Art Since 1989

by Kelly Grovier

Overview

An extensive, accessible guide to the most groundbreaking and influential art from 1989 to the present

The years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 have seen the rise of a new freedom to define art—Who makes it? Where can it be found? What is its commercial value?—and, consequently, the reevaluation of art’s place in society.

Kelly Grovier surveys the dynamic developments in art practice worldwide since 1989, focusing on artists whose fresh visual vocabulary and innovation reflect these past turbulent decades. The book’s ten chapters examine the key themes in contemporary art—portraiture in the age of face transplants and facial recognition software, political activism, science, and religion, to name a few—by artists including Jeff Koons, Louise Bourgeois, Damien Hirst, George Condo, Marlene Dumas, Sean Scully, Cindy Sherman, Banksy, Ai Weiwei, Antony Gormley, Christo and Jean-Claude, Jenny Holzer, Chuck Close, and Cornelia Parker. A chapter-length timeline at the end of the book traces the evolution of art from 1989 to today by closely examining one key artwork from each year.

Illustrated with the work of over 200 key artists, Art Since 1989 is a lucid and engaging look at what may prove to be one of the more tempestuous eras in human history, if not the history of art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780500204269
Publisher:	Thames & Hudson
Publication date:	12/07/2015
Series:	World of Art
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Kelly Grovier is a columnist and feature writer for BBC Culture and his writings on art have appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, Sunday Times, The Observer, RA Magazine, and Wired. He is the author of several books, including A New Way of Seeing: The History of Art in 57 Works, On the Line: Conversations with Sean Scully, and The Art of Color: The History of Art in 39 Pigments. He is cofounder of the scholarly journal European Romantic Review.