Art Now! Vol. 2

by Uta Grosenick (Editor)

Unless you regularly trawl the Chelsea galleries, hang out at the Tate Modern, peruse the Pompidou, attend every Biennale, and religiously read Artforum, you could likely use a primer on the art scene in the world today. Fortunately we've created our second "Art Now" volume to keep art fans abreast of the latest trends and hottest names. Not only will you discover the most important artists in the international art market, you'll also learn how the art scene has changed dramatically in recent years - notably with a return to figurative painting and an increase in political topics. Featuring over 135 artists in A-Z entries, plus a special section about gallery representation and current market prices, "Art Now Vol. 2" is the guide to what's happening and who's who in contemporary art.The A-Z artist entries include: short biography; exhibition history and bibliographical information; and, images of important recent work.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

349 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong]

Informative book listing the current artists today. The only one I already knew was Cindy Sherman, whom I detest, but that's a personal aside.

Some artists' works I liked, some I did not care for. After awhile I stopped reading the artists' personal philosophies or what they were trying to communicate, because their words were running together into a blur of predictable claptrap calculated to impress the reader with how erudite they, the artists, are.

Basically, if the artist was a woman, her art was a "cutting edge, provocative statement" about how women are oppressed in our society and always have been. Especially repugnant is Cindy Sherman's pornographic depictions of women being sexually humiliated and subjugated, by HER, she made the art piece after all, but since she is pointing fingers at the guilty party, whom we all know are men, her art is condemning that sort of exploitation. And we will all ignore how she, a capitalist, has made millions of dollars exploiting women by showing how exploited they are.

But is she including EVERYONE who identifies as men? I wonder. For that matter how do we know the people in her art are actually women? Maybe they identify as men.

If the artist is of a non-white ethnic persuasion, his or her art is expounding on the "complex" relationships between races, with an emphasis on how their particular race is oppressed by colonial, imperialist, white Western countries.

What if you're just a white male? If you're gay, your art exposes how you're discriminated against, otherwise you have to settle for being "sexually provocative" because it opens up "dialogue" and "conversations" between people.

You know which art I like in this book? The ones with pretty colors. That's all I want out of art. An aesthetic experience. If I want philosophy I'll read Plato.

[L.S.]

Această a doua ediţie Taschen a albumului ART NOW vol.2 cuprinde lucrările a 81 de artişti contemporani. Deoarece arta nu se bazează pe cuvinte autorii au posibilităţi nelimitate de exprimare pe care limbajul cu sensurile multiple nu le poate oferi. De aceea arta contemporană este un bun indicator al stării societăţii şi mai mult, a direcţiei spre care se îndreaptă aceasta.

J. şi D. Chapman îşi însoţesc lucrările cu următoarele cuvinte: "We are intensely pessimistic about the job of being an artist and about what art does socially". Observ aici lipsa de încredere în funcţia pe care o are arta în societate şi contradicţa profundă în care trăiesc artiştii - sunt pesimişti cu privire la ceea ce fac dar totuşi o fac. Noul şi vechiul, sprititualul şi derizoriul se confundă în lucrările lor. De altfel confuzia pare o trăsăură importantă în arta prezentată aici. De asemenea, tonalităţile sumbre, violenţa, haoticul şi imoralitatea participă la tabloul artei contemporane. Lipsa de sens a societăţii postmoderne în care ne aflăm este subliniată de atitudinea unor artişti. "You can ask what the paintings are about but I really can tell you", spune Peter Doig iar Gary Hume adaugă "They are pictures but I dont know what they are".

[brian tanabe]

Although I professed my love for this series, and still do love them, this edition was a bit of a let-down. (Perhaps my biggest let-down is that I have the unreal expectation of every issue in this series showcasing only new artists. The more I think about this, the more I realize my expectations are absurd.)

Anyway, there is only one unexpected highpoint, Motohiko Odani -- kind of a more subdued and a bit more haunting LaChapelle.

The expected highpoints overlapped with the highpoints of the first Art Now book: John Currin, Takashi Murakami, Glenn Brown. Mathew Ritchie was also in this volume, displaying his chaotic fluidity which reminds me of one of my favorite contemporary artists, Inka Issenhigh.

[Jon Allen]

This book is pretty self explanatory. It and its predecessor have a very democratic yet classy sense of design. Every artist gets equal space for images and text to represent them. One paragraph (also translated into German and French), one quote from the artist and 3 pages of images. Even has the gallery contact info and prices in the back for each artist. Seems really on target and unbiased with all the choices of artists. I think Taschen may well be the best publishing company in the world. This book is definitely one that can be revisited often (a reference book of sorts) and definitely won't sit untouched on the shelves after you make your way through it.

[Le Matt]

Not as informative or exhaustive as I'd hoped, but the lush visuals (and affordable price) made up for it. I was surprised that there wasn't so much as a nod to any contemporary Chinese artists given the slant in the recent years.

[Frightful_elk]

A good index of artist you should know about (if you are in the field) The short essays are rather hit and miss though.

[Tyrran]

I used this more as a reference guide rather than as a book that I read from page to page.

[Carlo Mayer]

Da consultazione