"Criticizing Art: Understanding the Contemporary helps students of art and art history better understand and appreciate contemporary art by studying the principles of art criticism and applying them to contemporary forms of American art. This book provides a framework for critically considering contemporary art through describing, interpreting, evaluating, and theorizing." "The diverse perspectives of contemporary critics such as Douglas Crimp, Arthur Danto, Elizabeth Heartney, Donald Kuspit, Lucy Lippard, Peter Plagens, and Arlene Raven on the work of Leon Golub, Jenny Holzer, Frida Kahlo, Elizabeth Murray, Martin Puryear, William Wegman, and many other artists help readers develop their own critical positions." "Chapter 5, "Theory and Art Criticism," offers clear definitions of modernism, post-modernism, feminism, and multiculturalism, enabling readers to understand the critical milieu in which twentieth century critics have been operating." "An entire chapter (Chapter 6) devoted to writing and talking about contemporary art leads readers through the process of preparing thoughtful, well-constructed critical analyses. Two student papers provide useful examples of the principles discussed throughout the text. Guidelines for constructive group criticism are also included."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

History of art criticism - Describing and interpreting art - Judging art - Writing and talking about art - Theory and art criticism.

Why is that art? Why is it in an art museum? Who says it's art? Why is it good? Why Is That Art?, Third Edition, introduces students to theories of art through the presentation of contemporary works that include abstract and representational painting, animated film, monumental sculpture, performance art, photographs, relational art, and video installations. Ideal for courses in aesthetics, art theory, art criticism, and the philosophy of art, this unique book provides students with a newfound appreciation for contemporary art, scholarship, and reasoned argumentation.

Interpreting Art: Reflecting, Wondering, and Responding introduces readers to the varied methodologies of art interpretation without unnecessary jargon, presenting difficult and complex issues in an understandable way for beginning students without alienating more sophisticated readers.

Emphasizing the understanding of images and their influences on how they affect our attitudes, beliefs, and actions, this fully updated sixth edition offers consequential ways of looking at images from the perspectives of photographers, critics, theoreticians, historians, curators, and editors. It invites informed conversations about meanings and implications of images, providing multiple and sometimes conflicting answers to questions such as: What are photographs? Should they be called art? Are they ethical? What are their implications for self, society, and the world? From showing how critics verbalize what they see in images and how they persuade us to see similarly, to dealing with what different photographs might mean, the book posits that some interpretations are better than others and explains how to deliberate among competing interpretations. It looks at how the worth of photographs is judged aesthetically and socially, offering samples and practical considerations for both studio critiques for artists and professional criticism for public audiences. This book is a clear and accessible guide for students of art history, photography and criticism, as well as anyone interested in carefully looking at and talking about photographs and their effects on the world in which we live.

Why is that art? Why is it in an art museum? Who says it's art? Why is it good? Author Terry Barrett addresses these questions about contemporary art using four key sources: a broad, diverse, and engaging sampling of works, the artists who created the works, philosophers of art, and art critics.Why Is That Art?introduces students to established theories of art through the presentation of contemporary works that include abstract and representational painting, monumental sculpture, performance art, video installations, films, and photographs. Ideal for courses in aesthetics, art theory, art criticism, and the philosophy of art, this unique book provides students with a newfound appreciation for contemporary art, scholarship, and reasoned argumentation. FEATURES * Explores a variety of established theories of art,including Realism, Expressionism, Cognitivism, Formalism, and Postmodernist Pluralism * Applies each theory to contemporary works of art,discussing strengths and limitations of each mode of interpretation * Brings abstract ideas together in an accessible waythrough extended examples, giving students the understanding and vocabulary to confidently enter critical dialogue about art * Includes Questions for Further Reflectionat the end of each chapter * Includes seventy illustrations,twenty-five of which are in full color NEW TO THIS EDITION * Includes a new glossary of key terms * Expands the treatment of postmodernism,incorporating strategies of postmodernist art-making * Provides updated discussions of artistsJeff Koons, Kiki Smith, Paul McCarthy, and Andy Goldsworthy, as well as images of their new works

This brief text is designed to help both beginning and advanced students of photography better develop and articulate thoughtful criticism. Organized around the major activities of criticism (describing, interpreting, evaluating, and theorizing), Criticizing Photographs provides a clear framework and vocabulary for students' critical skill development.

Outgrowth of a panel discussion at the 2013 conference of the College Art Association in New York.

The collision of activism and contemporary art, from the Seattle protests to Occupy and beyond The collision of activism and contemporary art, from the Seattle protests to Occupy and beyond What is the relation of art to the practice of radical politics today? Strike Art explores this question through the historical lens of Occupy, an event that had artists at its core. Precarious, indebted, and radicalized, artists redirected their creativity from servicing the artworld into an expanded field of organizing in order to construct of a new—if internally fraught—political imaginary set off against the common enemy of the 1%. In the process, they called the bluff of a contemporary art system torn between ideals of radical critique, on the one hand, and an increasing proximity to Wall Street on the other—oftentimes directly targeting major art institutions themselves as sites of action. Tracking the work of groups including MTL, Not an Alternative, the Illuminator, the Rolling Jubilee, and G.U.L.F, Strike Art shows how Occupy ushered in a new era of artistically-oriented direct action that continues to ramify far beyond the initial act of occupation itself into ongoing struggles surrounding labor, debt, and climate justice, concluding with a consideration of the overlaps between such work and the aesthetic practices of the Black Lives Matter movement. Art after Occupy, McKee suggests, contains great potentials of imagination and action for a renewed left project that are still only beginning to ripen, at once shaking up and taking flight from the art system as we know it.

A fly-on-the-wall account of the smart and strange subcultures that make, trade, curate, collect, and hype contemporary art. The art market has been booming. Museum attendance is surging. More people than ever call themselves artists. Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description, and, for some, a kind of alternative religion. In a series of beautifully paced narratives, Sarah Thornton investigates the drama of a Christie's auction, the workings in Takashi Murakami's studios, the elite at the Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the competition behind an important art prize, life in a notorious art-school seminar, and the wonderland of the Venice Biennale. She reveals the new dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life. A judicious and juicy account of the institutions that have the power to shape art history, based on hundreds of interviews with high-profile players, Thornton's entertaining ethnography will change the way you look at contemporary culture.