What's Wrong with Contemporary Art?

by Peter Timms

In this provocative book, Peter Timms asks confronting questions. Why is contemporary art so in thrall to spruikers and promoters, and why do their extravagant claims so rarely match the reality? Why does the market have such power, and how does it dictate the sort of art we are allowed to see? Why are art schools, museums and the media apparently so eager to fall in line with commercial expectations?

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

Reviews

[Tifany]

It's always gratifying to come across a book that agrees with you completely, even if it isn't actually sentient. This is a subject I go on and on about at home, usually at the dinner table, and often with supplementary textual support and oversized visual aids. Why are there so many bad buildings? Why are there so many bad books? Why is so much of what's produced in the arts simply negligible--and why is so much that's bad so well reviewed? This book pretty much covers it all. It has also spared me the labor of writing it myself, for which I am more thankful than I can say.

[Diana]

"All binary oppositions are ultimately about power."