Synopses & Reviews
A Decade of Negative Thinking brings together writings on contemporary art and culture by the painter and feminist art theorist Mira Schor. Mixing theory and practice, the personal and the political, she tackles questions about the place of feminism in art and political discourse, the aesthetics and values of contemporary painting, and the influence of the market on the creation of art. Schor writes across disciplines and is committed to the fluid interrelationship between a formalist aesthetic, a literary sensibility, and a strongly political viewpoint. Her critical views are expressed with poetry and humor in the accessible language that has been her hallmark, and her perspective is informed by her dual practice as a painter and writer and by her experience as a teacher of art.
In essays such as andldquo;The ism that dare not speak its name,andrdquo; andldquo;Generation 2.5,andrdquo; andldquo;Like a Veneer,andrdquo; andldquo;Modest Painting,andrdquo; andldquo;Blurring Richter,andrdquo; and andldquo;Trite Tropes, Clichandeacute;s, or the Persistence of Styles,andrdquo; Schor considers how artists relate to and represent the past and how the art market influences their choices: whether or not to disavow a social movement, to explicitly compare their work to that of a canonical artist, or to take up an exhausted style. She places her writings in the rich transitory space between the near past and the andldquo;nextmodern.andrdquo; Witty, brave, rigorous, and heartfelt, Schorandrsquo;s essays are impassioned reflections on art, politics, and criticism.
Review
andldquo;Mira Schor reminds us that some of the best, and most eye-opening, writing on art has always been made by artists themselves. The essays in A Decade of Negative Thinking demolish countless widely held assumptions about contemporary art, and do so with a compelling blend of skepticism and passion.andrdquo;andmdash;Raphael Rubinstein, author of Polychrome Profusion: Selected Art Criticism, 1990andndash;2002
Review
andldquo;This collection of essays by one of the most engaging writers of contemporary art critically excavates and redefines the enduring questions in aesthetics and politics with extraordinary verve and urgency.andrdquo;andmdash;Gunalan Nadarajan, Vice Provost for Research, Maryland Institute College of Art
Synopsis
A Decade of Negative Thinking brings together writings on contemporary art and culture by the painter and feminist art theorist Mira Schor. Mixing theory and practice, the personal and the political, she tackles questions about the place of feminism in art and political discourse, the aesthetics and values of contemporary painting, and the influence of the market on the creation of art. Schor writes across disciplines and is committed to the fluid interrelationship between a formalist aesthetic, a literary sensibility, and a strongly political viewpoint. Her critical views are expressed with poetry and humor in the accessible language that has been her hallmark, and her perspective is informed by her dual practice as a painter and writer and by her experience as a teacher of art.
In essays such as The ism that dare not speak its name, Generation 2.5, Like a Veneer, Modest Painting, Blurring Richter, and Trite Tropes, Cliches, or the Persistence of Styles, Schor considers how artists relate to and represent the past and how the art market influences their choices: whether or not to disavow a social movement, to explicitly compare their work to that of a canonical artist, or to take up an exhausted style. She places her writings in the rich transitory space between the near past and the nextmodern. Witty, brave, rigorous, and heartfelt, Schor's essays are impassioned reflections on art, politics, and criticism.
Synopsis
Writings on the changing relationship between feminism and art production and criticism, and the impact of intergenerational struggle in the contemporary art world.
About the Author
Mira Schor is a painter, writer, and teacher living in New York. She is the author of Wet: On Painting, Feminism, and Art Culture and an editor of The Extreme of the Middle: The Writings of Jack Tworkov (forthcoming) and M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artistsandrsquo; Writings, Theory, and Criticism, also published by Duke University Press. Schor is a recipient of the College Art Associationandrsquo;s Frank Jewett Mather Award in Art Criticism.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part 1:and#9;She Said, She Said: Feminist Debates, 1971andndash;2009
The ism that dare not speak its name
Anonymity as a Political Tactic: Art Blogs, Feminism, Writing, and Politics
Generation 2.5
Email to a Young Woman Artist
The Womanhouse Films
Miss Elizabeth Bennett Goes to Feminist Boot Camp
Part 2:and#9;Painting
Some Notes on Women and Abstraction and a Curious Case History: Alice Neel as a Great Abstract Painter
Like a Veneer
Modest Painting
Blurring Richter
Off the Grid: Weather Conditions in Lower Manhattan, September 11, 2001 to October 2, 2001
Part 3:and#9;Trite Tropes
Trite Tropes, Clichandeacute;s, or the Persistence of Styles
Recipe Art
Work and Play
New Tales of Scheherazade
Appendix: Work document: Grey
Notes
Bibliography
Index