Description
Encountering a work of contemporary art, a viewer might ask, "What does it mean?" "Is it really art?" and "Why does it cost so much?" These are not the questions that E. H. Gombrich set out to answer in his magisterial The Story of Art. Contemporary art seems totally unlike what came before it, departing from the road map supplied by Raphael, D rer, Rembrandt, and other European masters. In The Story of Contemporary Art, Tony Godfrey picks up where Gombrich left off, offering a lively introduction to contemporary art that stretches from Andy Warhol's Brillo boxes to Marina Abramovic's performance art to today's biennale circuit and million-dollar auctions. Godfrey, a curator and writer on contemporary art, chronicles important developments in pop art, minimalism, conceptualism, installation art, performance art, and beyond.
Godfrey's narrative, lavishly illustrated, traces a series of debates over what art is or should be: object versus sculpture, painting versus conceptual, local versus global, gallery versus wider world. He presents multiple voices--not only critics, theorists, curators, and collectors but also artists and audiences. Key to Godfrey's account is the upending of the once widespread perception that art is made almost exclusively by white men from North America and Europe. The Story of Contemporary Art is an essential guide to this radical transformation.
Author: Tony Godfrey
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 11/10/2020
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.75lbs
Size: 10.40h x 8.10w x 1.00d
ISBN13: 9780262044103
ISBN10: 0262044102
BISAC Categories:
- Art | History | Contemporary (1945- )
- Art | Conceptual
About the Author
Tony Godfrey is the author of Conceptual Painting and Painting Today and has contributed to Art in America, the Burlington Magazine, and numerous exhibition catalogs. Formerly Programme Director of the MA in Contemporary Art at Sotheby's Institute in London, he is a curator based in Manila.