modern art in a practical and easy-to-navigate structure. Each boldly designed topic feature includes a clear definition; a list of key artists, attributes, media, and collections; and expertly curated illustrations with explanatory captions. A reference section includes a useful glossary of modern art terms.
How design can improve the quality of our everyday lives by engaging the invisible electromagnetic environment in which we live. As our everyday social and cultural experiences are increasingly mediated by electronic products—from "intelligent" toasters to iPods—it is the design of these products that shapes our experience of the "electrosphere" in which we live. Designers of electronic products, writes Anthony Dunne in Hertzian Tales, must begin to think more broadly about the aesthetic role of electronic products in everyday life. Industrial design has the potential to enrich our daily lives—to improve the quality of our relationship to the artificial environment of technology, and even, argues Dunne, to be subverted for socially beneficial ends. The cultural speculations and conceptual design proposals in Hertzian Tales are not utopian visions or blueprints; instead, they embody a critique of present-day practices, "mixing criticism with optimism." Six essays explore design approaches for developing the aesthetic potential of electronic products outside a commercial context—considering such topics as the post-optimal object and the aesthetics of user-unfriendliness—and five proposals offer commentary in the form of objects, videos, and images. These include "Electroclimates," animations on an LCD screen that register changes in radio frequency; "When Objects Dream...," consumer products that "dream" in electromagnetic waves; "Thief of Affection," which steals radio signals from cardiac pacemakers; "Tuneable Cities," which uses the car as it drives through overlapping radio environments as an interface of hertzian and physical space; and the "Faraday Chair: Negative Radio," enclosed in a transparent but radio-opaque shield. Very little has changed in the world of design since Hertzian Tales was first published by the Royal College of Art in 1999, writes Dunne in his preface to this MIT Press edition: "Design is not engaging with the social, cultural, and ethical implications of the technologies it makes so sexy and consumable." His project and proposals challenge it to do so.
'Art is not a luxury. Art is a basic social need to which everyone has a right'. This extraordinary collection of 100 artists' manifestos from across the globe over the last 100 years brings together political activists, anti-colonialists, surrealists, socialists, nihilists and a host of other voices. From the Négritude movement in Europe, Africa and Martinique to Japan's Bikyoto, from Iraqi modernism to Australian cyberfeminism, they are by turns personal, political, utopian, angry, sublime and revolutionary. Some have not been published in English before; some were written in climates of censorship and brutality; some contain visions of a future still on the horizon. What unites them is the belief that art can change the world.
