A Companion to Contemporary Art in a Global Framework

An unprecedented work on contemporary art as viewed through a global lens, offering cutting-edge ideas for decolonizing the art world and its global community

A Companion to Contemporary Art in a Global Framework explores the ways the fine arts, performing arts, curation, cultural studies, and art history have attempted to situate themselves in a more global framework. Offering analyses of the successes and setbacks of those aiming to globalize the art world, this innovative volume presents a new and exciting way of considering art in its global contexts. Essays by an international panel of leading scholars and practicing artists assert that what we talk about as ‘art’ is essentially a Western concept, thus any attempts at understanding art in a global framework requires a revising of established conceptual definitions.

Organized into three sections, this work first reviews the history and theory of the visual arts since 1980 and introduces readers to the emerging area of scholarship that seeks to place contemporary art in a global framework. The second section traces the progression of recent developments in the art world, including the voices of scholars as well as artists in exploring the significance of each of the four decades since 1980. The final section addresses a wide range of key themes in contemporary art over this period, such as the fundamental institutions and ontologies of art practice, and the interactions between art, politics, and the public sphere. This exciting new work:

• Offers offer a wholly new approach to methods for exploring global dimensions of art
• Covers many fields of the contemporary visual art world, including performance art, public art, curation, and archiving
• Analyses the grounding of art and its institutions in European colonialism, along with parallel structures of Western capitalism, imperialism, and nationalism
• Discusses the challenges encountered by scholars and artists who have attempted to globalize the art world as related to indigeneity, gender, sexuality, race, colonialism, ethnicity, and diaspora

A Companion to Contemporary Art in a Global Framework is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, researchers, and general readers interested in exploring global art beyond the traditional Euro-American context.

Amelia Jones is Robert A. Day Professor of Art and Design at the Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California. Her work has focused on queer, feminist, and anti-racist analyses of modern and contemporary visual art of the Euro-American tradition. She is Editor of A Companion to Contemporary Art Since 1945 (Wiley Blackwell, 2006).

Jane Chin Davidson is Associate Professor at California State University – San Bernadino. She has published widely on topics in contemporary global art, Chinese diasporic identity in the arts, transnationalism, and feminism. She is an active curator with practical experience in decolonizing processes for global exhibitions.

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