A Companion to Contemporary Art in a Global Framework

A Companion to Contemporary Art in a Global Framework explores the ways specialists and institutions in the fine arts, curation, cultural studies, and art history have attempted to situate art in a more global framework since the 1980s. Offering analyses of the successes and setbacks of these efforts to globalize the art world, this innovative volume presents a new and exciting way of considering art in its global contexts. Essays by an international panel of leading scholars and practicing artists assert that what we talk about as ‘art’ is essentially a Western concept, thus any attempts at understanding art in a global framework require a revising of established conceptual definitions. Organized into three sections, this work first reviews the history and theory of the visual arts since 1980 and introduces readers to the emerging area of scholarship that seeks to place contemporary art in a global framework. The second section traces the progression of recent developments in the art world, focusing on the historical and cultural contexts surrounding efforts to globalize the art world and the visual arts in particular global and transnational frameworks. The final section addresses a wide range of key themes in contemporary art, such as the fundamental institutions and ontologies of art practice, and the interactions among art, politics, and the public sphere. A Companion to Contemporary Art in a Global Framework is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, researchers, and general readers interested in exploring global art beyond the traditional Euro-American context.

About the Author

JANE CHIN DAVIDSON is Professor of Art History and Global Cultures at California State University, San Bernadino. She has published widely on topics in contemporary global art, Chinese diasporic identity in the arts, performance, transnationalism, feminism, and eco-feminism. As an exhibition curator, she studies the decolonizing processes for global exhibitions.

AMELIA JONES is Robert A. Day Professor at the Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Her published work and curated exhibitions have focused on queer, feminist, and anti-racist analyses of modern and contemporary visual art and performance of the Euro-American tradition. She is Editor of A Companion to Contemporary Art Since 1945 (Wiley Blackwell, 2006).