It has long been considered a mark of naiuml;veteacute; to ask of a work of art: What does it say? But as Timothy W. Luke demonstrates in Shows of Force; artwork is capable of saying plenty; and much of the message resides in the way it is exhibited. By critically examining the exhibition of art in contemporary American museums; Luke identifies how art showings are elaborate works of theater that reveal underlying political; social; and economic agendas.The first section; ldquo;Envisioning a Past; Imagining the West;rdquo; looks at art exhibitions devoted to artworks about or from the American West. Luke shows how these exhibitionsmdash;displaying nineteenth- and early-twentieth century works by artists such as George Caleb Bingham; Frederic Remington; Frederic Edwin Church; and Georgia Orsquo;Keefemdash;express contemporary political agendas in the way the portray ldquo;the pastrdquo; and shape new visions of ldquo;the West.rdquo;In ldquo;Developing the Present; Defining a World;rdquo; Luke considers artists from the post-1945 era; including Ilya Kabokov; Hans Haacke; Sue Coe; Roger Brown; and Robert Longo. Recent art exhibits; his analysis reveals; attempt to develop politically charged conceptions of the present; which in turn struggle to define the changing contemporary world and artrsquo;s various roles within it.Luke brings to light the contradictions encoded in the exhibition of art and; in doing so; illuminates the political realities and cultural ideologies of the present. Shows of Force offers a timely and surely controversial contribution to current discussions of the politics of exhibiting art.
#1083746 in eBooks 2013-11-01 2013-11-01File Name: B00I2OV4X8
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great!By joanpassed it along to several friends0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The practice of Practicing!By Franklin H.Hughes Jr.Very enlightening helped me view my practicing from different perspective.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A "Must Read !" for Musicians or OtherwiseBy MusicMakerAt one time or another; all of us - musicians or not - have struggled after something we desired and loved only to have it slip away.Kurtzs book is about that loss but goes one brave step further in the return to his original love of music; inspired the simple; reflective act of "Practicing.""Practicing..." spans a realistic (and true) journey from Boston to Vienna - and back - in an insightful; personal memoir that will speak to anyone who knows what its like to "come home."A brilliant writer and a brilliant book with insights that few of us have the courage to consider.Anthony Glise[...]
