Art Theory and Criticism

Book excerpt: Arranged chronologically, the essays in this book--each brilliantly introduced by the editor--deal with the way art and culture interact in modern times. Each author focuses on one aspect of modern art and its relation to culture by analyzing, questioning or refuting the ideas about art that people just assume are true. The essays are also grouped into one of four different models used by art theorists today: the formalist (in which the works of art describe the processes of making art), the avant-garde (art that threatens the status quo), the contextualist (in which art can exist only in a specific situation or context), and the post-modernist (stating that art is not completely detached from popular culture). Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.