Postmodern Perspectives: Issues in Contemporary Art

by Howard Risatti

Exploring the relationship between contemporary art, culture, and society, this book offers non-specialists a guide to the general structure and focus of Postmodern critical discourse, preparing them to understand the origins, theories, and interrelated ideas of Postmodern art and art criticism within a broader social and political context. Organizes material into six groups of essays—each centering around a specific idea/issue and delineating the main philosophical, theoretical, and critical approaches that have shaped criticism in the Postmodern period. Provides an introductory essay before each group explaining the origin, contextual background, and central issue of the topic, followed by a series of articles reprinted from various sources. Presents the ideas and readings chronologically, showing their interrelationships. Discusses issues of minority, quality, cultural dominance, feminism as a model for the marginality argument, and the museum as a site of cultural representation. For art historians.

Genres: Art

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my textbooks for Senior Seminar as an Art History undergrad. I remember being really engaged by the essays. It asks and discusses the hard questions like what is art and what is its purpose, among other things. Interesting read.