Beyond Resemblance: Abstract Art in the Age of Global Conceptualism - Softcover

Linsley, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780236328 ISBN 13: 9781780236322

Publisher: Reaktion Books, 2016

Synopsis

Art today may be truly global, but everywhere in the world it has the same character. It is saturated with statements, meanings and branded images that dominate both art galleries and artist’s work. Everywhere there is a need for a clear space in which people can stop and understand things for themselves without being barraged by voices explaining the meaning of what they see. Abstract art is a tool to help people find a perspective on the increasing chaos around them, not just an empty commodity to be collected and traded by the immensely wealthy. In this first critique of global ‘conceptual’, agenda-driven art, the dominant mode in the art world today, Robert Linsley shows how the abstract art of the last fifty years can offer us new life experiences that are rich and full. He explains how abstraction is a response to the world we live in, one that deliberately avoids moralizing, explanation or overt polemic. He champions the work of lesser-known but important artists from India, China and Latin America, as well as more familiar names from around the globe, and treats their work with equal seriousness. Essential reading for artists, art lovers and art historians, Beyond Resemblance shows how abstract art makes sense of our troubled times and how it has a future.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Linsley is an artist based in Ontario, Canada, and a widely published writer. His work has been displayed in galleries across Europe and North America, and he regularly writes, lectures and teaches on contemporary art.

Edition details

• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1780236328
• ISBN 13: 9781780236322
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216