'Abstraction has made a surprising comeback in twenty-first century art — often now manifested in previously unrecognisable forms. Not only formal abstraction but also the economic abstraction of global market and media operations are critically investigated by a new generation. Other artists have explored the notion of social abstraction, expressed in strategies of withdrawal. Echoing its avant-garde origins, abstraction has once again been enlisted in the search for new possibilities in art and society.

'Artists surveyed include: Anni Albers, Louise Bourgeois, Daniel Buren, Amilcar de Castro, Lygia Clark, Kajsa Dahlberg, Stephan Dillemuth, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Günther Förg, Liam Gillick, Eva Hesse, Jakob Jakobsen, Donald Judd, Yves Klein, Krijn de Koning, Sol LeWitt, Richard Paul Lohse, Piet Mondrian, Bruce Nauman, Hélio Oiticica, Blinky Palermo, Lygia Pape, Mai-Thu Perret, Tobias Rehberger, Bridget Riley, Mark Rothko, Emily Roysdon, Robert Ryman, Mira Schendel, Julian Stanczak, Varvara Stepanova, Hito Steyerl, Cy Twombly.' (Back cover)

Abstraction is one of the Documents of Contemporary Art series, co-published by Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press which document major themes and ideas in contemporary art. Other sourcebooks of the same series are also available in the Archive. For more details, please go to this page.

Alternative title

Documents of Contemporary Art

Access level

Onsite

artist
editor
Location code
REF.WHC
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

2013

No of pages

240

ISBN / ISSN

9780262518369

No of copies

2

Content type

anthology

Chapter headings

Introduction: Abstraction - Maria LIND

Formal Abstraction

Cubism and Abstract Art, 1936 - Alfred BARR

Nature of Abstract Art, 1937 - Meyer SCHAPIRO

The Basis of Concrete Painting, 1930 - Otto Carlsund, Theo van Doesburg, Jean Hélion, Léon Tutundjian, Marcel Wantz

Why Abstract Art?, 2003 - Kirk VARNEDOE

Abstraction, 1986 - Judi Freeman

Geometry of Hope, 2007 - Gabriel PEREZ-BARREIRO

Neo-Concrete Manifesto, 1959 - Amilcar de Castro, Lygia Clark, Ferreira Gullar, Reynaldo Jardim, Claudio Mello e Souza, Lygia Pape, Theon Spanudis, Franz Weissmann

Colour, Time and Structure, 1960 - Helio OITICICA

1965: The Year of Op, 2007 - Joe Houston

Perception is the Medium, 1965 - Bridget RILEY

Eccentric Abstraction, 1966 - Lucy R. LIPPARD

Palermo's Porosity, 2010 - Lynne COOKE

At the Crossroads of the Disciplines: An Economy of Regard, 1991 - Catherine Quéloz

Economic Abstraction

The End of Temporality, 2003 - Fredric JAMESON

Abstraction and Culture, 1991 - Peter HALLEY

Living with Abstraction, 2008 - Sven LUTTICKEN

The Logic of the Trailer: Abstraction, Style and Sociality in Contemporary Art, 2008 - Ian Blom

Documentary Uncertainty, 2007 - Hito STEYERL

Art as Abstract Machine, 2005 - Stephen Zepke

Social Abstraction

There Is No Alternative: The Future is Self-Organised, 2005 - Anthony DAVIES, Stephan DILLEMUTH, Jakob JAKOBSEN

Opacity, 2006 - Nina MONTMANN

Smuggling: An Embodied Criticality, 2006 - Irit ROGOFF

The Crystal Frontier, 2008 - Mai-Thu PERRET

Abstract, 2011 - Liam GILLICK

Instituent Practices, 2009 - Gerald RAUNIG

Ecstatic Resistance, 2009 - Emily ROYSDON

Abstraction
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Abstraction