Understand Contemporary Art: Teach Yourself

Summary:

Is this the right book for me?

A straightforward guide to contemporary art
Whether you love or loathe it, contemporary art is bound to trigger a reaction. Understand Contemporary Art delves deep into the art scene, exploring different forms including painting, scultpture, installation and video art. The key personalities, galleries and themes are discussed in detail as well as controversial competitions like the Turner Prize. Whether you are studying for a course of just want to be able to develop your own informed opinions on contemporary art, this straightforward guide will give you what you need.


Understand Contemporary Art includes:

Chapter 1: Introduction: contemporary art and aesthetics - theories of art making

Chapter 2: The prehistory of contemporary art
- Defining terms
- The neo-avant-garde
- Reading contemporary art

Chapter 3: Contexts for contemporary art
- The march of history
- Money makes the art go round
- Reality isn't what it used to be

Chapter 4: Forms of contemporary art
- Painting, mixed media and sculpture
- Photography
- Film, video and digital media
- Performance
- Installation
- Land and environmental art

Chapter 5: Themes and issues in contemporary art
- Gender, sex and abjection
- Politics, difference and the global
- Popular culture, the media, celebrity and consumerism

Chapter 6: Displaying and buying contemporary art
- Contemporary art and the market - buying art
- Displaying contemporary art
- Honouring contemporary art - contemporary art awards


Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive features:

Not got much time?
One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.

Author insights
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.

Test yourself
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.

Extend your knowledge
Extra online articles to give you a richer understanding of the subject.

Five things to remember
Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts.

Try this
Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.

• A practical and objective guide that assumes no prior knowledge.
• Examines and demystifies all the key personalities and works.
• Written by two experts in the field.
• Includes a full colour plate section.

Table of Contents:
Preface
Acknowledgements
Personal introduction
1 minute summary
5 minute summary
10 minute summary
01 Introduction: contemporary art and aesthetics – theories of art making
What is contemporary art?
Things to remember
Suggestions for further reading
02 the pre-history of contemporary art
Section 1 Defining terms
Section 2 The neo-avant-garde
Section 3 Reading contemporary art
Things to remember
Suggestions for further reading
03 contexts for contemporary art
Section 1 The march of history
Section 2 Money makes the art go round
Section 3 Reality isn’t what it used to be
Things to remember
Suggestions for further reading
04 forms of contemporary art
Introduction
Things to remember
Section 1 Painting, mixed media and sculpture
Painting and mixed media
Sculpture
Section 2 Photography
Things to remember
Section 3 Film, video and digital media
Film and video
Digital media
Things to remember
Section 4 Performance
Things to remember
Section 5 Installation
Things to remember
Section 6 Land and environment art
Things to remember
05 themes and issues in contemporary art
Introduction
Things to remember
Section 1 Gender, sex and abjection
Gender and sex
Abjection
Things to remember
Suggestions for further reading
Section 2 Politics, difference and the global
Politics
Difference and the global
Section 3 Popular culture, the media, celebrity and consumerism
Popular culture and the media
Celebrity and consumerism
Things to remember
Suggestions for further reading
06 displaying and buying contemporary art
Section 1 Contemporary art and the market - buying art
Art schools, institutes and colleges
Buying online
Section 2 Displaying contemporary art
Contemporary patronage – museums and big business
Where to see contemporary art
Contemporary art fairs
Section 3 Honouring contemporary art
Contemporary art awards
Things to remember
More information on buying art
Suggestions for further reading
Taking things further
Where to see contemporary art: museums and galleries
Finding out more about contemporary art: magazines and journals
Find out more about contemporary art: websites
Finding out more about contemporary artists: books
References

About the Author(s):
Grant Pooke teaches at the University of Kent where he is a Programme Director of the open entry Art History BA Degree.

Graham Whitham is an Open University Associate Tutor and a former Art History A/AS Level Chief Examiner.

Readership:
Anybody wanting to know more about contemporary art; students on relevant courses