The Global Rules of Art: The Emergence and Divisions of a Cultural World Economy

Description

A trailblazing look at the historical emergence of a global field in contemporary art and the diverse ways artists become valued worldwide Prior to the 1980s, the postwar canon of “international” contemporary art was made up almost exclusively of artists from North America and Western Europe, while cultural agents from other parts of the world often found themselves on the margins. The Global Rules of Art examines how this discriminatory situation has changed in recent decades. Drawing from abundant sources―including objective indicators from more than one hundred countries, multiple institutional histories and discourses, extensive fieldwork, and interviews with artists, critics, curators, gallerists, and auction house agents―Larissa Buchholz examines the emergence of a world-spanning art field whose logics have increasingly become defined in global terms. Deftly blending comprehensive historical analyses with illuminating case studies, The Global Rules of Art breaks new ground in its exploration of valuation and how cultural hierarchies take shape in a global context. The book’s innovative global field approach will appeal to scholars in the sociology of art, cultural and economic sociology, interdisciplinary global studies, and anyone interested in the dynamics of global art and culture. Cover Contents List of Illustrations List of Tables Preface: An Unsettling Success 1. A Global Field Approach to Art and Culture Part I. The Emergence of a Global Field in the Contemporary Visual Arts 2. The Genesis of a Global Artistic Subfield 3. From an International Avant-Garde Market to a Global Commercial Subfield Part II. Dynamics of Artistic Recognition in the Globalizing Field 4. Cross-Border Valuation between Art Experts and the Market: From Bourdieu’s Conversion Model to a Dual Cultural World Economy 5. Diversity and Careers in a Dual Cultural World Economy Part III. Creative Lives: From the “Periphery” to Global Recognition 6. Becoming a Global Artist at the Relatively Autonomous Pole: The Case of Gabriel Orozco 7. The Hype of the Chinese Market Star Yue Minjun: A Globalizing Speculation Game 8. “Global Art” between Autonomy and Heteronomy Epilogue: COVID-19, Geopolitical Shifts, and Deglobalization? Acknowledgments Appendices Notes References Index