Customer Reviews

Art at the Turn of the Millennium

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a great reference to the art & artists of the 80's and 90's. More picture book than words, which is often more relevant than explaining what one is looking at. This book pretty much covers those artists that we've read about in the last twenty years, and now provides you with a reference to them. There are a few commentaries and statements, and will give you an idea of where art is, or possibly headed. I can recommend this as a very good looking and nice addition to ones art book library!

As the title of my review suggests, the book is composed in a form of an imaginary exhibition catalogue, where the artists are featured in an alphabetical order.

The book features the most recent art of the 80's and 90's up to the year 2000, and artsits active during the last 20 years, alongside artists who became known on the international arena only a year before the book was released. The "content" of the book, or the works featured in it, are a matter of taste, of course. I found them to be unindependant mostly ("been there..." was my reaction to many of them). Nevertheless, I find the book to be a very interesting and inclusive document of the art of our days.

It is important to emphasize the book does not include art critisizm, or what we call art history - in the sense that it doesn't examine every art work nor does it attempt to explain it iconographically. Instead the book gives short professional biographies of the artists featured, and references to further bibliography, that's why I still find it safe to say the book is informative.

In conclusion, if there was a different rating to the content of the book as opposed to it's composition, I would rate the first 4 stars as I did, but for the second criterion I would definitely give the whole 5!

"Art at the Turn of the Millennium" is an essential book for browsing the work of the best artists of recent decades. The book provides an indispensable taster of many contemporary artists with large color pictures and succinct text.

Certainly many great contemporary artists are missing (such as the still active significant "architectural artists" as Siah Armajani and Alice Aycock). However, no book can do justice to all major artists in the current wide contemporary field, and in light of the outstanding collection, any omissions are forgiven. (Indeed many of the work are 3d or video, as reflects the art climate of the last fifteen years. Nevertheless, most revered and noteworthy art in recent years has been 3d artwork and/or video.)

An updated version of this book, "Art Now", by the same editors also is also obligatory reading for contemporary art lovers.

This book contains an excellent survey of the world's finest recent architecture by Steven Holl, Jean Nouvel, and many others.

I was disappointed with this book becasue almost all of the artists work is sculpture or installations. In my opinion 'art' should include painting, printmaking and all media. The book's title should have been Three-dimensional Art at the Turn of the Millennium. The format and images in the book are very nicely displyed though.

The publication and print quality are fine. What I wonder is how does the authors decided and qualified that kind of "art" as the art at the turn of the millenium. Certainly, this is one of the disadvantages of buying through the Internet. I would never buy book of this kind if I first see it on shelve.

I sent a review in yesterday but I was mistaken--the book to which I was referring was a different one, so please do not post my review discussing Jean Nouvel and Steven Holl. Thanks.