Visual studies is a burgeoning intellectual field. But is it asking the right questions? And is it just too easy to do? In his latest book, James Elkins offers a road map through the field of visual studies, describing its major concerns and its principal theoretical sources. Then, Elkins takes us down a side road where visual studies can become a more interesting place. Why look only at the same handful of theorists? Why exclude from one's field of vision non-Western art or the wealth of scientific images? The centerpiece of Visual Studies is Elkins's proposal for ten ways in which visual...
Visual studies is a burgeoning intellectual field. But is it asking the right questions? And is it just too easy to do? In his latest book, James Elki...
Can contemporary art say anything about spirituality? John Updike calls modern art "a religion assembled from the fragments of our daily life," but does that mean that contemporary art is spiritual? What might it mean to say that the art you make expresses your spiritual belief?
On the Strange Place of Religion in Contemporary Art explores the curious disconnection between spirituality and current art. This book will enable you to walk into a museum and talk about the spirituality that is or is not visible in the art you see.
Can contemporary art say anything about spirituality? John Updike calls modern art "a religion assembled from the fragments of our daily life," but...
For millennia, art has been religious - even in times and places when there was no word for 'art'. Then, in the Renaissance, it became possible for art to glorify the artist, making viewers think more of his skills than of the subjects he portrayed. The modern artist faces a more complex dilemma - one that no art historian has talked about until now. Can contemporary art say anything about spirituality? Is contemporary art is spiritual? What might it mean to say that the art you make expresses your spiritual belief? The Impossibility of Transcendence is about the curious disconnect between...
For millennia, art has been religious - even in times and places when there was no word for 'art'. Then, in the Renaissance, it became possible for ar...
In What Photography Is, James Elkins examines the strange and alluring power of photography in the same provocative and evocative manner as he explored oil painting in his best-selling What Painting Is. In the course of an extended imaginary dialogue with Roland Barthes's Camera Lucida, Elkins argues that photography is also about meaninglessness--its apparently endless capacity to show us things that we do not want or need to see--and also about pain in so far as extremely powerful images that can sear into our consciousness permanently. Extensively illustrated with a surprising range of...
In What Photography Is, James Elkins examines the strange and alluring power of photography in the same provocative and evocative manner as he explore...
In What Photography Is, James Elkins examines the strange and alluring power of photography in the same provocative and evocative manner as he explored oil painting in his best-selling What Painting Is. In the course of an extended imaginary dialogue with Roland Barthes's Camera Lucida, Elkins argues that photography is also about meaninglessness--its apparently endless capacity to show us things that we do not want or need to see--and also about pain in so far as extremely powerful images that can sear into our consciousness permanently. Extensively illustrated with a surprising range of...
In What Photography Is, James Elkins examines the strange and alluring power of photography in the same provocative and evocative manner as he expl...
