Entries (Maximalism): Art at the turn of the decade

by Robert Pincus-Witten

158pp. Inscribed by author to Luigi (Ballerini? ). Very Good+++.

158 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1983

About the author

Robert Pincus-Witten (b. 1935 in New York City – January, 2018) was an American art critic, curator and art historian.[

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is a re-read, actually. The best version of this book contains his "Post-Minimalism" as well, though I picked this up specifically because I wanted to revisit his criticism of the 80s. Seeing how so much contemporary art of right-this-minute is steeped to the gills in the aesthetic strategies of the 1980s (not to mention that the very popular Artforum website is basically predicated almost entirely on his diaristic mode), this incisive little tome felt ripe for re-examination. Plus, I think Pincus-Witten is extra cool because he wrote his doctorate about Les Salons de la Rose + Croix.

[Giovanni García-Fenech · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barely readable and unbearably pretentious. Also, it's suspicious that all the artists he quotes sound exactly like him. To be perfectly clear, my disappointment with this book is not due to Pincus-Witten's ideas, I just think he's a lousy writer.