Race, Sex, and Gender in Contemporary Art

New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994. 224 pages, illustrations (some colour); 29 cm. BRAND NEW. A fine copy. Still in publisher's shrinkwrap. OVERSIZE! No priority/air, except by special arrangement. "One of the most significant developments in the art world of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s has been the rise to prominence of art made by minority cultures. Race, Sex, and Gender examines the controversial challenges these groups present to today's artists and critics. Works by African-Americans, feminists, homosexuals, and Latino-Hispanics - once considered marginal - have come to transform contemporary art. As this so-called minority art has moved into a more dominant position, museums - once official symbols of culture - have formed a more secure alliance with the avant-garde. The result is that minority art has become, in effect, our most major concern. In this provocative volume, art historian Edward Lucie-Smith seeks to determine how these different groups came to acclaim, and how they have revolutionized the kind of art shown in museums and galleries. Cindy Sherman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Nancy Spero, Hannah Wilke, Larry Fuente, Cheri Samba, and Martin Puryear are among those artists whose work is pictured and discussed as Lucie-Smith probes issues of racial identity, sexual orientation, and gender politics. Statements from the artists as well as from theoreticians and critics are given, offering additional commentaries on these crucial new topics. Organized by profusely illustrated chapters devoted to specific minority groups, Race, Sex, and Gender is a timely introduction to the issues that are shaping contemporary art." - Publisher. CONTENTS: African American Art; The Artistic and Political Background: Art as a Substitute Religion; Transgressive Art and the Modern Shaman; Chicano and Cuban Art; Racially based Art in Britain; Minority Sexuality; Feminist Art; Aboriginal and Maori Art; Modern Africa and Asia.. Hardcover. NEW/NEW. 4to.