Conceptual Art (Movements in Modern Art) [Hardcover]

Paul Wood (Author)

Book Description

Series: Movements in Modern Art | Publication Date: January 1, 2002

Paul Wood’s Conceptual Art is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand exactly how and why exhibitions of contemporary art have come to include anything and everything—from pickled sharks to mass-produced toilets, piles of rubbish to multi-screen videos. Wood’s text is coherent, precisely argued, and jargon-free: it provides a concise introduction to the important figures of a movement that changed the practice of modern art forever.

"Conceptual art" commonly refers to work that conveys an idea or a concept in a manner that need not involve the creation or display of a traditional art object. Like Pop art, Abstract Expressionism, and Minimalism, Conceptual art was an historical form of avant-garde practice that rose to prominence in the postwar era and continues to exert an influence over visual art.

Conceptual Art offers an easy-to-digest historical overview of the Conceptual art movement’s development, rise to prominence, and legacy. Artists and art collectives discussed in the book include Art & Language, Arte Povera, John Baldessari, Joseph Beuys, Victor Burgin, Marcel Duchamp, Fluxus, Joseph Kosuth, Richard Long, Nam June Paik, the Situationists, and Lawrence Wiener.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Part of the Tate Modern's "Movements in Modern Art" series-others include Abstraction, Cubism, and Surrealism, all published by Cambridge-this title might best be read in series rather than as a stand-alone work. Its brevity suggests an introduction, but the subject demands more. Conceptual Art was a revolution within a revolution, developing parallel to and inside of Modernism while radically questioning Modernism's goals. As Wood (art history, Open Univ., London) explains, Modernism emphasized pictorial form as a means of escape from a stultifying academic tradition, while Conceptual Art-at its zenith in the late 1960s to 1970s-was an art of ideas, producing not objects but documents. Thus, it baffled many who wondered at its basic premise, which ran counter to art's traditional goals of making objects to admire and fostering contemplative looking. Ultimately, the strategies and techniques of Conceptual Art joined the mainstream, and today much contemporary art derives from this once radical project. The book is academic in tone, and, although it is clearly written and closely reasoned, the general reader may find the complexity and jargon strenuous. The ideal audience is college art students with a background in modern art theory. Recommended for college and university art libraries.
Michael Dashkin, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, New York
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

The world of contemporary art is comprised of complex, often contradictory approaches to materials and ideas—Wood’s book provides a solid foothold for readers interested in grasping one of the more influential modes of 20th-century art.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Delano Greenidge Editions (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929445163
• ISBN-13: 978-0929445168
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #949,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but brief survey, October 18, 2008

By 

Robert C. Hoppin "rchop" (Akron,OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Conceptual Art (Movements in Modern Art) (Hardcover)

I read this book as research for an undergraduate paper. It was very brief and I felt I needed a more in-depth understanding and would recommend "Conceptual Art" by Tony Godfrey, after reading only the two books. Because of its brevity, there is some use of jargon, but otherwise it was accessible. To get the most out of this book you should have a fair amount of "art speak" jargon in your vocabulary.