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At a time when communication technology is rapidly shrinking the size of our collective world-view, presenting an idea in the canon of a national identity can still present us with ideological blinders. We may be able to communicate with the other side of the planet with the click of a button, but attaching a country label to a particular field of study still becomes a lens through which to look out on the rest of the world in relation to “us.” |
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“We may be able to communicate with the other side of the planet with the click of a button, but attaching a country label to a particular field of study still becomes a lens through which to look out on the rest of the world.”
Contemporary British Art: An Introduction: Grant Pooke (Routledge, 304 pp, hardcover, $125, ISBN: 978-0-415-38973-0)
Contemporary British Art: An Introduction by Grant Pooke
Matthew Hassell
At a time when communication technology is rapidly shrinking the size of our collective world-view, presenting an idea in the canon of a national identity can still present us with ideological blinders. We may be able to communicate with the other side of the planet with the click of a button, but attaching a country label to a particular field of study still becomes a lens through which to look out on the rest of the world in relation to “us.”
Grant Pooke’s, Contemporary British Art, deftly puts the influence of British art of the past few decades into context in a concise and approachable volume. Working hard to be stylistically objective and unbiased in his approach, Pooke’s writing is sprinkled with insightful quotes, mostly by key figures in the aesthetic movement at hand. Pooke traces the career paths and important decisions of more well-known figures such as Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, and Rachel Whiteread, while also touching on key moments created by many artists making significant contributions below the global art radar. In doing so, the author is able to carve out a history of contemporary British art that makes clear why and how each played their conceptual art strengths into their moment of art historical focus.
The art world, though a venue and vehicle for cross-cultural sharing, is not immune to constricting categorical views when parceled out into sections according to national boundary. Major art historical movements seem to spread across the globe at similar times but often with drastically different understandings and applications across separate cultural spheres. This book evaluates British art at a time that many feel was it’s most dynamic and brilliant.
Pooke presents us with a sparkling example of why it is important to constantly search to create a more rounded and worldly understanding of art history–especially coming from such a geographically large, wealthy, and self-important nation such as the United States. Art is a subjectively molded and constantly forming mass of information, and it is always important that we keep our eyes open to find fresh perspectives. In this way can we be sure to not corner ourselves, becoming engulfed and blinded by our own tiny, subjective world.
