Contemporary Art: A Very Short IntroductionContemporary art has never been so popular - but what is 'contemporary' about contemporary art? What is its role today, and who is controlling its future? Bloody toy soldiers, gilded shopping carts, and embroidered tents. Contemporary art is supposed to be a realm of freedom where artists shock, break taboos, flout generally received ideas, and switch between confronting viewers with works of great emotional profundity and jaw-dropping triviality. But away from shock tactics in the gallery, there are many unanswered questions. Who is really running the art world? What effect has America's growing political and cultural dominance had on art? Julian Stallabrass takes us inside the international art world to answer these and other controversial questions, and to argue that behind contemporary art's variety and apparent unpredictability lies a grim uniformity. Its mysteries are all too easily explained, its depths much shallower than they seem. Contemporary art seeks to bamboozle its viewers while being the willing slave of business and government. This book is your antidote and will change the way you see contemporary art. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. |
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academic aesthetic appear argues art market art world art’s artists autonomy avant-garde become Biennale Bourriaud brand buying capital celebrated character China Chinese Coco Fusco commercial commodities consumer culture consumerism consumption contemporary art contradictions Courtesy critical critique Cuba Cuban curators Damien Hirst Danto dealers democracy discourse display diverse dominance economic effect elements elite example exhibition fashion forms Francis Alÿs free trade freedom galleries Gillick global art Guggenheim Gursky Havana Biennial Hickey human hybridity ideal increasingly industrial installation Kara Walker Liam Gillick Liverpool Liverpool Biennial look magazine mass culture McEvilley modernism museum nations neoliberal neoliberal economies objects painting particularly photographs piece play political postmodern production prominent radical recent recession Russia Salcedo’s scene seen social space spectacle sponsor sponsorship Struth success Takashi Murakami thinking Thomas Ruff Thomas Struth Vanessa Beecroft viewer Vik Muniz Warhol wider writing Xu Bing