Art & Today

by Eleanor Heartney

Targeting the same audience as Phaidon's highly successful and long-selling Art Today by Edward Lucie-Smith, Art & Today surveys contemporary art from 1980 to today, discussing over 450 of the most important artists of the last 25 years. Each of the 16 chapters in Art & Today tackles a major theme of contemporary art. This emphasis on broad, thematic relationships defies the narrow, now-tired classifications of  medium, period, genre, or geographic region so often regurgitated in contemporary art surveys of this ilk. Instead, Art & Today posits fresh, thought-provoking juxtapositions of artists from different regions, periods and mediums. For instance, in the chapter "Art and the Body," one might find performance discussed alongside figurative painting, sculpture and photography alongside video, and North American artists alongside Asian artists. Internationally renowned art critic and scholar, Eleanor Heartney is respected for her clear language and pragmatic approach to contemporary art. Her straightforward, engaging descriptions and explanations will appeal to both experts and newcomers alike.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

440 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2007

Reviews

[Mike]

While I had high expectation for this book of collected art, the only piece I thoroughly enjoyed was "Trail, 1992," created by Kiki Smith found on page 206. If you get a chance to look it up, I strongly urge you to do so.

There were a few other piece that caught my eye but the rest were a waste of time to look at.

[Altaix]

Great review of modern art, gives good anchors to follow through. It would be so much nicer if text was closer tied to the illustrations in the book. Also the text would benefit from choosing a little bit simpler language - not everyone is expert in art terminology.

[Krys]

Heartney picks a wide selection and range of artists to talk about – the topics that she choses to cover are very relevant to today and the thoughts of contemporary artists. Sometimes I wish that there was more description about the topics, but, understandably, it's a pretty thick book already. (Side note: whoever designed the table of contents in relation to the cover did a lovely job.)

[Justin]

Excellent for my understanding of Modern Art. Heartney's writing? Terrible.