Product Description

Ambitious and interdiscipinary, this long-awaited collaboration is a landmark presentation of the writings of contemporary artists. These influential essays, interviews, and critical and theoretical comments provide bold and fertile insights into the construction of visual knowledge. 111 illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139137 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1003 pages

From Library Journal
The third collection in the series that includes Theories in Modern Art (1968) and Nineteenth-Century Theories of Art (1987), this wide-ranging and comprehensive anthology of writings and statements by artists is indispensable to an understanding of postwar visual arts. Each of the nine sections ("Art and Technology," "Process," etc.) is introduced with a general overview of the artists and influences that fall within its scope. The range of artists included is impressive. Besides such well-known American artists as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, a broad selection of non-Americans is represented, including Magdalena Abakanowicz and Georg Baselitz. The vast amount of material collected is well organized and appropriately illustrated. An extensive bibliography (on movements as well as individual artists) complements the work. Highly recommended for collections with an interest in postwar art.?Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Institution Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
"The accomplishment of this book is astounding. This book will change the way scholars think about the totality of the world of contemporary art, and it will be the essential text for generations of students to come."--Richard Shiff, University of Texas, Austin

"An indispensable resource: compendious, diverse, and in some of its unfamiliar juxtapositions, startlingly fresh."--Lisa Tickner, Middlesex University, London

"Contrary to the popular myth of the "inarticulate" artist, the literature of contemporary art is rich and varied and, until now, widely scattered. This is the most comprehensive selection of such writings available. An essential resource for scholars, it also offers the lay reader generous doses of vivid and provocative writing."--Robert Storr, Museum of Modern Art, New York

"Theories and Documents not only fills an important gap in the field of modern and contemporary art but is also a major contribution in its own right. It rejects narrowly stylistic or medium-defined categories and instead organizes the artists' texts in relation to broader cultural, social, and technological concerns. It deepens and complicates our knowledge of the art of our time."--Abigail Solomon-Godeau, University of California, Santa Barbara

"A very useful anthology that performs two crucial functions: it brings artists of different generations and nationalities into conversation, and it comprehends art in its new mediums, practices, and problems."--Hal Foster, Editor, October

"Professors Stiles and Selz have presented us with a textbook that is as indispensable as it is authoritative. It will surely be seen as the standard reference for those seeking primary sources in the complex field of contemporary art studies."--David Ross, Whitney Museum of Art, New York

From the Back Cover
"The accomplishment of this book is astounding. This book will change the way scholars think about the totality of the world of contemporary art, and it will be the essential text for generations of students to come." (Richard Shiff, University of Texas, Austin)

Customer Reviews

This is a gold mine
I have been searching for a book like this off and on for years, but just recently came accross it. What a great collection of essays and interviews from the artists! I am a teacher/artist myself, not a researcher, and it is so wonderful to have all this information at my finger tips. I hope the editors do more work like this. If you are interested in finding out about what a contemporary artist was thinking, check this book first!

the only art book I can't live without
and not only can I not live without it, but I can feel comfortable recommending it to anyone interested in art (especially contemporary art). it is the kind of book I dream about. I want more like it. there are certain genres left out and some of the groupings are too tight, and some too loose, but the fact that the artists are the ones giving the information means that I can research them more accurately, instead of researching other peoples research. A wonderful compilation of essays and interviews.

Misquoting of latin-american artists raise doubts...
I've purchased this book while beeing in New York in 2003, and my first impression was that I had aquired an excellent and almost encyclopedical resourse for research. However, when looking for references on familiar contemporary artists like Brazilian Lygia Clark (one of the most important and internationally renowed creators, having teached in Sorbonne, among other things) I've found her name misquoted as "Lydia Clark" while she's reffered as "Argentinian" in the index. The fact that I've found such a mistake concerning a familiar name raises doubts on the rigor of this interesting work.

Sérgio Basbaum (teacher at Universidade Cátólica, São Paulo, Brazil)