M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists’ Writings, Theory, and Criticism [Paperback]

Susan Bee (Editor), Mira Schor (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0822325667 | ISBN-13: 978-0822325666 | Publication Date: December 27, 2000

M/E/A/N/I/N/G brings together essays and commentary by over a hundred artists, critics, and poets, culled from the art magazine of the same name. The editors—artists Susan Bee and Mira Schor—have selected the liveliest and most provocative pieces from the maverick magazine that bucked commercial gallery interests and media hype during its ten-year tenure (1986–96) to explore visual pleasure with a culturally activist edge.
With its emphasis on artists’ perspectives of aesthetic and social issues, this anthology provides a unique opportunity to enter into the fray of the most hotly contested art issues of the past few decades: the visibility of women artists, sexuality and the arts, censorship, art world racism, the legacies of modernism, artists as mothers, visual art in the digital age, and the rewards and toils of a lifelong career in art. The stellar cast of contributing artists and art writers includes Nancy Spero, Richard Tuttle, David Humphrey, Thomas McEvilley, Laura Cottingham, Johanna Drucker, David Reed, Carolee Schneemann, Whitney Chadwick, Robert Storr, Leon Golub, Charles Bernstein, and Alison Knowles.
This compelling and theoretically savvy collection will be of interest to artists, art historians, critics, and a general audience interested in the views of practicing artists.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For 10 years, from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s, artist and designer Susan Bee and Mira Schor, a painter on the faculty of the Parsons School of Design, edited a magazine they had founded, devoted to "visual pleasure with a culturally activist edge." Bee and Schor have culled 40 of the most representative essays, reviews, critical forums, interviews and "musings" for M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists' Writings, Theory, and Criticism, which takes its name from their magazine. Book artist Johanna Drucker contributes a foreword; Alison Knowles, Carolee Schneemann, Richard Tuttle, Nancy K. Miller, Rackstraw Downes, Joanna Freuh, Jerry Saltz and many others weigh in. The book makes for a fascinating snapshot of a transitional era in American art, one whose terms and preoccupations are still being reworked and worked out.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“M/E/A/N/I/N/G reflects a time when artists were, in a sense, the critical theorists of the moment. Mira Schor and Susan Bee inspired many of them to write about the subjects that were closest to their hearts, minds, and art.”—Elizabeth Hess, art critic

“The beauty of this book is the brilliant amassing by Susan Bee and Mira Schor of so many voices, ideas, and approaches. This anthology is full of gems, separately and in their juxtapositions. Fascinating, rich fare.”—Moira Roth, coauthor of Difference/Indifference: Musings on Postmodernism, Marcel Duchamp, and John Cage

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press Books (December 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822325667
• ISBN-13: 978-0822325666
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mira Schor is a New York based artist, writer, editor, and educator, known for her advocacy of painting in a post-medium visual culture and for her contributions to feminist art history. Schor is the author of Wet: On Painting, Feminism, and Art Culture, editor of The Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov, and co-editor of M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists' Writings, Theory, and Criticism. She teaches in the Fine Arts Department at Parsons The New School For Design. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Award in Painting and the CAA's Frank Jewett Mather Award in Art Criticism. Her website is http://www.miraschor.com and she received a 2009 Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Arts Writers grant to create a blog on art and culture at http://ayearofpositivethinking.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Publisher's Weekly says, March 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists’ Writings, Theory, and Criticism (Paperback)

Publisher's Weekly (February 19, 2001) notes: For 10 years, from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s, artist and designer Susan Bee and Mira Schor, a painter on the faculty of the Parsons School of Deign, edited a magazine they had founded, devoted to "visual pleasure with a culturally activcist edge." Bee andSchor have culled 40 of the most representative essays, reviews, critical forums, interviews and "musings" for M/E/AN/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists' Writings, Theory and Criticism, which takes its name from their magazine. Book artist Johanna Drucker contributes a foreword. Alison Knowles, Carolee Schneemann, Richard Tuttle, Nanacy K. Miller, Rackstraw Downes, Joanna Frueh, Jerry Saltz and many others weigh in. The book makes for a fascinating snapshot of a tansitional era in American art, one whose terms and preoccupations are still being reworked and worked out.