The Changing Boundaries and Nature of the Modern Art World: The Art Object and the Object of Art

Description

Concentrating on the shifting boundaries and definition of art, Richard Kalina offers a panoramic view of the contemporary art scene over the last 30 years. His focus is on the ongoing development of concepts, the transformation of art worlds and the social matrices in which they are created. Discussing painting in general and abstract painting in particular, his survey takes in photorealism, sculpture and art forms found outside of the modernist tradition. Kalina’s group of artists includes Mel Bochner, Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Franz West, Alma Thomas and Richard Tuttle who, in their ongoing projects, explicitly or implicitly questioned the aesthetic assumptions of their times. Merging an examination of animating philosophies and context – political, social, and personal – with a sharply focused look at the works of art themselves, Kalina brings us closer to understanding the social matrices in which art is embedded and responds to bigger questions about the object nature of the work of art in today’s world. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments Copyright Credits Introduction Figures 1 Real Dead 2 Al Held 3 In Another Light 4 The Reality of Abstraction 5 The Uncomfortable Armchair: Abstraction and Decoration 6 Wandering Color: Arbitrariness, Disjunction, and Decoration in American Art of the Sixties Notes and References 7 The Rutgers Group: Garden State Avant-Garde 8 Expressing the Abstract Notes and References 9 Gee’s Bend Modern Notes and References 10 Excerpts from Imagining the Present: Context, Content and the Role of the Critic Notes and References 11 Ab-Ex Confidential: The Way They Were Notes and References 12 Mart ín Ramírez: Narratives of Displacement and Memory 13 The Dream of Aboriginal Art Notes and References 14 Guardians of the Avant-Garde Notes and References 15 Robert Morris: The Order of Disorder Notes and References 16 West of Eden Notes and References 17 Harmony and Discord 18 The Four Corners of Painting 19 Talk/Show: Language and the Resistant Artwork 20 Stop, Look and Listen! Mel Bochner Strong Language 21 Through Color Notes and References 22 Hold Still: Looking at Photorealism 23 The Here and Then Notes and References 24 Art Between Form and Anti-Form 25 Frames and Personas Notes and References 26 Inside Outsider Notes and References 27 “The Unusual Suspects: A View of Abstraction” Notes and References Index